I’m interested in getting into retics in a few years, just don’t want a big on. Are they’re any super docile ones that only grow to like 8 ft?
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I know there are Dwarf Retics but I don’t work with Retics. Someone will likely have more to say about it than me but I’d look into reputable breeders for Dwarfs. And keep in mind that “Dwarfs” may still get to a respectable size for a snake, considering that Retics themselves are some of the largest snakes on the market by length.
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Thanks. I know this already, I just want to know if there are any retic morphs that are naturally smaller. (You already know I like colorful morphs, you already read my last post). I heard that goldenchild is a smaller morph, can you confirm? Also, how dangerous are retics? I’ve heard of them killing and eating people, and I want to enjoy my snake as a pet without being terrified every time I get near it.
Edit : When I say I know this already, I don’t mean it in a rude way. I’m just saying I already know about Super Dwarfs and Dwarfs.
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I can’t give you any info on whether or not morphs of Retics affect their size or not, as I said I don’t work with Retics and their morphs so I wouldn’t know.
I’ve personally never heard of a captive-bred Retic killing a human being. Their behavior depends on the person that takes care of them, it takes a good responsible owner to handle them, work with them frequently, provide them the diet and secure hosuing they require if you want to avoid bites/defensiveness/aggression. You are honestly at more risk of injury/death from owning a large breed dog than you are having a Retic imo, and I’m an owner of both large dogs and large snakes lol.
(Edit): One more note is that if you do ever get a Retic, I highly reccomend having a buddy system where you can have someone assist you and be with you while you handle adults just in case something does go wrong.
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SD AKA super dwarf retics are a lot smaller than any other retic you’ll get your hands on.
Also they are not going to get longer than 11 feet, if you get a male.
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Thanks! Any other info I should know?
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there are multiple different localities, I have been looking into the Kalatoa SD retics myself, also like @cmsreptiles said there is Dwarf retics which can be different localities or even when a super dwarf’s percentage is lower than 50%.
check out “reach out reptiles” for absolutely everything you could want to know about super dwarf retic’s (accept care guides for some reason).
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right above is a link
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There is a ton to unpack with this.
“Dwarf” and “Super Dwarf” are not scientific terms. A couple of the island localities are pygmoids that are smaller than the mainland species. This is due to food availability and or prey size. Some of those islands the animals only eat once a year during migration. Not all of them have been there long to be genetically tiny, some of them are just physiologically tiny due to limited ability to feed.
I’ve seen both Jampea and Kalatoa pure “super dwarfs” animal fed up to 10-11’ and the same girth as a normal mainland at that size. A balanced diet with either of those species will typically ensure an animals that ends up under 10’. Some even under 8’. I would never 100% count on being under 10’ as an adult.
Size is both polygenetic and simply inherited. Meaning in most cases big snakes make big snakes and small snakes make small snakes. However, when you make a hybrid or just diverge dramatically with polygentic traits, you have the possibility for it go either way. There can be a large number of genes that determine size. We have no idea what that number could be. It could be 8 or it could be 20.
The reason this matters is that all of the cool morphs in retics, come from mainland animals. The small retics have had the morphs bred into them from the large retics. So there is every possibility any “dwarf” retic that has a morph will still reach 12-14-18ft in length. To further diverge the two populations they are actually distinct species. There are at least 4 species of Reticulated python. Unfortunately anything in the hobby without lineage information is typically a combination of all of them.
As far as temperament goes, pure super dwarf animals that will reliably stay the smallest are usually very spicy. If you end up with a snake that’s even 8’ with a real retic attitude, it’s not for the faint of heart. A 12+ ft retic that’s agitated, a serious proposition even for an experienced handler. I used to have an Orange Glow Tiger that even at 10’ would put fear into people who had a lot of handling experience. On a bad day he could even give me a run for my money. I wouldn’t enter into the retic world without a mentor honestly. Even if you get a big dumb 20 generation captive bred morphed out mainland. Retics really are next level.
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This is exactly why I say even “Dwarf” Retics can still reach a respectable size, also keeping in mind of this-
I was actually unaware that Retics where a more spicy and unhandleable species, but it is understandable of the risk since they get so large. Though the only interaction I’ve ever had with a Retic was a “wild-type” juvenile that was extremely mellow. It is good to know as a person who has wanted to get into other species of large snakes outside of Boas. I’ve been told in the past that Boas are actually harder to handle than Retics because they are much more muscular and heavy-bodied 
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It’s so crazy to me to see the hobby reach a point where attitude and extreme defensive behavior aren’t known as the norm for Retics anymore. Ten years ago about half of them still wanted to take your face off. 20 years ago, almost all of them did.
