I have a 4.5 foot 1 year old retic (partial dwarf). She is very calm out of the enclosure but has a high feed response.
Getting her out of the enclosure hasn’t been terribly difficult but is always a bit sketchy. I take my time and rub/block her head with a hook.
I took my first bite from her tonight. I was putting her back in the enclosure and the second her head went back into the cage I could tell she went into feed mode. She had my hand still wrapped as an anchor and decided I was food. She pulled back out of the cage and bit and constricted my hand.
It’s very clear that she associates her cage with food. Has anyone broken this association with their snake?
So I’ve never kept Retics, however I do know a little bit of their behavior.
Retics and even more so Dwarf Retics are kind of notorious for being bitey, whether or not that is because of food aggression- I’m not sure. A friend of mine keeps non-Dwarf Retics and every time I’ve interacted with them I’m always warned that I might get bit and that they are really food responsive.
I do keep and deal with Brooksi Kingsnakes though and I have the same issue, even though they are a much smaller species lol. About 6/10 times that I interact with them I usually end up with a bite, thinking my fingers are food.
The best advice I can realistically give is to let the retic come out of their enclosure on their own, where they are not used to being fed so you can then begin to work with them, monitoring their behavior closely and keeping a snake hook at your side at all times. As well as having someone accompany you whenever you handle the Retic in case of a bite or coiling because whenever that snake reaches 10-12 feet or more and it gets you, you’d be in big trouble being alone.
And when you put them back in their enclosure keep your hands/arms away from their head, guide them to the enclosure and let them move into the enclosure on their own. If you have sliding doors, just keep it open enough for them to move inside but not to be able to turn back around and bite you.
If she is having a feeding response, you need to rub her down with the hook until she turns away from you and/or goes the other way. At that point try to grab a coil somewhere in the first third of her body. If she will not go away from you, turning her head away from you then keep your hook within about 8 to 10 inches of her head and direct your head away from you while grabbing that coil. Once you have your hands on her, she should stop.