Want a retic

Got a ? yall retic owners. I've balls (bp's), balls too, but I'm talking about snakes right now. Anyway, I've read some can be cage aggressive, others not. I'm retired, so I can handle 'em daily. Now the ?. Pull 'em out of living quarters (retired military jargan) and feed in another enclosure, so he won't relate to me just pulling him out to let him stretch his scales and shouldn't hit me. But an enlcosure is an enclosure, right? Pull him out to feed, then pull him out to put him back in living enclosure. How will he differentiate between the two?

IMO a snake isnt smart enough to differentiate between a seperate feeding and non feeding enclosures. I feed all my snakes (colubrids, pythons, boas) in there cages, some are cage aggressive, others are not. Not to mention all of them start pacing when they smell the rodents being defrosted, so it doesnt really matter if i try to feed them in seperate cages anyways because they are already smell food and are excited. So no i do not think a seperate feeding enclosure is practical.

I would not recommend feeding a large constictor in a separate container. They have a very strong feeding response and it can take them a while to get out of food mode.

I would recommend hook training, basically, anytime you want to enter the cage to do anything besides feed, touch the snake on the head with a hook. Eventually it will learn when it gets touched by the hook then it is not getting fed.

Just my opinion, I've never kept retics but keep large boas and have heard horror stories from people about getting wrapped by a retic and burm when trying to move the snake from their food tub back to the enclosure.

good luck!

Thanks for the quick replies yall! I didn't think it was necessary to feed in another enclosure. An enclosure is an enclosure to them. I know my balls get excited when they hear their rack mates getting to eat. I saw a before pic of a metal storage shelf unit in the process of being made into an enclosure. I'm gonna do it. $90.00 for the 4'w x2'd x6'h unit. Come up about 1-1/2' for the base, widen it from 4' to 8' and have the left or right side come up from the base to 4' tall, the other side will just be a 1-1/2 tall. There's plastic 4'x8' sheets at lowes or HD like lamanite flooring that I'll cover the inside with and silicone it and put a plexiglass front. I'll post pic's soon.

feed inside its permanent enclosure and hook train. they will be able to tell by a tap on the head whether you are coming in to clean or take out, or if you are feeding. tap on the head a couple times, when you do anything else than feed. when you feed, open door offer food, it takes it, close door. thats the extent of interaction on feeding day

Originally Posted by RonzRoyalz

I know my balls get excited when they hear their rack mates getting to eat.

it's got to be something else - smelling the food, seeing the movement or feeling the vibration of your steps - they certainly aren't hearing anything. Not trying to be a smart A**, just pointing out that sneaking up quietly isn't going to work!

I bow to the advice of not removing a very large snake to feed it, but on the general point of "an enclosure is an enclosure" I beg to differ - my small boas are always removed from their main tank to feed, and they certainly recognise the feeding tub, and behave very differently in there from the way they do in their "home tank"

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@ Helen, duhhh, (hearing) I don't know how that spit out of my fingers as I typed and didn't catch it. Well congrat's to me!! I'll have my very 1st & only lav tiger retic next week!! I'll scetch out my idea above, scan it and post until I get the materials to build.

Here's a sketch of the retic enclosure made from a metal shelving unit from hardware store with wood sides, 1/8" recycled plastic sheeting
(like linoleum), and plexi glass front with locks. Metal shelving is rated @ 1000lbs per shelf.

Are you getting a hatchling or something bigger? That's a huge enclosure for a baby.

It's a baby, but I have a 41qt tub for him for now. That shouldn't be too big huh?