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This is why I will never own anything bigger than a Morelia

I agree Heather. We have the hog island that can reach lengths to be our biggest snake. I love big snakes, they are so beautiful. However, I am realistic about my ability to care for them. I do not trust myself with them.
 
OOOOOOUUUUUUCCCCHHHHH..... hence why we keep the smaller snakes :) and admire/love the larger ones from a good distance....
 
Ouch! Well it just goes to show, a retic is not a pet to be acquired lightly. If you cannot commit to being able to take care of it when it gets huge, if you live alone, if you have small pets, if you have small kids, etc. They are gorgeous snakes, but I could only see keeping one if I had the cages, space, ability to commit, and a buddy to help handle it. It's cute when corns bite but that is a gruesome one.
 
I bet that leaves a cool scar! I wouldn't have thought a bite would look like that. It looks like a shark attack or something!
 
Retics are no joke. I owned a male and female pair when I was married and they were cute and gentle for the first few years, then (we are guessing) when they hit sexual maturity all bets were off. They were sold to Prehistoric Pets out in Vegas after my husband's second round of stitches. Males get extra combative during what they think is breeding season.

Unless you have a large near room size for an enclosure, it's foolish to think you can keep a large powerful snake like this. Leave retics to the zoos and people who have built facilities around them. You end up having to revolve your whole life style around them.

Never handle an adult retic alone. Period. Even the pros don't.
 
BloodyBaroness said:
Retics are no joke. I owned a male and female pair when I was married and they were cute and gentle for the first few years, then (we are guessing) when they hit sexual maturity all bets were off. They were sold to Prehistoric Pets out in Vegas after my husband's second round of stitches. Males get extra combative during what they think is breeding season.

Unless you have a large near room size for an enclosure, it's foolish to think you can keep a large powerful snake like this. Leave retics to the zoos and people who have built facilities around them. You end up having to revolve your whole life style around them.

Never handle an adult retic alone. Period. Even the pros don't.
Click to expand...

Exactly this!
 
Ouch! I can't believe they didn't shave the arm to keep the arm hairs clear of the wounds. But all I know about such things would barely fill a thimble....

Still looks painful as hell and I'm certainly glad those aren't pics of MY arm.
 
I like the "Idea" of a larger snake...IE Blood Python.

Retic? Burmese? Not a Chance! Way beyond my capabilities...and I know it.

It's bad enough dodging flailing corn teeth (Stop laughing nanci! ).

To those that have taken the plunge to own/keep the larger species.......

I wish you the best of luck!

One bit of advice that i am aware of....

Never...I mean NEVER allow a retic or burmese to make direct eye contact with

you! These guys are smart!
 
rich333 said:
I like the "Idea" of a larger snake...IE Blood Python.

Retic? Burmese? Not a Chance! Way beyond my capabilities...and I know it.

It's bad enough dodging flailing corn teeth (Stop laughing nanci! ).

To those that have taken the plunge to own/keep the larger species.......

I wish you the best of luck!

One bit of advice that i am aware of....

Never...I mean NEVER allow a retic or burmese to make direct eye contact with

you! These guys are smart!
Click to expand...
*Visual image* now I'm laughing. LOL

But seriously, it hurts when my juvenile Jungles bites me, & I'm really hoping I don't ever get bit by any adult Carpet Pythons.

No.way.in.hell. would I ever consider something like a Retic.
Of course, they're also illegal in my city (anything over 10 ft).
 
OOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW OUCH OUCH OUCH

Oh my godsdkajsja;lkja painful.

I think anything larger than a morelia should only be owned by the most dedicated reptile keepers. Because an 8' jungle carpet and an 8' BCI are two different animals. Granted the jungle is probably meaner, the BCI is stronger. A two person animal for sure. Not knocking any burm owners or anything, just thinking out loud.
 
Any constrictor over 6 ft should never be handled alone. the rule is one person for every 6 ft. Hardly anyone ever follows the rule though. Gets people hurt or even killed and creates more legislative fodder for the cannon. I've gotten some decent bites from my chondros but none requiring stitches. Have dug a few teeth out of my arm weeks later though.
 
Holy butt... this is yet another reason I love my Dumerils, the girls max at 8 feet and as long as I'm careful about feeding I don't *think* I'll have a problem. My girl is itty now though, just a couple months old. My male is 6 ft and I can handle him alone easily, though I prefer to have my fiance around (might as well say husband.) We also have a red tail boa, that's my man's snake though and he can handle her when she gets big lol. I worry about her, she's a wonderful snake but she has a crazy feeding response.
 
