To buy or not to buy

[herpitologica]

I'm going to try not to ramble on for hours here,basically i'm seriously considering buying myself a retic.Probably one of the rarer morphs(irelevant).I have around 14 years experience in keeping reptiles,had a very large female boa for quite a few years,she was a real pleasure to keep and very placid.Feeding isn't a problem, i have free access to all the foods needed,space isn't a hastle either as i'm planning on dedicating a room to the snake(eventually).I think what i want here is advice from keepers who have taken care of these snakes,is it a reasonable idea if i'm commited to it or is it a stay the hell away from retics story?I'm not one of those guys who buys a snake then flogs it off when it gets to big,i just want some tips i guess.All advice appreciated.

[Constrictor Girl]

herpitollogica speak to Dan the Man "Burmbuddy" he has alot of experience with these animals, and his snakes are MASSIVE!!! He has got me hooked and now just waiting for some babies turn up!!

[herpitologica]

Ok thanks constictor girl i'll try get hold of him.been wanting a retic since as long as i can remember,think its time now.Thanks for your help.

[Snow]

Hey there,

retics are awesome animals,
I have been keeping then close on 8-9 years now,
if you have any questions drop me a PM

you wont be sorry getting a retic

[top dog]

My retics are far from giants but i will say they are amazing snakes. They just seem more switched on than all the other constrictors i have kept, calm and a pleasure to handle aswell. Just monster feeding response, and i believe they can count to, they are always up and down on feeding days.
Get a retic it will be worth every second

[herpitologica]

Thanks for the replies,it all seems positive so far as in no stories of maniac retics that just do their best to nail you each time you open the cage lol.I guess that comes down to individuals aswell,i mean i have 2 texas ratsnakes from the same batch,the one is like chuck norris on crack and the other is as calm as can be.I'm hoping to find a very calm retic lol.

[Bushviper]

I was once told about different morphs "same snake ... different paint" however I do believe some are way more placid than others. If you get a nice captive bred animal and raise it yourself then you stand a much better chance to have a decent specimen. They do have powerful feeding responses and you need to "train" them when you are working with them and when you are feeding them. Feeding dead food also goes a long way towards keeping the relationship on an even keel.

Keeping just one morph is silly although if it is a co-dom morph then you can always breed it at a later stage quite readily. Females would be the easiest to pair up although males dont grow quite as big.

Dwarfs will be the next "flavour of the month". Visual morph dwarfs and super dwarfs are very very expensive.

Nobody who owns a retic ever says "food is not a hassle" because they can really give you a run for your money.

[herpitologica]

I'm hoping to get a hatchling so that i can start handling right away.When i said no hassle,my girlfriends dad owns a few farms and they often have dead piglets and lambs etc.I know they start off on mice and then rats but at least i have a bit of a headstart on the bigger stuff lol.I have read about tap training on the forum before,think i'll go down that line.I definately want to start on one of the "calmer" morphs if at all possible.I have been looking quite a bit on prehistoric pets website and was just wondering what sort of morphs are floating around here in SA?This is the next big step up for me and i'm really excited about it.Thanks guys.

[Bushbaby]

lol You need to watch this space because within the next 2 years the retic morphs will be booming on the market. I do have to agree, hatchlings are the way to go. These snakes need to be handled A LOT!!

[herpitologica]

Lol i know snow has super tigers and BV brought in a few great morphs a while ago,that's also a good reason to get going on these beauties.I see some morphs going in the US for 20 000 dollars,bit steep.

[Burmbuddy]

This might be a buit old-I have been out of the world for a while with work....

But here is my 2c.

Nobody who did their research and bought a captive bred baby retic and raised it up right was ever sorry.

They are not agro IMO, but rather more high strung as babies and more confident as adults.
Ask one of the forum members/ if you can come for a visit (pref somebody who has adults) and handle these guys yourself (good idea to bring your GF/Wife along as they are pretty much a fam deal). Welcome to drop by my place if you are in CT, give me a call though as I cant get to the forums as often as i would like these days (084 888 0474).

