Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Rumor has it that all retics are or can be NASTY. Since generations of breeding, morphing and what/not to the Purple Albinos, are they considered a bit more docile than the regular retics? I just got a 2 week old female Purple Albino on Saturday...been reading old posts here (since she is my very first retic...been learning A TON here!). Any advice to a novice? Love the hook training idea for the non-feeding times...and to think I was going to feed her outside her cage...GEEEEEEZUS! She seems to be a SUPER SWEATHEART...well, now anyway!
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR REPLIES, ADVICE AND IDEAS!!!!
Jennifer

Really there is no cut n dry answer on their temperaments. The reason being is that each snake is different. Some tolerate human contact and some do not. It's has nothing to with if the snake is normal, tiger, albino or whatever. I've own some mean a$$ albinos and one tiger that would try and kill you.
Most rude baby Retics turn into sweet adults but that is not a garuantee. Just keep handling her after her acclimation to her new home and hope for the best. Most tame down once they pass the three to four foot mark.

As far as feeding her inside the cage:
To me this really isn't a great idea. They learn very quickly that when that cage door is opened food is coming and that's when some bad accidental bites happen. Yes .......... even when using hooks. Several times I've seen a good sized Retic over shoot the hook and get the keepers hand. Start training your little kid now. On feeding day pick her up with a hook and put her into a locking lid rubbermaid container. Once she's eaten then gently lift her back into her cage. Granted if she reaches a large size this will be extremely hard to do. But so far this "training" has worked extremely well for me and several other keepers of the large python species.

Here is a link to a care sheet on Retics written by NERD. I suggest you print it out.
www.newenglandreptile.com/CareRetic.html

Good luck
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Christine
Tails With Scales Reptiles
www.tailswithscales.com
Looks, brains, and venom . . . . how do I stay single?

with you about removing boids from their primary enclosure and feeding in another. Additionally, moving a large python after a meal is a sure way to cause problems internally, and possibly cause a regurgitation, or stress internal organs. Pythons are easily "trained" or acclimated into a non-feeding mode by tapping them on the head lightly with a cardboard tube. They soon realize they are not going to be fed when this occurs. Why move a snake twice for feeding when it is not necessary to move it at all. I have been feeding 15 foot pythons and anacondas in their enclosures for 25 years and never had any problems. I think removing young pythons from their cages for feeding is asking for problems down the road.

Kelly

Forgive me but I am an experienced keeper. It's not like I just started doing this a few months ago so please do not treat me as though I am a newbie. I have been breeding and keeping snake and other reptile for almost 20 years and was a Vet Tech specializing in exotics. The people whom I said do the same practices as I have been breeding /keeping for 30 years.

I shared my experiences with the way I (and others) have raised large python species. Does that make my or their methods wrong???? Absolutely not. It just make my methods different from your or the next keepers.
To remove a young for feeding and to put it back into it's enclosure does not make the snake ill unless it's been fed a meal WAY to big and then is man handled immediatly after.
I am also meaning not removing a 14' plus snake due to their size and weight. Trust me I did not remove mine once they got above 16'. They were just to heavy.

Again I just shared my methods and experiences that have worked for me and others for many many years with zero incidents and zero illnesses.
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Christine
Tails With Scales Reptiles
www.tailswithscales.com
Looks, brains, and venom . . . . how do I stay single?

I don't think Kelly was attacking you..... Kelly was simply disagreeing......I am just looking at it from an outside perspective. Please take no offense.

I happen to agree with Kelly as well. I have never had a problem with tapping on any of my snakes nose and handling them afterwards even my most aggressive feeders such as Cribos. The key here is to never handle the animals when the scent of food is in the air!!

Getting the animal back into the cage after feeding them outside can be a very difficult feat, especially if they are still in "feeding mode"....not my idea of fun and not safe for the animal.

I know the majority of the most knowledgeable large python people in the country, and was simply trying to make the point that all of them feed their snakes in their primary cages, neonates up to adults. I have extensive experience with large constrictors and have also found that this seems to work best, for keeper and python, and I agree with them on this method.

I in no manner implied that you were wrong, and I apologize if you misinterpreted my post. I was strictly stating my own opinion on the subject and leave it to each individual to weigh the facts and make their own choice as to how they would like to feed their snakes. Knowledge is all about getting as much information as possible from as many sources as possible so as to make an informed decision.

Kelly

No worries. I apologize for my snapping back that way.

I agree with big breeders in that it's pointless to move a large adult python. My big girls did not and do not get moved unless it's for cleaning.

