Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, ive got a question to ALL retic owners,hopefully someone can help me. I just got my retic alittle over a week ago, and since i have recieved him he hasnt eaten, the guy from whom i bought the snake from said he hadn't fed him in week just for shipping purposes. but ive tried to feed him and he wouldnt eat. Now he is starting to shed his eyes are cloudy could this be why he isnt eating or what? please give me input

Juvenile retics can be very stressed out during the shipping and re-adjustment period of being moved from one environment to another. Try to keep his stress to an absolute minimum and only offer him a rat pup once a week. Leave it in his cage overnight each time. If he doesn't eat by about three or four weeks post about it and we'll go from there.

>>Hey, ive got a question to ALL retic owners,hopefully someone can help me. I just got my retic alittle over a week ago, and since i have recieved him he hasnt eaten, the guy from whom i bought the snake from said he hadn't fed him in week just for shipping purposes. but ive tried to feed him and he wouldnt eat. Now he is starting to shed his eyes are cloudy could this be why he isnt eating or what? please give me input
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Believe in yourself and your abilities and you can accomplish anything.

couldnt the rat possibly hurt the baby though? i mean this is only a 3' retic...

That's why I said "rat pup" my friend. Rat pups, by definition are pre-wean baby rats with eyes still closed and have not eaten solid food yet. They couldn't possibly hurt the snake, no. If you ask a rat breeder for a rat pup you should get a harmless large fuzzy rat baby.

>>couldnt the rat possibly hurt the baby though? i mean this is only a 3' retic...
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Believe in yourself and your abilities and you can accomplish anything.

WELL JUST SHOOT ME IN THE FACE WHY DONT YA! jeez

Look at the advice that Jeff (nephrurus) gave. HE has produced several clutches of retics himself and has experience getting them to feed. We rarely have any feeding problems with baby retics. As soon as your little guy sheds, I am sure he will take a meal with no problem.
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Hi Mike. It's been so long since I wrote you or spoke to you on the phone. How have you been? How is your breeding year so far? Mine is better than I was realistically hoping for and I am grateful for that.

That big het albino female I got from you last year is doing great, by the way. She was an eating machine and got HUGE real fast. She's gravid now. I bred her with my purple albino male as well as my lavender albino male (just to play it safe . She's about 16 or 17 feet now and very thick. She's still a very beautiful snake but man,.. she is a handfull! Still mean as ever that one.

So when did you first start breeding retics? I got my first two clutches in 1986. All of my retics back then were imported and all were aggressive except for one spectacular 18 foot yellowhead female. She was imported too but was fairly docile (though I never trusted her completely). I got her as a young adult.

Are you going to produce any albino supers this year? I know that there are at least a dozen folks currently working on them. I assumed you would be too.

Anyhow, it's good to see you around the forums. You should drop in more often. Take care.

>>Look at the advice that Jeff (nephrurus) gave. HE has produced several clutches of retics himself and has experience getting them to feed. We rarely have any feeding problems with baby retics. As soon as your little guy sheds, I am sure he will take a meal with no problem.
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Believe in yourself and your abilities and you can accomplish anything.

I didn't mean any of that in a rude or harsh manner. Just matter of factly is all, but in a friendly way. Sorry for the misunderstanding

By the way, has your little guy eaten yet? Let me know how it is all going.

>>WELL JUST SHOOT ME IN THE FACE WHY DONT YA! jeez
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Believe in yourself and your abilities and you can accomplish anything.

No i havnt tried to feed him yet it has merly been four days...sorry i was upset that night thats why i was a little snappy, ill try to feed him on tuesday.

It is very common for a retic of any size to go off feed durring its shedding cycle. Let it finish shedding and it will probably not even hesitate to take the next meal you offer it.

Since it is in shed, be sure to keep the humidity up. Large water bowl, of course, and misting can help too. Not looking for soaking wet, but spraying cage surfaces to evaporate and raise the moisture levels.
Of course, spraying often provokes an aggressive reaction. I got my worst bite while spraying a retic, so do be aware of that.

it ate last night, two hoppers, thanks everyone for the tips