I find my retics to be the easiest to read. A lot of people confuse a high feeding response for being aggressive. My female is extremely fiesty to say the least but I can always tell what type of mood she is in or if she’s going to strike.
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i agree, it just takes time and learning how to read them. i find them easier to read than my ball pythons. also i don’t think retics are aggressive or at least mine aren’t. they are more docile than my ball pythons as well.
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LOL 
I love that 
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I have some females that are WILD 
I’ve owned them for almost a year and they still tag me 24/7
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Oh yea…My girl gets all worked up on weekends when I’m feeding my other snakes but its not her week. I get close to that cage and her pupils get big as hell…Tongue goes crazy…And if I happen to absolutely need to get into her enclosure that day she’ll even go after the hook until she calms down and knows its not food time. She’s a sweetheart but I always keep my eyes on her when working in her enclosure and hooks not far away.
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I can’t work in the enclosure if my female is in it lol. I have to take her out and put her in one of the spare bedrooms! Have to do that everytime I give her fresh water so like everyday lol.
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lol, I feel that, tried helping my friend clean his female boa(can’t remember the exact species) he didn’t handle her much from work so she was pretty defensive. She was about 7ft7 when I was helping, that was the first boa I’ve been bit by but that was my fault since I didn’t know the snake well. Didn’t really hurt but it hurt, definitely not the worst bite I’ve taken but it wasn’t the best either. Somehow managed not to jerk my arm back, im guessing that’s why it didn’t hurt as bad as the past. Didn’t need any stitches, just cleaned it with alcohol like any other bite and was fine. He finally let her go to a new owner that’s been handling her every day, went to visit the new owner and he put her in my hands and I didn’t even know it was her. Just goes to show snakes aren’t aggresive but just scared and defensive. Who wouldn’t be scared if your just a noodle with a head?
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I say go with the SD retics. A SD from a small blood line will be around 100-350 grams at a year old, they grow slow so you really have time to build a relationship with the snake and develop your retic skills.
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I was an eighteen year old idiot when I got my first Burmese Python, in 1992. It was an albino burm I named Peaches, and I raised her up very near to breedable size over the next 2.5 years. She got too big for my home and lifestyle, of course. I sold her to a guy who proceeded to breed her successfully, and to great profit, for a decade, until his spiteful wife (not making this up) turned off the heat to his “snake trailer” in the middle of an Idaho winter, thereby murdering the vast majority of his animals.
The point being, Peaches was the most delightful, chill, large snake I’ve ever met, except all the other burms I’ve known. Burmese Pythons are wonderful snakes. I’ve never had a problem with them, even as a young idiot. They are too big for my tastes, and a serious threat if something does go wrong, but among the big snakes, I think they have the most delightful personalities.
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What the heck, that’s so messed up 
I wonder if she got any kind of fine or punishment for it eventually. That’s a horrible thing to do.
On the topic of burms though, I have no experience as of yet, but their reputation of being a gentle giant seems to hold true. I’ve met one in my whole life. I was around 14, and got to hold a large albino female during an educational show at a museum. She was gorgeous, albeit a bit over weight. But she was super curious and really well hook trained. Got to see their feeding response in action too. Was amazing.
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I used to not believe stories like this. Used to… people can be so cruel and heartless.
I think burms and retics both have great personalities on average. Both can be rewarding captives but both are snakes that take a huge amount of care and respect. Getting either as a hatchling will definitely let you get to know the individual animal before they before they are huge!
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It sucks what his wife did. But im ordering an 8ft enclosure when I order the burm. I have a 125g sized enclosure(dw it’s not an aqaurium) and I have a coospider fogger which I believe will work. I won’t have a problem with housing or taking care of him financially. Have a whole bedroom that I’m thinking about snake proofing and turning into a enclosure but that’s another topic for another day. Can’t wait for the burms to be ready!
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The story about George’s poor animals being murdered was not some kind of allegorical warning or anything, just how it went down. Sometimes I over-share.
@andrew1804 I think you have a great plan in place and you’ll have a rewarding life experience cleaning up those giant burm poos! Seriously, though, they are pretty great. Congrats in advance.
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Buy a 50% dwarf burm
Thanks @jeremy_anderson the only thing I’m not looking forward to is the giant poos, might make me jealous😒 but at least I’d have my 2nd favorite constrictor species, only because number 1 is burmballs only because who doesn’t want to see an 8ft snake curl into a giant ball😂
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My big snake story. Was asked about a year ago to foster a burmese python for a few months while the owner was away. It was unknown for how long but I was up for it seeing I have reptile experience. I viewed it as good experience for me to see if I would want to own a larger snake at some point. I was told it was very friendly and about 13 foot. I arrived to pick it up and turns out to be a retic that is about 11 foot. Not a deal breaker but was more prepared for a burm not a retic. After having the snake for a few months I learned quite a bit. A retics food drive (or atleast this ones) is truely insane. You could not walk past the enclsoure without her striking. Had to cover the front over to prevent her from injuring herself. You could not do anything inside the enclosure without completely removing her. Else she would assume you are food. This girl would pee atleast 3 times a week in the enclosure. Not much most the time but enough to be cleaned. When removing her with a hook she would stay in food mode for a good while before she would break. Once out she was a sweetheart. I enjoyed the short time I had with the snake but as a long term thing atleast that snake was not for me. It was about triple the cleaning and maintenance a week than I have to do with any of my other reptile. Then of course for safety I had to make sure one other person was in my home and knew I was removing her before I did. I do not always have someone around which is a concern when you are looking at a big mess and need to clean it. Eventually I made a poop scoop with a telescoping pole that I could remove waste and substrate in a pinch if needed without removing her from the enclosure. Not sure if this will help but this was my only experience with a large snake.
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