Reptile & Amphibian Forums

is it true that i can keep a male retic under 10ft depending on its feeding regimen?...Or should i just go for the Dwarf Retic?

if u try to feed a male to keep him under ten ft u are doing that animal a great injustice and not letting it live to its full potential, u would be better to get a dwarf

Trying to keep a snake under a certian size is like trying to keep a human child from reaching 4' by not feeding it. Cruelty!! Plain and simple. If you want a snake that stays under 10' then get a ball python or something, because even when you get a "dwarf" you still have to be prepaired for the fact that it could get to 10' . While some may argue that a male SD or something like that most likely wont get that big, it still COULD and you need to be prepaired to deal with an retic that size. I just added a new female retic to my collection and when I was getting it, I asked myself if I was ready to take on another 30' snake...Yes, she mostlikely wont get that big, I expect her to get in the 21-25' range, but retics HAVE gotten 30' and she COULD be the next one to hit that. So I have to keep that in the back of my mind when dealing getting her and the others I have gotten or will get in the future, just like you need to with a dwarf. Yes, a dwarf will prob never get even to 20' but 12, 13, 15' is not out of the question. Ok Im done with my rant.

If you can find me a retic over 29 feet currently alive and in captivity I'll be amazed. Most retic's max out at 16-18 feet. I always personally assume the worst ( 18 foot of pure mean ). I'd advise doing that..saying 30 feet makes you seem to be a bit silly.

You are right there are currently No snakes alive that are 29 or 30 feet plus....BUT, 1912 a retic was found that was 32' 9" long...it HAS happen. Not normal but hit has and can.

And 16-18' is the average size for a female.

ok so what about fluffy, does she not count in ur captivity pool, last i heard she was 27 is that not close enough to 29 to count, just because its not common don't mean it doesn't happen. i would tell anyone wanting one that if u want it be sure u can care for a 30ft snake who hates u for no reason, prolly wont be that way but still can happen.

and you must also remember that cbb retics have just become widely available over the last 10 years and for a snake to reach such massive proportions they need to live a long time. Add to that the fact that alot of the large adults now started breeding at 12-14ft which surely slows down their growth rates. I would be willing to bet that if someone put in the food and care required to keep a mainland female retic without breeding her, in 15 years she would be well over 25ft with no problem. that last statement is the important one as most hobbiest's that just want a retic will never breed them so they should be very educated to the worst possible (or best possible) situation possible.
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Josh & Krysty Hutto
J&K Reptiles

Various Ball Pythons:::

1.0 striped vanilla
1.0 spider
1.2 Citrus Ghost and hets
1.2 Albino and hets
2.3 het Pied
0.6 50% poss het pied
1.1 Pastel (male has additional gene going on with him)
a bunch of normal female breeders
a bunch of normal female holdbacks and several rescued normal males

0.1 columbian boa, she's a feeding monster, controls my
over production of rats, lol
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa, another rat eating monster
1.1 corns

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrier as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

Captive breeding has probbaly dwarfed alot of snakes ( morphs mainly ). The more they mix and match the smaller the animals will be.

OK I think everyone else has covered this but my question is " Why would you want to do this ? " It just doesn't even sound like you are ready for a Retic.

it all makes sense now... I currently have 4 retics in the rescue- all came in PISSED OFF and because they were "too big" (well- one was b/c he was having a baby- because nobody else has snakes and kids...) I have slammed them with GIANT rabbits (one with small pigs) and they have put on some much needed body weight- I can no longer see thier backbone.... and they have all tamed down nicely...
I measure with yarn and then go to a tape- very accurate.
1)female- 15 ft.
2)female- 14. 4 ft.
3)male- 13.9 ft
4)male- 14.1 ft

keep it under 10.... HAHAHAHAHA.... if you cannot or will not feed the animal properly- don't get it...
Would you keep your dog 20 lbs underweight? didn't think so...
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

I agree the original poster should get a Super Dwarf Retic versus mainland or even a regular dwarf. It is like the people that have Burmese pythons that are 6 years old and only 6.5 feet which is a shame as well. I say get something like a Ball Python, Hogg Island Boa, SD Retic or Dwarf Burm, but do not get a mainland retic, they can be very aggressive if not fed properly *same with burmese* and they deserve to achieve their adult sizes in the right amount of time. I own a pair of Tiger Retics *albino Tiger male and Tiger Het* and I am expecting a 20 - 30 feet snakes here and I am expecting for my burms to reach 18 as well.

Charlie

Only problem with Dwarf burms right now is price. The imported ones are going for a few thousand, and has anyone had success with a dwarf x dwarf breeding? I thought I heard about someone doing it but I dont remember. I know dwarf x morphs have been done.