The morpfs are a good investment at the moment, but they are not ball pythons and female mainland (giant) retics usually wont breed before they hit 4 years of age at the soonest (you can ask Gavin-Snow, he knows all about waiting for a female to give the male THAT look...) and if you are working out the return on your investment i would suggest working on 6-8 years before you see a profit...but that is also a good thing as there are few guys in SA to have bred them, thus your investment is much saver than say albino balls where there are 12 year olds who can corner/trash the market as they please.

Depending on you situation food is not THAT much of a issue, there are guys that sell rabbits cheaper if you buy in bulk. I feed mine piglets (I also sell the piggoes as paying R 50 a rabbit is INSANE IMO).
If I cant get piggoes down here (main pig operation is in JHB) I take the shot gun and feed them whatever I can get my sights on (just make sure you remove the pellets) veried diet is good IMO.

Cheers
DAN

[JPWittstock]

You wont go wrong with Retics trust me. They are really nice animals to keep.
Tap training is really effective with them as they love food.

JP

[herpitologica]

Burmbuddy i will definately give you a shout if i'm in Capetown sometime,would be good to get a proper idea of the setup needed to keep these giants happy.Theres a guy on youtube(prehistoric reptiles)who is just breeding the craziest morphs out.I wouldn't mind seeing snows setup sometime too.So if i understand correctly you can pretty much feed them anything that you can get in quantity eg.springhares,pigeons etc??Please explain tap training,then i'm done with questions lol.Thanks for all of your help and advice.

[Burmbuddy]

Hi man. No problem.

The more questions the better.

From when they are babies just gently tap them on the nose before handling, cleaning etc with something (I use a 2by4 around 1m in length). Anything that happens that is not food related you tap them, the idea is not to hit them at all, it is juts a very gentle touch to make them aware that this is not feeding time. When food is around you dont come near their head with anything. Retics usually get this down within the first couple of weeks and I cant imagine having untrained adults.

Yea, Prehistoric Pets has some interesting stuff to put it mildly...LOL

It depends on the quality of food you can get them on, piglest are top of the list IMO just from what i have experianced. But I have fed mine some other pray animals (all frozen for about a week to kill any internal bugs) if the transport takes too long or supply is running low. If you are 100% sure there are no piosens involved then you should be fine for the most part. There is a guy in the US who basically wants to feed his retic every wild mammal that comes from his state. Last when I saw he had fed it anything from Bob-cats to Racoons to dear to skunks and the animal was over six meters long and 10 years old, so I dont think it did her any harm.
But you need to be carefull and use your own judgement and I would certainly not recommend going out and "hunting" for your retics on a regular basis...

Cheers
DAN

[Snakes4Africa]

The morpfs are a good investment at the moment, but they are not ball pythons and female mainland (giant) retics usually wont breed before they hit 4 years of age at the soonest (you can ask Gavin-Snow, he knows all about waiting for a female to give the male THAT look...) and if you are working out the return on your investment i would suggest working on 6-8 years before you see a profit...but that is also a good thing as there are few guys in SA to have bred them, thus your investment is much saver than say albino balls where there are 12 year olds who can corner/trash the market as they please.



Cheers
DAN

Not to go off the topic here, but how many 12year-olds do you know who have cornered or crashed the Albino Ball python market here? Furthermore, ball pythons produce clutches of around 6 to 8 eggs on average whereas Retics can easily produce around 30 eggs in a clutch. Three or four successful breedings and the Retic market here will be full whereas it will take many years to meet thedemand here for Ball python morphs. Everybody can safely and affordably house and feed a few ball pythons but the same cannot be said of retics.

I am not saying this to put you off getting a retic or two but as an investment species here in South Africa I have my reservations as far as Retics are concerned. Don't get me wrong, I love my Retics... they are most certainly one of my favourite species