Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello!

i have kept large snakes my whole life mostly redtails and a couple of burmese. i have always been hesitant about retics due to their bad wrap as being aggressive snakes. well that of course is a myth and after handling several of my friends' retics, i fell in love. so.. my buddy is hookin me up with one of his 8month old retics. at 8 months she is already 6ft. and gowing fast. i am knowledgeable when it comes to temps, environment, feeding, etc. but wanted to see what advice you guys have for a novice such as myself.

the 8month old girl is very tame and is handled regularly (thats why my buddy recommended her as a good beginner retic). i wanna keep her puppy dog tame, any suggestions?

thank you all!!

Congrats on getting into retics-they are amazing snakes and the "king" in my opinion. You sound very knowledgeable about constrictors so forgive me if I say what you already know. Retics can be very calm-the least snake that I have been bitten by. You will find them much more alert, active, and intelligent than burms and boas. On feeding day all my other snakes could care less but when the food items are thawing the retics are on high alert. When a retic thinks it may eat all is forgotten and they are a legless t-rex no matter how tame they are and can keep their feeding response for up to 2 days after eating. Feeding inside the cage is very important so the retic always thinks it will not eat when taken out. They respond extremely well in conditioning with a touch/bump on their nose to cancel the feeding response. Always handle a larger retic with other people present that know what they are doing. Best of luck and enjoy-Bill.
-----
...three years ago it was just another snake cult...
The Retic is King.
Anacondas-the other Dark Side.
Afrocks-the dark side of the Dark Side.

thank you Bill!

i usually feed my snakes outside of their tanks but I am willing to take all precaution to better ensure a tame animal. also, i currently do not use any hooks to handle my snakes but heard that retics respond well to hook training. what are your feelings and should i get into this practice? i want her acclimated to my hand and not to just the hook.

thanks again!

Hook training is the way to go. Or you can use a big roll of paper towles so even if they are in a mood to bite (after feeding day usually)they don't hit a hard object.

My three biggest are live wires on feeding day and keep me on my toes. the rest are small enough that I don't worry to much about them tagging me. Most of my retics are SD's or SD crosses.

The hook is good. For me, just touching them with it says "hey, calm down it is time for handling" Once my hands are secured on them the hook is no longer needed.
-----
steve

Sounds like when i got my first retic last May. He was 6 foot when i got him and being fed 5 gerbils at a time. Switched him over to Guinea pigs and rabbits and now he's almost 10 feet and a lil over a year old.

The pet shop i got him from was afraid to handle him, and from what they told me only one woman ever handled him. They gave him to me for a huge pueblan milk, and once i got him home and fed for the first time, i worked on the handling. ive found using a hook is good for giving a tap to let him know you are there and check the snakes mood. i would then move him a bit to pick him up from about 1/4 to 1/3 they way down his body, letting the tail warp my arm and use a roll of paper towels to block any possible bites. I used this technique with crocodilians and it works good with "iffy" snakes. fortunatly my boy is a total wuss and lets me do anything. go figuire.

right now just work on getting 5 min handling sessions, and be as gentle and deliberate as possible. Retics remember, and you are working on building a trusting relationship. Any experience with you should be a positive one. good luck and keep us posted!

Thank you for all the great responses!

So she is in her tank with a good hide, low 60s in humidity, good temps, etc... i want her to get used to her environment before i attempt to do any handling. also, i was thinking better to leave her alone for a atleast half a week or so, feed her, then give her another 3 days to digest and then attempt to handle her. what do you guys think?

i handled her for 15 mins or so when i first got hr and she was very tame, it has been a couple days now and i went to go add another thermometer in her tank and she jerked in a feeding response, so i got the hell out of there. i understand i will get bit once or twice but i want to avoid that as much as possible and not handle her when she is "moody". did i do the right thing or should i have picked her up right away no matter how cranky she was?

my boas and burm have NEVER even attempted to bite me so this is all new to me.
thanks again yall!