Did you ask what percentage SD these snakes are and/or the pairings that produced them? For you that will be very important if your county is instituting a 10' regulation; I wouldn't touch anything under 75% SD unless you plan to move soon. My two year old 100% het purple 50% SD females are almost that long. They are just starting to get thicker versus longer so I would not be surprised if both top 10 feet next year.
Yes SD males are often flighty jerks. I have a pure adult, he's eight feet, territorial, and I wouldn't ever fool with his enclosure with him in it. He comes out and is either held by me or my husband, taken outside for some exercise in the yard if the weather is good, or he goes into a temporary tub if his enclosure needs attention and only one of us is available. Of all my snakes he's the most likely to defecate while being handled, even without obvious "sausage butt". He is also the most obnoxiously foody snake I've got, none of my other retics come close. The others, along with the boas, will get into the "hopeful/hunting/begging" stance, but he'll go nuts striking the cage door and even the RHP if he thinks he's getting fed.
Also bear in mind that like teenage boys, chill baby retic males can turn into obnoxious doo-doo heads when they start getting interested in girls.
Not all males push. I have two that don't - the pure SD and a purple mainland - and a platinum tiger that does if he doesn't get out for a slither every few days. It's an individual/husbandry thing. When you get a pusher you tweak their environment until they're happy.
Also just to clarify what you purchased (I added what I think are their birth years):
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I ended up purchasing a total of 4 super dwarf retics:
- the yearling anery, het purple female (2014? A yearling should be 2015.)
- along with her sire, a 3 year old adult purple albino, het anery (2013?)
- 1.1 super dwarf platinum anery tigers (Both 2016?)
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Now to the 2013 adult male. I had been told he was about 6 ft and puppy-dog tame and when I had asked Craig what he had been feeding him, his reply was eats anything anytime - not what I was asking.
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Did you ask him to clarify his response?
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First thing I saw when opening the bag was shed on his back. I got him fully out of the bag, expecting him to be in shed, but once he was out I realized is was older shed.
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Retics are "enthusiastic" about shedding. As they grow up, shed often comes off in pieces, rather than in one long piece like you would find with a boa or smaller python, even if kept at humidity levels that a BRB would find comfortable. If his eye caps and tail tip were clear and he didn't have a ring of shed anywhere, I would have left it alone.
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Now he was pretty flighty and never held still, so I didn’t ever get a good look at his face.
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Most snakes are going to be stressed or PO'ed coming out of a shipping box. You still need to inspect them thoroughly.
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I placed him in a sterilite tub with some warm water and closed the lid. When I got him back out, I was able to get the shed off him,
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This was totally unnecessary and probably just stressed him out more.
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then managed to get him into a clean tub to let him settle in(I had ordered a 4 ft animal plastics tank, which was delayed).
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Did you ask Craig to hold him until either the AP enclosure arrived or you could set up a better temporary enclosure?
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Next morning, I open the tub to check the water, since the snake was pretty flighty going in. That’s when I notice the messed up mouth. Of course at this point I wasn’t sure if he came that way or if he did that in the tub overnight. I didn’t contact Craig at this point, as I was put off on his reply about feeding and decided to just deal with it. Couple of days later, when I checked on him again, he had managed to get sani-chips stuck all along his gum line and rubbed a sore spot on his nose.
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As an FYI for the future, all new snakes should go on paper, preferrably pre-treated with mite spray. I assume new critters come with free mites and an RI, and set up the enclosure accordingly the day before the snake arrives.
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I called a friend, who keeps burmese and retics, to come help me. First off, I get tagged trying to inspect his mouth closer. My friend then grabs him, so I can clean out the mouth. Poor snake totally freaks out and urinates and defecates all over the place.
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Even the most chill retic can throw a fit if you restrain him and mess with his mouth. Mine nailed a vet tech from neck to knee with musk, feces, and urine because she got to hold the back end while the vet was inspecting an abcessed tooth.
