Reptile & Amphibian Forums

does anyone feed their retic out of the enclosure if so how long should i give him after he swallows the last rat before i attempt to pick him up and put him back in his home, i ask this because i got tagged yesterday by my nine month old male silver side retic whom is about six and a half feet normaly does not show any aggression at all, any help on this would be great

You would be much better served to leave the animal in its cage for feeding. Imagine if this were a full grown 22' female that "tagged" you. Yikes! I just place thawed prey items at the opposite end of the enclosure as the snake. Then the snake will come over and grab it at its leisure. This keeps them from associating movement or being out of the cage with meal time. Its "cute" with a 6 footer . . . it could be deadly with an adult . . good luck!

feeding boids out of the cage is asking for trouble, while they are small it's not a problem ,as an adult you are asking to become the next person to be inadvertently killed during a feeding session. I suggest you buy a large high quality snake hook and you can use this hook with a slight tap on the head to break the feeding response, especially if the snake has a mild disposition( guard down mentality) , most people killed by pythons where either feeding the snake by hand and or not breaking the feeding response, snake will catch on to a routine easily and you not be endangering your life in the future, Bottom line is all the larger Pythons should be fed in their enclosures in a very specific careful manner. The idea of associating the feeding location verses the demeanor of snake and also the probability of becoming a potential meal is not a safe practice , in the snakes mind, you are food when they smell their preferred prey type they will advance on its perceived meal, also" run ins" with them are not common in snakes with proper "hook" training. Python reticulatus are very efficient hunters. Imagine a snake trying to kill you because you just fed it and it's in FULL killing prey mode, this could easily lead to interaction that you may not want, especially if being tagged makes an issue, never reach into a pythons enclosure without first breaking the feeding response with the "hook" , they get the point and this achieves the same result as "other location" feeding without the hazard to your (the keepers) well being. I hope this helps you change your mind and refutes this type of husbandry practices in your collection.
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

This is good advice. What you are doing is dangerous.
To see how dangerous that can get, try to visit someone who has large constrictors during feeding time.
I've had my house clear out in seconds when people saw a big retic or burm miss the food item and snap at the air when I tossed a prey item in their enclosure. I've had them lunge towards me, and I position myself behind a barrier.
No way I want to try and move a recently feed large retic. And that's not even considering the extra weight and stress to the snake.

You have received some very good and great advice from the other posters. Feed in the cage. Some of my retics hang onto their feeding mode for up to 48 hours after eating. Ask yourself this: Would you like to train a powerful constrictor to think that every time it comes out of the cage it might eat, or train the snake it will never eat when out of the cage? I have 36 constrictors: BCC BOAS, bloods, carpets, retics, and green anacondas. All very tame and easily handled-all fed in the cage. Years back when I fed in the cage I got bit all the time. Since feeding in the cage I have not takne a bite in many years. Use the hook training method. Touch the snake on the nose every time the cage is openend except when food enters the cage. When feeding never let the retic even see a hook. this works amazingly well. Bill.
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...three years ago it was just another snake cult...
The Retic is King.
Anacondas-the other Dark Side.
Afrocks-the dark side of the Dark Side.

thank u to all of u who replied i will be buying a hook at the next show in st Louise on the 20 until then what can i do to keep him from taking my fingers apart?

You can use any thing for now with out pointed/sharp edges that won't hurt the snake such as a rolled up nespaper, wooden dowel rod, etc. Touching the retic on the nose sends the message to the snake and they respons very well to this form of "classical conditioning". Some even recognize the hook by sight. I find it interesting that I can walk by a stack of retic cages carrying feeding tongs and several will strike the glass. If I walk by with a hook most of them drop their heads.

When you start the hook training open the cage several times a day and touch the retic on the nose with the hook and he will learn quickly. Always look for a definate response from the retic and read the body posture. Each snake is an individual. Some of mine will cancel with one bump-others take several. Look for the retic to drop its head, or turn its head away and go still. Then you can usually gently touch the snake and pick him up. Best of luck with this-Bill.
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...three years ago it was just another snake cult...
The Retic is King.
Anacondas-the other Dark Side.
Afrocks-the dark side of the Dark Side.

HELLO
But, what would happen if i forget to touch the snake with the hook before picking up it? Would that be dangerous? What would happen?(imagine that i dont smell ike its food)
And, wahts the best way to pck up a large retic?
THANKS

Snakes become conditioned to expect food when their enclosure is opened ( not all snakes, but most boas and pythons I have kept ). They instinctively go into "predatory mode" even without the smell of their preferred food item in the air. The snake may therefore due to this conditioning mistake your movements as "feeding time" and therefore do what they do best, capture and kill their prey, which could result in the snake grabbing and constricting you, when no food smells are in the air they still respond as if they are about to be fed, the tap with the hook snaps the snake out of a predatory response because it is also conditioned for cage maintenance as well, they get this confused and one needs to let them know what is what. The best was to move a large python is with a friend who also has experience with large constrictors.
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

THANKS
So, is just to let she know what you are going to do. But if you forget to toch she with the hook? Would that be dangerous? I am talking abot a snake that usally is handled.
And abou moving big pythons, i would like to know is there is some thing else that i should know, what i know currently is that s importanto to dont smell as food (mice, rat..), and dont moving the hands to fast infront of the snakes face.
THANKS

well there is a good chance if you do not make the snake realize it is not going to be fed, it will think it is being fed and grab whatever moves. Most important thing about big snakes is never work alone.
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

here is a pic of the hansom fella he is now nine months old and still a lil over six feet he is lil thicker now than when this pic was taken

Cute little guy. Everyone gave you excellent advice so all I'll say is this.

Feeding a retic outside the enclosure is almost entirely useless. You can get away with it with boa's and smaller boids and boids with weak feeding responses but retics are different. A smaller boid will most likely puke during transportation. I know a girl who very nearly killed a beautiful Surinam boa by feeding it outside the cage. She couldn't figure out why it was regurging..her local reptile guru said that would make things safer for her. There is ALOT of just plain dumb info floating around in the reptile world. You seem like an intelligent guy. Use common sense and you'll be fine. Anyway back to retics. They have one of if not THE most intense feeding response around. They are always hungry and you are always a food source. Even hook training isn't perfect. It's simply the best option. I'm a strong supporter of the hook method but you need to know it's not perfect. Always use caution when working with big boids ALWAYS. I don't care if it's your most calm and relaxed animal. Always be aware.

The hook info is by far the best and what I have used with Retics from the begining! Some of the worst bites I have recieved were from dog tame snakes! You look down and go damn your not supposed to do that! Good luck, Big Jim

ur right the worst bite ive had so far is from this little guy and i know it will only get worse as he grows thanks for all the advice

You have something to look forward to! I was tranfering a few animals and had a 14ft female in a large plastic container, when I reached in she grabed my arm in a feeding response! I had to sit on the couch for about 5 min. and luckly she realized I was not a rabbit!@ Big Jim