Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought a tiger, male, 1.2 meters long. But he is too fierce, can not handle it, could anyone give me some ideas, and how to make it domestication plz? Many thx!

Put an unwashed t-shirt in his cage so he gets used to your scent. Give him a few weeks to acclimate. Do you know about retic feeding response and how to cancel it with a snake hook before handling? Bill
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...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 will do it as you told me, and I know how to use the snake hook.
By the way, could you tell me How old retic pythons can breed plz? Or, what size can breed plz?

Hi

Here is some info I posted on RTB for someone that needed help with there retic. I hope this can help you out too.

When I first got Tigger in 9 / 2005 she was not tame at all. It took me about 3 months to tame her. Here is how I worked with her to tame her down.

For the first week I used the snake hook to touch her a few times and I would just put my hand on her body and the hook holding her head. I did this for about 2 or 3 minutes a day. I also put my shirt I was wearing in her cage at night so she would get use to my scent. I did the shirt trick for about 3 1/2 weeks.

The next 2 1/2 weeks I would use the hook by her head and pet her on her body. She would jerk her body and throw my hand off but I would put it right back on her. I did this for about 15 minutes a day.

Then after the 2 1/2 weeks I still did the same thing but I would also pet her head. I did this for about 5 to 7 days.

Then I started to take her out of the cage for about 10 to 15 minutes every day. I would let her go just about any ware she wanted to but I would not put her down. I did this for about a week. I still would pet her in her cage just about every day.

The next week I started to let her crawl around on the floor. But I had to use the snake hook to pick her up as she would strike at me.

After about 1 or 2 weeks she was fine with me then I started letting my kids pet her when I had her out in the house.

The first time I took her outside (this was about 6 to 7 months after I got her) she when right back to wanting to strike at me so I had to use the hook with her.
After about 2 weeks she was fine outside with me and I even let my kids pet her too.

I still use the hook every time I open her cage to take her out. All I have to do is touch her head now and she knows it is not feeding time.

The only time I would not do anything with her was on feeding day and the day after. Tigger use to stays in feeding mode for about 1 to 2 days back then now only a few hours after she eaten.

Tigger has only bitten me one time in 2006 and it was just a little bump on my hand and it was to let me know she did not want to come out as she was deep in shed. The bite did not even bleed, just 2 or 3 little marks in my hand. When she is deep in shed I will not take her out of her cage but I can open it up and pet her. Tigger has become one of my tamest snakes I own, and she is not head shy at all. I believe this is because when I first got her I would pet her head allot. I don't even have to use a snake hook any more when I open her cage. She does have bad shed allot so after she starts to shed I put her in my bath tub and help pull all the old skin off of her. I think she does this on propose as it seems like she like it.

There are pictures of her on my website if you would like to see them. http://www.mccarthyboas.com/Tigger.html
If you have any question and want to talk to me just e-mail me your phone number and I will call you.

I always mess with Tigger's head at home when I have her out so she is use to people touching her head. I can even slap her on her side or even hold her head and give it a good shake and she don't care any more. I have done this for years with her. I even let my kids at home play with Tigger allot to help her get use to children. When ever a snake person is over at my home they can't believe how tame she is and the stuff she will put up with. After owning snakes for 34 years I feel I can read most snakes attitude pretty good at least the ones I own.

Update 10 / 2011
Tigger is probably the tamest snake I own now and I don't even need to use a hook on her any more to get her out of her cage.
She is now over 16 feet long and 90 lbs.

Take care
Tom McCarthy
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McCarthyBoas.com

Thank you so much! I will follow the infor which u give it to me to tame my tiger.

Hi Tom,

Very thx for your experiences!

Could you give me ur email address and phone number plz? I want to buy a large number of boas from you.

Could you give the email address to my email:wwn_kevin@hotmail.com

Merry Xmes!

Kevin

That is very much how my 2.5 year old Tiger is as well. Completely tame, very friendly, treats me like I'm a tree with branches. I think last time I used a hook was over a year ago. Since then just hands.

He is 14.5 ft long at about 60lb and eats a rabbit every 3 weeks. Unlike my Ball, be is always happy to eat thawed food and has never in his like refused a meal After eating he has a feed response for no more than an hour or so. Then its to the water dish to bath, then the heatlamp to digest under.

A week after sleeping off the meal he active and then for about 2 weeks (till his next meal) he is a very friendly and curious snake walking around the house as he pleases, including getting in a bath tub to take a swim.

In 2.5 years the only time he bit me was when I was talking on the phone and accidentally stepped on his tail. Not hard, but clearly hard enough. It took him 10 sec to slowly move his head to look at his tail, look at my foot, and then plant a quick 'warning bite' on my foot. I have 60-70 small incisions all bleeding little drops, but honestly it was more of a surprise than pain feeling for me. Obviously it was an accident on my part and just a quick reminded not to do it again on his part, so all is well.

That was 9 months ago and he's never shown any anger or even threatening behavior since.

Video is about a year ago