Reptile & Amphibian Forums

For an adult, what should the minimu length of the cage be in inches? I've seen the cages Bob Clark keeps his retics in and they didnt appear to be all that big or overtly big. Also ive seen some retic clips and stuff. CB ones appear to be gentle and docile. I ve also read that CB's were docile as well. And ive heard they are not that hard to care for excluding the large cage size. Are they a good snake to start out with? If not why? They seem like ball pythons... only bigger

I dont think retics are a good beginer snake at all. Some are "nice" some are "violent". It depends on the snake. Aside from needing a rather large inclosue then need spacific heat and humidity thats hard to maintain unless you have a well built set up. As far as it being like a ball python, if you get a REALLY calm one its kinda pesonality wise, except for the fact that if it wanted to it could grab and squish you at any time it saw fit! ok maybe thats a little over dramatic, but they are very alert and have a strong feeding response so it makes it very risky for a beginer keeper.

My retic is the sweetest ive seen, but he has bitten me because i came too close to "his" rat while he was moveing around it. It was my mistake, but keep in mind "too close" was about 2.5 feet away from his food. Ive never had any problem or signs of agression except for the one time, but i consider my self lucky to have one with the personality I got.

A few suggestions for beginer snakes would be a ball python, or maybe a spotted python (I love mine!). If oyu want something that gets a bit larger, you may want to look into a columbian red-tail. They usually get about 8-10 feet and are know for their easy going ways. Carpet Pythons and White lip pythons are another of my Favs. but their pesonality sometimes isnt the best either. again it all depends on the individual snake. But ask your self, would you rather get bit by a 8' snake or a 15' foot snake... how about a 20 footer?

Personally I would wait on the retic and get some experince with med size pythons, and then work your way up.

good luck, and hope I could help!

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-echo-

1.1.1 - Ball Python
1.0.0 - Tiger Retic
0.0.1 - Brazilian Rainbow Boa
0.0.1 - Savu Python
0.0.1 - Spotted Python
1.0.0 - Tiger Salamander
1.1.0 - Red Spot Toad
0.1.0 - Betta Fish

I relaly dont understand the disposition difference between a retic and a ball. Ive seen thirty foot retics not be aggressive to the handler at all and rather just be nonchalant about it. Bob Clark says CB retics have good dispositions.

You said some retics are violent yet some are nice. However, the same goes for cute and fluffy dogs. I am not trying to argue with you because I asked you for help. Rather I am just wondering. Also, I've heard of balls being aggressive too.

No experienced keeper would ever say that a retic is a good snake for a novice. The fact that they can kill you at a young adult size is the primary reason. All snakes are indivisuals. You can generalize the species as a whole but there will always be exceptions to the rule. For example, Burms are generally great snakes when it comes to temperment, however I have a 18 month old female that just doesn't like people. Now this is against the norm for these snakes. It just goes to show that every snake is an individual and you can never really know how a certain snake is going to behave until you start to interact with it.
Comparing a ball python with a retic is like comparing a tabby cat with a bengal tiger. even though though a bengal tiger can be trained and can be "affectionate" with its owner all it trakes is one mistake on the owners part and he is dead. Now if you make that same mistake with the tabby then you end up with a few little scratches and maybe a bite mark. The same can be saidwith balls and retics. Retics can kill you, balls can not. They don't even hurt that bad when they do bite.
You really need to learn the ropes before you jump into a retic. There is an enormous amount of herps that would be much more suitable as a first snake, but one of the giants is not the way to go. Todd

When you can find as many ball pythons owners killed by there ball as a retic then you could compare them. Not to say they are killers by any means after being around many and owning them. There is nothing like them. But ball pythons they are not.
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MWSC

how old are you by chance?
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-echo-

1.1.1 - Ball Python
1.0.0 - Tiger Retic
0.0.1 - Brazilian Rainbow Boa
0.0.1 - Savu Python
0.0.1 - Spotted Python
1.0.0 - Tiger Salamander
1.1.0 - Red Spot Toad
0.1.0 - Betta Fish

np

At fifteen years of age how do you realisticly plan to afford an enclosure for a 8 foot snake in its first year? Are your parents going to be willing to pay for alot of food for it and allow you to have such a large animal? whos going to watch it when you go to college? by then its going to be around 13 feet if not larger...

At such a young age and with no experence a retic is a really bad idea
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-echo-

The retic that did this was only 5ft.. Having been bitten by a 5 foot ball also I can say that there is no comparison. The teeth on a retic at even 5ft. are huge. I'm glad I didn't make this mistake with a larger individual, and I've been keeping giants for a few years.

Echo, I believe it is quite realistic to afford to take care of a giant at 15 years old. I don’t know about you, but I worked when I was 16 and was more than able to take care of my snakes, including a giant Burmese and properly house them.

