Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is this selective breeding or retics from specific locals? Secondly do these pythons have noticeably different care and attitudes then other retics? And I guess lastly so I dont bug keepers with these same questions they have been asked many times over, Is there any web sites with further information on dwarf and other retic types? Many thanks

Ian

Basicly a dwarf retic is determined by how big they are supose to get. Here is a reply I made on another forum. The question was "how big do dwarf retics get?"

"Well it depends on what kind of dwarf we are talking about. Bali & selayars are both considered dwarf locality retics, and can top out at close to 16 foot for a big female. Jampea's are the most common of the dwarves, the largest known specimans of these guys are in the 15 foot range with NERD and Mr. Gasper (the later of which is on this forum) having some large females. There are also other localities of retic that are supose to stay smaller than all the aforementioned types, among these are the super dwarf, honey island, and Kayaudi retics. Then there are the "Dwarf morphs" which are mainland animals crossed with their smaller counterparts to try and create a morph in a smaller package. Currently maximum sizes on these are unknown.I had a conversation with Bob Clark a couple months ago about this, and to the best of his knowlage the largest dwarf morph right now is a 12 foot female dwarf tiger that he bred back in 2000, although he does beleive they will get slightly larger. Hope this helps."

As far as care and attitudes, there is no difference in care, the only difference comes in activity. The "dwarves" seem to be more active than mainland retics.

Dont worry about "bugging" keepers. Most keepers are glad to share their experiances, some websites to check out would be
www.bobclark.com
www.constrictors.com
www.newenglandreptile.com
all 3 of these sites have sections on dwarf retics. Hope this helped.

Awsome! thank you very much for the help.

I have a Kayuadi female that was 9' when I bought her. I've had her 3 years now and she is just a tad over 10'. They grow slower than mainland retics and I honestly haven't noticed her grow at all in the last year. Hope this helps.

True dwarf retics, those with full size adult females typically below 14 or 15 feet, are currently found almost exclusively in the Bonerate Island chain between Sulawesi and Flores in Indonesia. Strong sea currents running from east to west through this island chain have kept most of the native terrestrial fauna isolated from their mainland conspecifics, and allowed retics to evolve into these dwarf forums. I'm sure there are yet to be discovered other dwarf forms on other small isolated island chains in the Indonesian area.

Kelly

So when looking for a "dwarf retic" what would one look for? Being I have the room, would like to work with just one pair, and would not like to deal with a huge python. i.e. 12-17' and hundreds of pounds. My Macklot's are nasty enough and im not looking for more blood shed lol. many thanks

Ian

Hi, do you consider retics from Kayuadi, Kalatoa and Madu to be superdwarves?

Thanks