Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I HAVE A FRIEND THAT IS MOVING AND HAS NO WAY TO CARRY THIS GUY WITH HIM....SO I NNED TO KNOW KINDA WHAT THIS BIG GUY IS WORTH SO THAT WE ARE FAIR TO EACH OTHER IN PRICE.....HE IS 9 1/2 FT LONG AND BIGGER THAN MY FOREARM.....WHAT IS THE BEST THING TO FEED HIM AND ANY SUGGESTIONS ON ANY POINT OF CARE WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!
MY PICES ARE AT;

http://hometown.aol.com/dealer1145/01.html

THERE ARE SEVERAL PICS OF THIS NICE LOOKING RETIC THERE...CAN YOU TELL MALE OR FEMALE FROM LOOKING AT THEM...COLORS ,PATTERNS ETC. WHAT IS THE BEST TEMPS FOR HIM/HER AT DAY TIME AND NIGHT TIME? I FOUND A BOOK THAT SAYS I SHOULDNT LEAVE ON THE HEAT PAD OR LIGHTS AT NIGHT...IS THIS TRUE? HOW IS HE SUPPOSE TO STAY WARM AT NIGHT? AND WHAT IS THE LOWEST I SHOULD LET THE TEMP DROP DOWN TO INSIDE THE TANK? OF COURSE MY FAMILY IS FREAKING OUT....AS LONG AS I AM CAREFUL AND USE SOME COMMON SENSE....SHOULD I BE WORRIED ABOUT THIS GUY HURTING ME?I HAVE NOT HAD ANY PROBLEMS OUT OF HIM AND TO ME HE SEEMS TO HAVE A GREAT DISPOSTION....
THANKS FOR ANY IMPUT,
D.J.
Link

Well where to start. Can't really tell you much about price, looks like a normal to me, and def cant tell the sex from photos. A Retic that size I would feed a few of the largest rats you can find, or one good sized rabbit, 2-3 lbs, every 2-3 weeks. Temp I recommend during the day: 90-92 basking spot, 80-85 ambient, 77-80 cool side. You shouldn't keep a regular house hold bulb on at night, but red heat bulbs would work, along with a heat pad as long as you can regulate the temp of it, they tend to get reaal hot. You shouldn't let the temps get lower than 75 and you can't let it go past 70. You should always be worried about him being able to hurt you, he is a large commonly aggresive snake. Treat them with tons of respect, never let your gaurd down even if you think he has a "good disposition". Constant handling will help a lot with time. Hope this helps.

A 2lb rabbit every 3 weeks? lol that's light, I'ld do 3lbs weekly, but that me.

Sure you could do that, but in the end you would have a very heavty large overfed Retic on your hands if you were to feed some of the largest prey items you could give him weekly. I agree with your schd if you are trying to fatten up a skinny snake, or prepare them for breeding, but IMO it's better to feed on a lighter schd, rather than feed to the limit of what your snake can take. For example, I feed my 13ft 70 lb burm a 5 lb rabbit every 3-4 weeks and she still looks fat and I'm told she is fat by my vet. What does everyone else think?

A burm is a burm, do u know how hard it is to "overr feed" a growing retic? Obesity comes once they thicken out, but at 9ft, i doubt it has even started. My 15ft girl hads been fed 7-10 lb rabbits weekly and is still growing, not even fat yet only close to 55lbs, so I really don't think you can over feed em early.

Well that's what we call power feeding, if you like doing that then thats fine what can I do about it. I could eat a bunch of 16oz steaks everyday but I dont, and I dont have to. Snakes could eat massive amounts of food each week, but over feeding is a main cause of shortend life in many snakes. Just because they CAN eat that much doesnt mean they SHOULD. What problems have you seen with a lighter diet rather then massive rabbits each week? I've never seen any problems with a 2 weeks diet for older larger snakes but have with over feeding.

It's not called power feeding, it's called proper diet. Ask anyone on all the major forums. And if it were power feedind, wouldn't my female be OBESE? How come she's lean if I "power feed" her. If I were power feeding her I'ld be giving her 2 20lbs rabbits weekly and I still doubt she would get obese. u wrong

i agree with Savvgawd, just because he can and will eat that much doesnt mean that he should. maybe he wont become obese but it does shorten its life span. just my thoughts.
Bob McLoughlin

I'm pretty sure both of you are right. Savvgawd is right because retics can be absolutly fine on that, it's healthy and it's fine to do. BMX is right also, I don't think he is power feeding, but for people that might be looking to breed their snakes, bulking them up is a good idea, and a rabbit a week is fine. So there is no need to say harsh comments like Savvgawd doesn't know a lot about retics, because from his collection, he knows something and it's working out great! Just trying to give my 2 cents, but you both are right, so no need to argue!
~Ben R.

A retic is much different than a Burm. It is almost impossible to overfeed a retic. I feed all retics weekly. Never skip more than one week.

Looks healthy from here. I ain't gettin' in this spat about feed size and schedules, but if you know what your friend was feeding it and how often why don't you stick to that for now? Seems to be the thing to do in my opinion.

Quig