In about a month I am recieving a female normal tic (I know, normals aren't much, but I thought they would be the best to start with for tics). She is about 3' long and feeding on live adult mice, I hope I can wean her to f/t. She is going in a custom built 3'x3'x18" until she is about 6'-7' (won't take long). After that she is going in another custom built 8'x4'x2' which should last a long time. Eventually she will have a room dedicated to her. Thanks for listening and any advice for a first time tic owner would be great.

6-7' for a retic is longer than you think. Of the pair that I picked up this fall (1.1 het albino) They went from 18" to 4' in that time, but, that is feeind them rabbits bi-weekly. they each took 2 live mice then started on F/T rabbits as chasers.

Weaning isnt hard, just chase with the desired prey once she takes live for you readily.

Most female retics will need more than a 8x4 enclosure to be comfortable once they are 15-16' or more. I'd consider a third cage in there once she reaches 13-14' just to be safe.

Advice: Handle her as often as you can, she'll need it. They can have a temper, but dont deserve all the bad rep they have been given.

Paul

Thanks for the advice, I will seriously think about a third enclosure. Maybe a 16'x4'x4' would be big enough? (I hope so. lol) I will be handling her daily for at least 15 min as I do with all of my other snakes.

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Josh Shrader

1.0 Ball Python (Monty)
0.1 Red-Eared Slider (Woody)
0.1 Yellow-Bellied Slider (Buz)

16x8x4 would be optimal - but that is alot of cage, lol

Paul

It's going to be h*** trying to heat it but I will deal with that when the time comes.

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Josh Shrader

1.0 Ball Python (Monty)
0.1 Red-Eared Slider (Woody)
0.1 Yellow-Bellied Slider (Buz)

Understandable.

You can make due with an 8'x4' cage for a 20' female, I have a breeder buddy that did it for a long time. generally the size reccomendation for a snake is 1/2 the snakes length by 1/4 the snakes length. Height it generally dependant on the snake, terrestrial snakes like retics only need 3x the height of their bodies for above space.

Paul

Congrats on the new addition!

Being from the UK we have different ideas on cage sizing, generally the bigger the better, but alot of retic and other big boids over here in the UK have experienced very aggressive teratorial behaviour if their retics are housed in what was described above as "optimal". For a 20' tic most people over here would advice against such a large cage as it will install alot of aggression into your snake. (9x4x2.5 LxDxH) is plenty big enough for a 20' tic as when they are that big they are lazy, it is best to consider your tank as one big hide.....big enough to be kind but small enough to feel secure...as a secure snake is a happy snake. In the wild most tics are found in the tightest of places and only ever venture out for food. So I would go for a smaller tank than you had planned as this will lead to a friendlier tic.

Just my $0.02

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