MyReticulated Python

The scientific name for the reticulated python is “Python reticulatus.” Other common names include the regal python and Asiatic reticulated python.

Like many other reptiles, the reticulated python is born with unusual colors and complex geometric patterns on its scales. Due to hybridization in captivity, there are wide variations within the species. A few examples of these variations in design are, by name: super tiger, tiger, albino (dark lavender, lavender, white, and purple phase), genetic stripe, albino super tiger, albino tiger, golden child, sunfire, ivory/white flame and calico. A reticulated python has the ability to transform its shades and intensity of colors.

Albinos are usually yellow and white in color, and tigers are, fittingly enough, black and tan. The Calico, another variation mentioned above, is colored black, tan and white.

Below is some more detailed information of different variations of the reticulated python, courtesy of the New England Reptile Discovery. All snakes mentioned are from their personal collection:

Albino

This mutation is incredible – they almost glow! Albino retics have to be the one of THE BEST albino manifestations of ANY constrictor. Albino retics appear as a luminescent-white snake with rich saffron-yellow markings. I have a very difficult time taking good photos of them of them; they cause the flash to go off, as they’re so light. We have 1.2 of these animals and the male is breeding well this year. This morph originated from Bob Clark’s original wild caught sire male. There seems to be at least three different color variations among hatchlings: I’ve witnessed babies that looked amelanistic albino and some that looked like caramel albinos within the same litter. I am a bit lost with this mutation since it is so variable and the potential to breed into other phases is just beginning. A very nice mutation, to say the least; a specimen for the serious retic enthusiast!

Ambon Yellowhead

These locality-specific retics are the classic “yellow head”, very attractive snakes with a pronounced yellow head, yellow pattern edging, and often a yellow chin and throat. As babies the head color is often normal, and these may even be mistaken as a silver retic at birth. As the young serpent begins feeding and sheds a few times, the yellow coloration becomes distinct. Our Ambons have pleasant dispositions and make for an ideal “pet quality” retic. They seem to max out around 16 -18′ regardless of our efforts to make them larger. It is our goal to consistently produce Ambon Yellowheads here at NERD, as they are a pleasure with which to work.

Axanthic

A striking animal in tones of black gray and white, this single specimen is the first we’ve witnessed lacking the majority of its brown & yellow coloration. We believe that an “axanthic” animal is limited in yellow and brown pigment due to the gene that calls for its production. An axanthic snake may still carry the gene that creates this coloration, yet pigment production is so low that the colors are only slightly noticeable, if at all. This may be why we observe very limited yellow markings on this particular snake. This animal is very distinct and like nothing I have ever seen in a retic. His pattern is very irregular with strange striping, his eyes are silver and his head appears to resemble that of a scrub python. Our Granite-backed retics are a result of breeding this “Axanthic” retic to a Calico female, and we are very excited to someday realize this snake’s genetic potential.

Borneo Bateater

With bright orange eyes, olive & black “camouflage” markings, and a name conjured from the darkest Indonesian jungle, the Borneo Bateater is a serpent of lore brought to life. A hybrid of Burmese and Reticulated pythons, the offspring are together variable and strange. A difficult cross to produce, many infertile clutches may be produced before you achieve this one!! In our experience, this fascinating hybrid possesses the alertness of a retic and general good nature of the Burmese, and has proven fertile when bred back to either species. The first Bateater ever brought to our attention was at Tom Crutchfield’s in FL many years back. This snake was supposedly an animal imported from the wild and caused quite a stir at the time! Bateaters may reproduce rarely in the wild if at all, in comparison to other boids. We look forward to someday producing Bateaters with more consistency so that others may come to enjoy them as we have!

Calico

This color mutation is an obsession at NERD, we have a serious fixation for retics and are crazy about the various color combinations of the Calico form. We have a large colony of these snakes and all of the white form animals are females! This leads us to believe that this morph may be sexed-linked, similar to the majority of calico cats. On the other hand, we have worked with a male calico retic in the past, and have some of his male offspring that are in the process of turning calico.

Calico retics vary but all possess the pure, stark white scalation that gives them such a stunning appearance. Eye color varies from animal to animal in a spectrum of black, grey, orange or silver. As female retics typically mature in 3 years, takes time to see the full physical manifestation of this trait. We do not expect to produce hatchling Calicos; in our experience there has never been a Calico collected from the wild under 8′ in length. The Calico corn snake has proven itself as genetic, normal as babies and as they matured acquired the white pied coloration; at this point we theorize that the Calico retic gene is very similar. At this point we maintain & breed a large collection of these snakes, all of which are extremely variable. Various breedings we have done involving the Calico gene indicate to us that this is a simple recessive trait.

