I need some opinions. I went to the pet shop with a friend with the intent of picking up another kingsnake. Got to looking, got to handling, peer pressure, and walked out with a Retic. My friend has loads of experience with bigg’ins (boas, berms, retics) and talked me into getting a "real" snake. Before a week ago, I’d never really thought about owning a boid. So I’ve been reading up and basically come to the conclusion that if I screw this up I’ll have a huge unmanageable snake that’s going to eat me. Here’s where the opinions part comes in. Do I keep the retic (female, currently 36") and learn about big snakes from the king of them all, or do I do the sensible thing and give her up?

So far I’ve handled her for at least an hour a day, she has shown no agressiveness at all, she’s eaten once (small rat - thawed) and her feed response wasn’t very aggressive either. I am using a hook to get her out of her aquarium because I’m a wimp and am being very cautious with regard to her handling.

If I keep her, what resources should I be on the lookout for with regards to learning how to handle and care for her properly in the long term?

On to the issue of keeping this snake or not, first of all do you know the sex for sure? You can start getting a guess of the potential size that the animal will get to, of course just because its male does not mean it cannot get as large as some females do.

You have to consider if you can provide the right housing and care for this snake throughout its life. Not just give it up when it gets too big, or neglect its care and needs because you cannot afford to do so. They have the potential to get 6-8 feet in their first year, given proper feeding, and of course a non picky eater.

Before you know it they will be eating rabbits, and the food they require will only get larger as they grow, so I recommend finding some local supply of prey such as rabbits, it can be really expensive going through it online, the rabbits may be decently priced some places, but shipping is what is the real killer with ordering food online.

You will need a decent sized enclosure, 6-8 ft depending on the size of the adult animal though.

This was our baby at 3 years old. She was 23.6 feet when we sold her at 5 years old and by the age of 2 was eating Goats and Pigs.