Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I have been keeping ball pythons for a year or so now and I love snakes. I have a great desire to own a retic however the fiance says nothing over 15'... however we have both fallen in love with the lavender retic. what is being done with creating dwarf designer retics such as lavender. are they being sold? how big do they get? how about albino?
thanks for any help you can give.
-Alex-
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1.2 ball pythons (Draco and Naga and Athena)
looking for a good price on eyelash Geckos

What do you consider dwarf? In large snakes there isn't much difference in that extra couple of feet. If your allowed 15ft why not 20ft? Most of the dwarfs being produced are from a normal to a dwarf then the babies back to a normal. Few if any go back to a dwarf as the clutch sizes are MUCH smaller. If you go through the old posts you may find the 15ft dwarf tiger. (I believe it's 15ft don't remember off of the top of my head may of been 16ft.) What ever is dwarf to you. Anyways need any other info just give a holler.

John Light
Pristine Pythons

Dwarf and retic must be used lightly. We know that nerd has a true dwarf jamp female that is 15ft. Also we have know that the males will reach 10ft. So if it is not 100% small island locale then it will be probably more like normal size.

I have to disagree with a few things here. First off, the largest known captive Jampea is 15'. Normal females have reached lengths of 33'. I would say that a 50% size drop is indeed a dwarf. The male Jampeas may reach an adult size of 10 feet. A normal retic can reach that inside of its first year. Dwarf doesn't mean "small" it means "smaller than normal".

As far as dwarfs being bred back to normals, who is doing this and for what reason? I have not yet seen one advertised. If anything people are breeding morphs into the dwarf lines to produce smaller and smaller morphs as there is a larger market for these smaller retics.

14' is tiny for a full grown female. Ever seen a retic over 20'? Now that is a big snake.

If you haven't yet seen a Jampea, Kayuadi, or Super Dwarf in person... you really have no idea how amazing these animals truly are. Even if the variety of morphs now in existence never were crossed into the dwarf lines... they would still be amazing. Oh but just wait...

Everyone here has brought up very good points. Dwarf retics is a relative term. They can still get up to 15 ft for a female. But whereas a normal is pretty much guaranteed to get over 15 ft, this helps. The big difference that I have noticed between normals and dwarfs, as far as stats go, is their wieght. A 12 foot snake that might weigh 50 lbs, is a big difference to an 18 foot snake that might weigh 150 lbs. This is pretty much going from a snake that one person can handle relatively comfortably, to a snake that would take 3 people around to really be safe.

I love the big snakes, and I actually have heard of people crossing dwarves and normals. Not for morphs or anything, and as far as why, dont ask me. The dwarves that have been bred with large sized, to gain morph genetics, will be bigger than a regular dwarf. There are some dwarf albinos out I believe, or at least hets. If you have to stay under 15 feet, be sure to get a male, and dont be surprised if it gets a touch over that mark. Just keep sliding the string forward when your girlfriend wants you to measure it.

If you get a male dwarf, that is pure dwarf, you really shouldnt have a problem staying under the 15 foot mark. Even most female dwarves stay under that mark.

Good luck
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1.0 Albino Green Burm
0.2 Normal Burm
1.1 Java Retic

I agree with the other reply..whats a few extra feet. But if you want something that gets small. Get a super dwarf. Hey get a male jampea. But truthfully I love dwarfs. But my true interest are the giants cause thats what retics are. If you cant afford to take care of a large animal then dont get one. watch the discovery channel. but anyways. you might find dwarf albino's from bob clarck. but are there any true dwarfs?