# Updated Super-Dwarf Retic Pic



## pitbulllady (Feb 28, 2009)

My male Super-Dwarf Retic shed his skin a couple of days ago, and actually shed in mostly one piece, which is unusual for a Retic.  They often wind up with shreds of skin hanging on them that have to be removed, no matter what the humidity is.  I decided to take a few pics of his iridescent loveliness, so here's the best one of the lot:







He's smaller than my male Black Rat Snake, by the way, even though he's a mature male that has sired at least one clutch of babies.

pitbulllady


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## Dom (Feb 28, 2009)

He's a beauty!
Hopefully people will breed these true so we can retain a managebly sized snake rather than crossing them out to other morphs/localities and potentially losing the small size. Many areas have size restrictions on snakes and the super-dwarfs are the only retic that may be allowable in these areas.
If I were to get back into snakes super-dwarf retics would be close to the top of my python list.


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## Boanerges (Feb 28, 2009)

Wow you nailed that pic!!! Perfect capture of the iridescent on him!!! He is Hot!!! And it is incredible that he is that small!!! Do you have any pics with him next to anything for size comparison???


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## pitbulllady (Feb 28, 2009)

Boanerges said:


> Wow you nailed that pic!!! Perfect capture of the iridescent on him!!! He is Hot!!! And it is incredible that he is that small!!! Do you have any pics with him next to anything for size comparison???



Here is a pic of him next to a hairbrush, taken with a different camera, on the same day, for a size comparison.







Unfortunately, places which have anti-"exotic" animal laws that classify Retics as potentially dangerous do not recognize that all Retics do NOT grow to enormous sizes or present a danger to people.  In fact, many such places consider BALL Pythons to be dangerous!  The current bills before the US Congress and Senate to ban the interstate trade in ALL Pythons, including Ball Pythons and other small species, is a good example.  The anti-pet, animal "rights" movement takes full advantage of the public's fear of snakes and exploits this to its fullest.  They leap with joy every time there is an unfortunate and preventable incident involving an exotic animal, like the recent tragic chimp attack in CT, since this gives them the added fuel they need to achieve their goal of an animal-free society, one species at a time, and there are a LOT of people right here on this forum who happily drink from the poisoned Koolaid of the AR movement, buying into the notion that the government needs to protect us all by banning everything and anything that has the potential to cause us harm or scare us.  For every person injured or killed by a captive wild animal, hundreds will drown in their own bathtubs and swimming pools or die in falls down flights of stairs, yet those incidents will never make the news or spark strong emotions and the insistence that the government "do something" about it.



pitbulllady


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## froggyman (Feb 28, 2009)

Holy crap! I think i have a new favorite snake...i always loved retics but not their size!


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## pitbulllady (Mar 1, 2009)

It's hard not to like these snakes, if you're a "snake person", that is.  Even people who really don't care for snakes at all are often intrigued by the pattern and that iridescence, and once you ever touch a Retic, and feel how amazingly soft and silky that skin is, it's hard to resist!  The Super-Dwarf Retics are a viable alternative for people who love the look, but not the size or the other hassles that go along with keeping a really big snake...like cleaning up really big messes.

pitbulllady


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## ballpython2 (Mar 1, 2009)

pitbulllady said:


> It's hard not to like these snakes, if you're a "snake person", that is.  Even people who really don't care for snakes at all are often intrigued by the pattern and that iridescence, and once you ever touch a Retic, and feel how amazingly soft and silky that skin is, it's hard to resist!  The Super-Dwarf Retics are a viable alternative for people who love the look, but not the size or the other hassles that go along with keeping a really big snake...like cleaning up really big messes.
> 
> pitbulllady


 I know all snakes have their own personality but temperment wise when you get a super dwarf retic as a baby is it nippy? how long does it take for these snakes to acclimate (sp) to you? and  are the SDRs just really long minus the all the muscle or is yours just looking this way for the time being until it really puts on weight?


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## pitbulllady (Mar 1, 2009)

ballpython2 said:


> I know all snakes have their own personality but temperment wise when you get a super dwarf retic as a baby is it nippy? how long does it take for these snakes to acclimate (sp) to you? and  are the SDRs just really long minus the all the muscle or is yours just looking this way for the time being until it really puts on weight?


I've never had one as a baby; I got this one when he was an adult, although I have handled babies at reptile shows, and none have tried to bite me.  Generally, CB Retics tend to be much less "nippy" than baby Burms do.  WC Retics are responsible for this species having gotten their bad rep for nasty dispositions, and considering that throughout much of their native habitat, they are extensively hunted for their skins, it's no surprise that they'd be extremely defensive. They do, though, have an intense feeding response that can be mistaken for aggression, and with a large Retic, can make for a dangerous animal to have around children or pets, or careless adults, if great care isn't taken to keep it contained.  Super-Dwarf Retics are genetically small, not made that way through starvation.  Many well-known Retic breeders have had adults for many years that have not exceeded six-seven feet, Rat Snake size, with the best possible care, and hatchlings are really tiny little things.  Not only are they smaller, but if you'll notice with mine, they tend to have a somewhat different head morphology as well, with a slightly "bug-eyed" and snub-nosed appearance in contrast to a normal-sized Retic.  Retics in general are NOT heavy-bodied snakes like Burms, but are fairly slender and much more adapted to an arboreal existance.  The really fat Retics are likely to be old animals, or those that are overfed, but in proportion to their length, these are slender-built snakes.  My snake has good weight for his length and plenty of muscle, believe me!  No Retic should ever be proportioned like a Ball Python, but are "wirier" in build and movement.  These snakes can move really fast, on the ground or in trees, unlike a heavy-bodied snake.

pitbulllady


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## johnharper (Mar 5, 2009)

How much are the super dwarfs going for these days? Also who did you get them from?

John


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## pitbulllady (Mar 5, 2009)

johnharper said:


> How much are the super dwarfs going for these days? Also who did you get them from?
> 
> John


Most of them are going from anywhere between $350.00 to 700.00, depending on the genetics.  Obviously, the morphs are more expensive, followed by the the hets.  I actually bought mine for $75.00 at a pet shop.  The previous owner had been deployed to Iraq for active duty, and had several snakes, including a pair of these.  He'd sold the female, but wound up having to sell several snakes, including the male, to the pet shop because he could not find anyone to keep them.  The pet shop owners were afraid of this snake because it was a Retic, and the only Retics they'd dealt with had been wild-caught imports, with the typical nasty-defensive disposition.  They really just wanted it out of the store, and when I kept inquiring about it, they dropped the price to $75.00 as an incentive for me to take him home with me!  I found out through some other acquaintances of the owner that this snake and the female had been purchased originally from Bob Clark. The genetics on this one is supposed to be 50% WC Kayuadi(a very small insular subspecies) x 50% Seleyar(another small island subspecies known for their bright yellow heads).  The Seleyars have really nice coloring and markings, unlike most of the smaller Retic subspecies, and are being used to "color up" the other Dwarf and Super-Dwarf lines, which are generally more subdued in color.  This cross is being bred to the Super Dwarf x albino strains to get small, nicely-patterned albinos, which sell for thousands of dollars at the present.

pitbulllady


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## Dillon (Mar 5, 2009)

Very gorgeous snake you got there.


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