I wouldn't count on the "think it won't happen" theory. Most of the time my chondros know they aren't being fed if I just spray the cages...BUT...that one time I sprayed and reached in further to get a shed out and wham...slammed up against the cage door and a beautiful hematoma, bleeding and teeth embedded in the wrist. Never say never....and an 8 ft snake can leave ya bleeding depending upon where they get you. My friend was nailed by her green tree and it evulsed a piece of flesh from her thumb that hung like a flap. It was very, very messy and they are not even close to 8 ft long!
 
Our rtb is 6'6", the carpet python well over 7' and that's about as much "snake" as I like to handle. I don't feel retics, burms, anaconda's etc are for anyone but the most experienced keepers. We are potential food to any 20 foot snake; it may not choose to put you on its menu...but it could, and you vs a 20' constrictor is a bad headline waiting to happen. Jmho
 
BloodyBaroness said:
Unless you have a large near room size for an enclosure, it's foolish to think you can keep a large powerful snake like this. Leave retics to the zoos and people who have built facilities around them. You end up having to revolve your whole life style around them.
Click to expand...

And that is the problem. The common keeper rarely builds an enclosure that is suitable for a snake that size not sets up the precautions that allow safe handling of snakes that size. I've worked with some giant snakes in my years and common sense will take care of a LOT of the issues with these things getting you. Using shift cages and doors will eliminate a whole host of problems as well. I used to work with my large burms "alone" but that was because I was never really alone with them. I used shift doors and cages so the snake was always one cage away from me and there was always a door between me and the snake. I would clean up and leave food on the non-snake side and then remove the door when the cage was locked. The door was a 3/4 inch melamine piece that would divide the cage in half and I always kept the snake on one side while I worked on the other. It was the same type of deal when working with king cobras, retics, anaconda, large rattlers...anything that can really get you good.
 
El Jefe said:
And that is the problem. The common keeper rarely builds an enclosure that is suitable for a snake that size not sets up the precautions that allow safe handling of snakes that size. I've worked with some giant snakes in my years and common sense will take care of a LOT of the issues with these things getting you. Using shift cages and doors will eliminate a whole host of problems as well. I used to work with my large burms "alone" but that was because I was never really alone with them. I used shift doors and cages so the snake was always one cage away from me and there was always a door between me and the snake. I would clean up and leave food on the non-snake side and then remove the door when the cage was locked. The door was a 3/4 inch melamine piece that would divide the cage in half and I always kept the snake on one side while I worked on the other. It was the same type of deal when working with king cobras, retics, anaconda, large rattlers...anything that can really get you good.
Click to expand...


I agree 100%, those shifting cages are key. Best things in the world for large constrictors, or venomous.

Honestly I would like to see retics, burms, and anacondas go to a "have a permit to own" type of deal in all states. Vendors out to make money don't really have a lot of scruples when it comes to sales. I listened to some of the most unreal crap from a retic peddler at the Columbia show three weeks ago.

"If you hold them every single day, they will stay tame as kittens forever." Bull crap.

Nonsense like that only ends with more snakes owned by inexperienced people and more people doing stupid stuff with big constrictors. The average joe-blow hobbyist does not need a retic or a burm.

Both my ex-husband and I were very experienced with burms, so we figured the retics would not be that much more challenging. Wrong-o. Burms are slow and lumpy. Retics are big, slim, fast and wicked smart.
 
BloodyBaroness said:
I agree 100%, those shifting cages are key. Best things in the world for large constrictors, or venomous.

Honestly I would like to see retics, burms, and anacondas go to a "have a permit to own" type of deal in all states. Vendors out to make money don't really have a lot of scruples when it comes to sales. I listened to some of the most unreal crap from a retic peddler at the Columbia show three weeks ago.

"If you hold them every single day, they will stay tame as kittens forever." Bull crap.

Nonsense like that only ends with more snakes owned by inexperienced people and more people doing stupid stuff with big constrictors. The average joe-blow hobbyist does not need a retic or a burm.

Both my ex-husband and I were very experienced with burms, so we figured the retics would not be that much more challenging. Wrong-o. Burms are slow and lumpy. Retics are big, slim, fast and wicked smart.
Click to expand...
I definitely agree about the big snakes needing a permit to own.

I also think that anyone considering getting any one of those snakes should go visit an experienced keeper who has the proper setup for them, & talk to them about everything entailed in keeping them.
 
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