My little kids have alway been set up on a cycle that cleaning day was the same as feeding day. So they were removed and put into their buckets to eat and then put back after they've sat for an hour. Of course there are spot cleanings during the week but the small ones were not removed for that. This system for some reason works for me. Probably because I do not have friends who are willing to come and help so I do everything on my own and it saved time for me to just get it all done in one straight shot. I hope that makes sense.
I agree in that sharing information and trying new things is a great idea!! After all .......... there is no end to the learning curve in reptiles. That's what makes it fun. There are times (I admit) I forget that. ****blushes*** But hey ....... I'm only human. lol
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Christine
Tails With Scales Reptiles
www.tailswithscales.com
Looks, brains, and venom . . . . how do I stay single?

(smiles)
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

Is that a serious question or are you just poking fun???? lmao

Oh yeah .......... a retic photo. After all this is a Retic forum.

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Christine
Tails With Scales Reptiles
www.tailswithscales.com
Looks, brains, and venom . . . . how do I stay single?

a little both , I like it though

>Is that a serious question or are you just poking fun???? lmao
>>
>>Oh yeah .......... a retic photo. After all this is a Retic forum.
>>
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>>Christine
>>Tails With Scales Reptiles
>>www.tailswithscales.com
>>Looks, brains, and venom . . . . how do I stay single?
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

Kelly, I am with you. Feeding outside the cage is asinine, young or old. True you can gently move a young snake without much disturbance, but why? It makes no sence and has no benefit to do so. Years ago this was a belief that soon became apparent that it was poor information. You use a cardboard tube, I happen to use a roll of paper towels as I have for more years then I can remember. I've been keeping large constrictors for more then 30 years now...almost 35.

I'd suggest the same as Kelly by feeding inside the cage and touching the snake with some type of object before preforming cage maintenance. By touching the snake you turn off the feeding mode and they realize that it is only you and not a food item.

Jim

very good advice... feeding outside the cage would seem like a good idea until the retic becomes over eager and goes into feeding mode before you get them into the feeding enclosure.... not a good time when they are bigger... touching them and a spray bottle seem to work... just let them flick their tounges a few times, and you will see them lose interest and turn away... as long as they are not looking at you or your arm, you are good to go..

i just happened to be reading but i feel alot can go wrong with feeding outside the cage no im not a "pro" and no i dont own retics but with my green tree python i acctually have a seperate small door on the side of the cage that i feed thru and helps alot specialy since you cant hook or tap green trees to get the out of feeding responce lol but she is a sweet heart and one big thing i do with all my snakes feeding time is ONLY after lights out i have a small very low wattage light in the room enough to see what i am doing but not to much once big lights go out and small one is on for about a hour everybody is out looking for food i think this helps ALOT just my input i am not a retic owner yet nor am i a "pro"

Im with Kelly on this subject. Im not taking side and dont think either method works beter than the other. Im not as knowledgable as Kelly on the subject. But i have been keeping large constrictors for 12 years now.Anacondas,retics,scrubs,burms,and african rock pythons.I have never been told to tap a snake on the nose with a hook. Just started doing it on my own. Then take the hook lift them up a little and pick them the rest of the way up. But i feed in the enclosure only time i move my large constrictors is for cleaning.As far as temperment i agree with you on that point. Its not just with big constrictors its with any snake. Some are calm and you couldnt make them bite if you whacked them with a stick. And i have others that lash out if i just walk past them. Dont listen to the talk about a certain species being aggressive. I have heard childrens pythons are calm and have the nastiest female on the planet. And on the other hand i have heard african rocks are extreemly aggressive.Yet i have two docile ones. Its the snake not the species in general. Like Kelly has been doing research with anacondas. And in my opinion has proved. Docile snakes tend to produce docile babies. Anacondas are supossed to be nasty snakes.But i have a docile yellow at home. and Kelly has produced babies,and the keepers of those reply to the forums.They say the babies calm just like the parents as they age.You guys can slam me if you want but im a firm believer that individual snakes and genetics,is what determines temperment.
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kevin
36 pythons and boas and 4 lizards

i speak from the both sides of the road here, i used to feed out off enclosure. that is until my 6ft male retic grabbed me by the hand when i wen to put him back in his home after feeding. so i am a firm believer that one should save him-self the pain and feed in the cage. other than that one time my retic has never struck at me so i go feed in house

along with touching them I have trained mine the way you train pond fish to respond when you ring a bell... feeding time... My snakes get use to feeding when I scratch on the bottom of the cage for 10 seconds or so... like a feeder animal scratching.. they got so use to it that i can place the FT rabbit in the cage without them moving... they do not move because they got use to me being in the cage alot... I pace the animal in the cage, close the door then scratch the bottom.. as soon as i scratch they go into feed mode wake up and look for their dinner...

I disagree. I have never had trouble with the hook method, but I have had trouble moving snakes that have just fed back into their cage. My retic is in feeding mode for two days after she has been fed, no matter the size of the meal. If I put her into a feeding tub then she would ALWAYS expect the next item to be food and I would never be able to move her back into her cage.
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Burm baby burm...