Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently purchased a 4 month old male lavender albino retic from Bob Clark. For the first week and a half he was the most calm and tame snake. All of a sudden, overnight he did a complete 180 degree turn around. He is excpetionally nippy, and very different then when I first got hiim. I have had him now for about 3 weeks. He is about 40 inches long and is kept in a 20 gallon long glass tank. He has a heat pad underneath his cage that stays at 85 degrees. In the cage he has a nice size water bowl, and two seperate hiding spots. One is a ceramic pot with spagnum moss in it for humidity. He also has a dry cave heat spot, in which to choose from. He also has a basking light in the day time and a cermamic heater at night, on the same side as the head pad for added heat in that one area. It stayes between 90 degrees in the warm areas and about 80 on the other side of the tank.At the presesnt time he is shedding, so I have been leaving him alone. Is there any reason why the attitude change so dramatically over a one week period? Is it becuase he just needed to acclimate in his new enclosure and that is why he was timid before? I have had some retics before and they seemed to start off this way, and they improved with time. He is doing quite the opposite. His picture is on the third page in the retic pic section. Any advice or inromation on the best way to tame him down, and the reason why he changed will be more than appreciated! Also I am trying to keep his growth to a normal level, is feeding him every 10 days sufficient, or should I go every two weeks? I am trying to keep him healthy, so I can have him for a long time, and want to stay away from any power feeding.
Sorry the post is so long, and info will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Eric

You did say he was going through a shed. That's more than likely the reason he's a little nippy. They can't see well during these times and will sometimes strike at anything that moves that's close enough to strike at. Everything else, tank set-up wise, seems good. Let him get through the shed, feed him afterwards and see how it goes. Hope this helps.

Quig

Aquariums are for fish get that snake a real cage! If you can afford and albino retic surely you can afford a decent enclosure for him. Retics like it humid so privde overall humidity not just in a hide box. For a young retic it's basically impossible to overfeed them so every 10 days is fine and you can feed him more often if you like. If I were a dry, hungry retic living like a goldfish I'd be irritated too.

LOL, remind me to keep you in a proper enclosure. Good point though.

Quig

The humidity is around 75% constant....He gets sprayed at least four times daily. Also has the spagnum moss on the heat pad as well. I have always raised baby snakes in fish tanks, for over 10 years. I never had a problem keeping the humidity in the tank, usually keep it mostly covered with plexi glass.
Thank you for the critisism though...
Eric

Perhaps he doesn't feel secure as it's glass on all sides? I'm glad you mist him 4 times daily to keep his humidity up. At least you have a decent idea of his needs. Just because you've been putting snakes in fish tanks for 10 years doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. I assure you no retic breeder keeps any of their hatchlings in aquariums. You came looking for advice and I'm giving it to you. You can take my advice or leave it. You've been doing it for 10 years so why would you need my advice?

So hermitcore, ur saying fish tanks are for fish? well aren't sweather boxes well for sweaters? Also tanks cost more than those, so I dont think he is cheap. I see no point in buying youngins APs so I do use rubbermaids and tanks and have success, I see nothing wrong with it...
Good luck with ur retic, cover up the sides with newspapers and cover the vents with glass or wood, I do that

BMX thank you for responding to my question like a gentleman (woman)? ....I appreciate the help and info. Like I said before I have breed and kept many species of snakes, from colubrids to pythons and boa's. I have only had problems with taming down my albino burm, and was trying to prevent the same problem from happening with my new retic. (I already am attached)....Covering the sides of the cage sounds real good to me, for the security reasons. I am going to do that this afternoon. I appreciate all of the feedback. I will keep you all posted.
Thank you again.
Eric

You're welcome, and I'm a guy lol

LOL, sometimes ya just never know!!

Quig

Just wanted to put in my two cents. I've noticed with some of my retic's that they will occasionally switch temperaments, much in the way you have described. I haven't found that it is related to feeding as long as you've got them on a good feeding routine (I'd feed once every 5 to 7 days with a young retic, but that is my opinion). To be honest, I am unsure why they will do this, but it could just be that they have a bad day, or week. What I have done in that past and continue to do to this day, is to keep working with the snake, handling it often (once it has acclimated and is eating well). I use a good solid pair of welding gloves and let the snake move as it likes. I never grab any of the non-venomous snakes I work with behind the head, unless a medical procedure is being performed (i.e. a blood draw, etc.) I have tamed several different kinds of snakes ranging from a Sulawesi retic to an amethystine python, black pine snakes, anacondas, GTP's, and several types of lizards. The key is to keep handling the snake even if it bites, defecates, or urates on you. I firmly believe that snakes can learn and will learn to bite or relieve themselves on you in order not to be handled. Also, be patient. I have a super tiger retic that took over a year and a half to tame, and my w.c. amethystine took 3 years (kind of spooky working with that one. I actually had to wear a clear welding face shield [she would always strike for the face], thick Levi jacket, and heavy gloves during her "training". I hope this helps, and good luck working with your albino retic!
Regards,
Shane