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Since my friend thought she saw bubbles, I go ahead and make a vet appointment. Things didn’t go too bad at the vet, but antibiotics are prescribed. He’s since been moved to a 90 qt tub on paper towel, still seems to be rubbing a bit. My daughter and I managed to get the antibiotic injections done and the big tank finally arrives.
Once he moves in there, it becomes pretty obvious that he’s more like 8 ft, definitely not a 6 ft snake. He goes into shed at that point, has been eating weekly without hesitation. Once out of shed, I resume feeding and finally, there’s poop for the first time in the 4 ft tank. Pretty close to the center, near the front of the tank - just behind the support bar on the ap tanks. Finally in the afternoon, he’s in his hide after he had been lying near it for most of the day. I get my snake hook and move the garbage can closer to clean up. As soon as I slide the door open, he pops his head out of the hide and starts towards me slowly. I grab the hook to nudge him away from me, as he attacks the hook and wraps around it like he’s going to destroy it, while throwing his lower body out the wide open sliding glass door. I end up pushing the snake hook towards the far corner from me, while using my other hand to “stuff” him back in and finally get the door closed.
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This is a food response. Tap/hook training helps, and rubbing a drop of lemon-scent hand sanitizer on the hook really helps to get them to back off; snakes don't like that smell at all.
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Now I can deal with flighty and don’t have to handle every one of my snakes, but don’t want to keep one that I can’t even clean up after.
I placed an ad on fauna and facebook to sell the male. Craig contacts me, wondering why I’m selling him. He does offer to take him back and give me a motley baby instead. I had been hoping for something along the same genetics to go with the anery, het purple female. When I contact him about the motley, Craig says it’s not doing to well and offers a het lavender male and tells me that lavender is compatible with purple, also that he’ll be getting the pied in a couple of days. However, he’s not willing to give that as “trade” for the purple albino male.
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A pied is a much more expensive morph so I can see why Craig wouldn't make that trade. It's also a morph that is well known for being difficult to handle. Both pied and lavender are mainland morphs that will grow to well over 10'. Neither of these would be appropriate in your situation.
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Once I get the male back to him, I ask for a refund rather than wait for another baby. He adamantly refuses and threatens to send the purple albino male back to me, so I agree to just wait for another baby.
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You returned the male not because he was mis-sexed, the wrong morph, or initially presented as sick, but because you can't handle his temperment. With most vendors that only entitles you to store credit on a different animal, and then only if they are willing to take it back. Many will not.
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Now I just realize he stated “getting the pied in”, so I ask more about the purple albino male. Turns out, it wasn’t his personal snake to begin with, he had gotten a group and that male didn’t fit into his projects.
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Better-known breeders often buy and resell "wholesale" lots, as not every private breeder wants to deal with sellers. Always ask if the seller produced the snake, and if not, how long has he had it and who did produce it.
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At this point, I was still willing to give him the benefit of doubt and assume he had been lied to when purchasing that albino male. But then I see him post ads of that male on fauna and facebook. At least he’s listing him as being flighty, but he states 4 ½ ft length in one, 5 ft length in the other. Not to mention it’s now a 2014! He’s grossly misrepresenting that snake and now I don’t know what to believe anymore. If my 2014 really is his daughter, are mine really super dwarf at all and can I trust him to send me a replacement, that will be a super dwarf.
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Those are valid concerns and I would want answers to those questions.
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Granted, he did take that male back, but being new to retics, I would never have purchased him in the first place, if Craig had been honest about his temperament.
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He may be perfectly fine with Craig, who being more experienced, would know how to break a food response, or how to read and handle the snake so it acts calmly.
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I certainly paid super dwarf prices and was explicit in not wanting anything that would go over 10 ft - we have some county regulations we’re currently fighting, but that may end up the length limit, before requiring a permit with ridiculous stipulations. This is not about the money, though it is a tough loss. Lesson learned - I will NEVER purchase another adult snake online!
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The only way you will be certain of having a retic that stays under the 10' limit will be to purchase very high percentage or pure SD's.