Also, when I went away to college, I was fortunate enough to have my parents take care of them temporarily (for one year until I moved out of the dorms). It’s all about having supportive and well informed parents. Hopefully Bball will inform his parents how large a Retic can get and what it takes to feed it, and get their acquiescence before he gets one.

But I do agree with you though that with no experience, buying a retic would be a bad idea.

I completely agree it IS possible for a teen to take care of a large snake, and many do (I was into monitors at the time and had a large enclosure for a savannah, and a another big one for a dumerils) BUT, teens also have a lot of distractions in their lives (when did I start sounding like my parents?) And it can become very easy for an animals needs to start working their way down the list of the owners priorities, and that's NOT ok. All the time you spend at school, doing homework, chasing girls, etc... doesn't leave you much time for making money to afford such a beast. Rabbits can be pretty costly. And who's there to drive you in search of rabbits all the time if you can't drive yet? Who's going to pay the vet bills if the snake gets sick? Are the parents ok with helping you move the animal? Do they care to be educated by you on how to properly do this so THEY don't get hurt? There's a lot more to consider than initial costs.

In response to the last post, sometimes parents will take care of your animals when you go away to college, and sometimes they only SAY they will. Case in point: I was at a local petstore the other day, and this middle aged couple approached me saying "you know anyone that wants a snake?" I asked them about it and they explained their son went off to college and left them with his 8ft. burmese, and they don't want it in the house. Not only did they want to give the snake and supplies to me free, they hadn't been taking proper care of it the whole time they've had it. (they had been "throwing a small rat in its fish tank with it once a week" 8ft and reduced to eating a single small rat in it's 55 gallon fish tank, and they said they hadn't taken the snake out of the fish tank since the son left, so you know the cage must have been filthy, and so much for keeping on the handling. Something to think about.

You are getting a retic just because it is a big snake, and this is wrong. I am 16 years old, and I can tell by your posts that instead of looking up the information, you are asking all the questions to the people here. I own a retic and I know what it takes to care for one. I did not purchase a retic because they get big, I bought one becuase they are intelligent and beautiful creatures that deserve respect from everyone. Also, I had 5 years of experience caring for snakes, and owned 6 that were perfectly cared for before I got the retic. If you absolutely must have a retic now, buy a dwarf. It is much easier to learn to care for a snake when it is 7 or 8 feet long instead of 15 or 20 feet. The dwarves also have a gentler personality on average. But please, before you buy anything living or breathing, do your research and make sure it is what you want. Like a few other people have said, we don't need any more big snakes up for adoption because their current owners can't care for them properly.

I hate the idea of "gateway animals". I just think snakes live way too long for someone to get one that they don't like just to gain experience. If you can find a more suitable first snake, then by all means start there. However, if you are in love with retics, learn about retics. Find someone in your area that keeps them and will let you help take care of them. I know if you wanted to come over to my house and clean up retic poop in exchange for some handling experience I wouldn't mind. At 15 there is no reason to rush things. You could even volunteer at the zoo. There are lots of options, aside from getting a snake that you don't love, that won't leave you seriously hurt or worse.

say he was in here (well not in here, but) asking if a Gaboon Viper is a good first snake. the gaboons get less than half the size of a retic but could still kill you.

Whats wrong with starting out with something more personable, and then moveing to something a little more advanced? I dont think Retics are a good choice if you "just want something big"
IMO if you want something big to impress your friends get a YELLOW anaconda. I would still go with the boa though because he needs to learn (research) and have hands on experince (own). I couldnt feel good about letting a 15 y/o hold my retic for a few weeks and expect him to beabel to care for one.

As far as the "gateway animal" goes he isnt really serious about his decision about getting a retic because hes been argueing with us abut it being like a ball python for the last 2 days. that shows no ground work has been done. and say he gets a retic and after a year of keeping it he is tired of takeing care of it, expencive food, its out grown its enclosure, and he doesnt have time to take it out because hes dealing with his teenage life? Its not that easy to get rid of an agressive poorly kept 8' retic. on the other hand there isnt as much problem with a 3' boa.

just my personal opinion, but i think you need first hand experince before you dive into something like this...

Besides what wrong with owning more than one type of snake? he might find something he likes better....

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-echo-

I completely agree with you echo. I have been trying along with everyone else to persuade this young man to explore his options and learn from less demanding and less dangerous snakes but you know what is going to happen. He will not listen to us and he will go out and get a retic and it will probably die in six months do to improper husbandry. anyway, I am done with him. Todd

Are all the animals at the bottom of your posts yours, They are beautiful

Don't get me wrong. I definitely don't think he should get a retic right now or in the future. I just think don't think that a pet that lives for 30 years makes a good practice animal that's all. Certainly a smaller snake would be a better choice than to jump into a retic. I just think people should get a snake that they love. I think any snake that doesn't fascinate it's owner will soon be neglected. If the kid just has a thing for retics, I think that he should go with what he likes. He just shoudl look for other ways to gain the much needed experience. Just my opinion.