Boas feel stronger lb for lb, but the record for most force exerted constricting is still a retic. Until you’ve handled a 15’ 100lb animal you really can’t understand how intense an adult retic is.
The thing with size is, most people drastically overestimate the size of their animal. I haven’t seen anything close to a 10’ boa that wasn’t morbidly obese in a decade. The BI complex is so mixed, the average size has come down to 6-7’ for an adult. Even then, most people that show me a “6 foot” snake, it’s usually not even that long. Any retic is going to exceed the length of a boa in time. The Dwarf/SD craze is still new enough that most of the morphy stuff you see is 4-5 years old. They grow forever, in time they’ll all be bigger than any boa is going to get.
There is a stark reality of living day to day with a giant snake. The only retic I still have is a mainland. He’s a White Albino Phantom Sunfire. He’s 4.5 years old. He’s about 12’ long and 40lbs and has a very calm temperament. Everything about keeping him takes extra work. Retics don’t sit still like ball pythons, they move around like a corn snake. At the size he’s at now, he can barely be handled inside because he likes to grab ahold of things (ceiling fans, chairs, lamps, anything they can wrap around) and 12’ is long enough that you don’t quite have enough hands to keep all the moving parts out of trouble. They also tend to ‘surge’ when they want to go somewhere and even a tame retic requires a very skilled handler when it’s doing that at adult size. They’re not slow movers like burms so a 12’ retic can surge a full 12’ before you can react to it so you have to be intimately familiar with their body language. If they don’t want to go back into their cage it can be a huge pain wrangling them back in, especially if they start whipping their head around which they do often when you restrict their movements. A friend of mine has a 14’ 75lb Lavender female in his display room at his store. She surges a lot when she’s out. She’ll cover 40’ by the time you can count to 2 or 3.
Speaking of whipping around, if you annoy them too much, they have this fun trick they do where they helicopter their tail around and spray urine, urates, and feces around or on you. Tamer animals will rarely do it, but they all have it in the bag of tricks.
I can’t stress enough that as rewarding as retics are, they’re a serious proposition to live with.
And to reiterate, pure Kalatoa and Jampea animals which will stay the smallest are still more likely to behave like a real retic than a multi generation captive bred morph mainland is.
These photos are from last year. I’m 6’4 and my wife is 6’ tall to give a little reference. You rarely see photos of adult retics because they move around so stinking much.
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This is one of the retics I’m looking at. Do you think it’d be good for me in a few years? I plan on keeping some ball pythons and boa constrictors first.
Hi there,
I actually wrote a book on Reticulated Pythons. For an animal that only gets 8 feet long, you will need to get a pure Super Dwarf male. That can be a pure locality-type like a Kalaotoa, Karumpa, or Madu, a cross of those localities, or an animal whose entire lineage from a “Super Dwarf” island. There of course will be animals that stay 8 feet or under, but outside of a pure Super Dwarf male, they are exceedingly rare and hard to predict accurately their size potential. The only morph that is a pure Super Dwarf is Anerythristic and all others will be a cross with some percentage of Mainland heritage, which is what makes size predictions difficult. In terms of temperament, get a juvenile (< 1 year old) and follow behavior modification advice from someone like Lori Torrini so you have a snake whose temperament matches your needs. Most people do not want an eight-foot defensive snake, so the faster you work on behavioral modification and do it consistently, you have a better chance at being successful.
Best wishes,
Glen McClellan
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Wait a sec. Your saying that the only pure super dwarves are anerythristic, and your saying they’re more defensive? I’d rather get a larger snake that’s more docile than a smaller snake that bites me all the time. Also, why not get a baby Super Dwarf? You won’t imprint on it or anything? (What’s your book called?)
No what he’s saying is, other than wild type animals there is only one pure locality morph in super dwarfs. Kalatoa, madu, jampea are all places where insular dwarfism has occurred in Retics. Morphs are genetic mutations. So if you want a pure SD that is also a morph, it would have to be anery.
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You can figure that this animals will get about the size of that yellow retic I posted at least.
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