Calico Tiger

A fascinating manifestation of the Tiger & Calico genes in one snake, this female represents the first known specimen to exhibit the combination of traits. The well-known Tiger pattern is a mosiac of yellow, white, black & gray calico scales. At this point we have created several Calico X Tiger crosses, and have begun breeding the het Calico Tigers to produce more of these genetic wonders. Calico Tigers appear normal upon hatching and like the other Calico forms, change colors upon maturity. As with regular Calico babies. we have seen several consistent subtleties in color & pattern changes in the Calico Tiger offspring and have high hopes for those youngsters in particular!

Dwarf

This insular retic is a true dwarf!! They stay small and they grow SLOW!! Jampea’s are distinct from other retics in appearance and are typically a blue gray with limited yellow and a silvery eye. Females breed at 7′ and males around 4.5 – 5′. Maturity in females is 3 years. The nice thing about this dwarf is that their limited size creates the opportunity to breed this into other morphs to produce mini designer retics. The dwarfs we have originate from the Jampea island chain and Kayuadi island. I find these two localities to be very similar and almost interchangeable in some cases. We have to rely on the origin notes of the shipper to class them.

We also have a unique striped female that is very odd and has minimal pattern. She has unusual striping with none of the normal saddling or banding. Her head is very hypomelanistic and white/yellow, she is unlike anything we have ever seen. We note that dwarfs are smaller and slower growing than their larger counterpart but the can still grow (females) to 12′+ if desired. Our largest female is 15′, she eats like a monster and this translates into growth. We hope to breed our best female to a Borneo Bateater to create some dwarfish Jungle Retics in the future.

Granite Backed

These fantastic, speckled babies were a surprise from breeding our male Axanthic/Anerythristic retic to a female Calico. The entire clutch exhibits the same broken, granite-like pattern, so we are extremely excited to delve further into the genetics behind these animals. Time will tell what the exact recipe is for this morph, in the mean time we’ll be dreaming of Granite Lavender, Granite Albinos, Granite Tigers, even the possibility of Granite Super Tigers! Our second clutch of these babies was produced in late May 2003, so be on the lookout for exciting updates on the Granite-backed retics!

Jungle

This form is new and originates from a single first time breeding @ NERD. Created by breeding a Borneo Bateater back to a retic, the babies hatched out in all forms: semi-normals as well as a variety of weird ones. No two babies in the clutch were alike, and every single one was aweseome! When bred to a retic the babies should vary in appearance throughout the litter to different extremes. Some of them are completely striped while others are banded; most of them have intense yellow heads! The future looks very good for Jungles, if you are a retic freak like us you have to have one of these guys in your collection. You may even recognize one of our Jungle retics wrapped around Jeff Corwin in one of his commercials on Animal Planet! A cutting-edge mutation to say the least!

Silver

The silver-gray head of the animal easily identifies this form of reticulated python. They have incredible iridescence when exposed to a bright light or sunlight, and brilliant orange eyes that give them a menacing appearance. They are not locality specific outside of the fact that no yellow headed retics come from Malaysia. Silvers can occur within a population of yellowheads: we have adult retics that will produce both forms. Most silver retics we see originate from Malaysia; they can become quite large if the dedication is put into them. Typical sizes range from 14 – 20′ within our strain. They are generally well behaved and if you raise them properly you should have a reliable monster some day!! Our largest is 20′ and growing.

Sulawesi

These serpents grow larger than almost any other retic that we have encountered! Their heads are noticeably larger than those of similar-sized animals; Sulawesis have the potential to grow very fast! This locality tends to be a bit more nervous and flighty than others, but in our experience Sulawesi animals also tame and settle down nicely with gentle, consistent handling. Our adults all originate from wild caught stock; it took long hours and hard work to finally establish their trust. Sulawesi retics are brilliantly colored with a velvety, rope-like dorsal pattern. The head is orangey yellow with a black line running from neck to nose. The eyes are pale gray/green. NERD achieved the first captive Sulawesi-to-Sulawesi breeding in 1997, hatching 26 gorgeous babies. At the time retics were just starting to become popular and we ended selling them all off at a wholesale rate…boo hoo. Fortunately we are again working with some lovely “classic” Sulawesi animals and look forward to reproducing this amazing locality for years to come.

Super Tiger

This color and pattern mutation is incredible. A large one is a breathtaking site with incredible colors and a stunning pattern. The Super Tiger is butter yellow with dark contrasting stripes that may run from half to the full length of the animal’s body. This dominant morph is the result of breeding Tiger retic to Tiger retic = 25% normal, 50% Tiger and 25% Super Tiger in the clutch. When bred to a normal phase retic all of the resulting hatchlings are Tigers. A Super Tiger X Tiger breeding yields half Tigers and half Super Tigers!! The next few seasons should bring an amazing palate of Super Tiger combinations, such as the Albino Super Tiger, Calico Super Tiger, and a few other surprises!

Tiger

This morph is responsible for a rekindled interest in reticulated pythons that has been building over the past decade. A very pretty pattern with soft yellow color and dorsal striping, this mutation was first proven in 1993. When Tiger retics surfaced a few people took notice and attempted to breed them; as they produced first generation babies they simultaneously produced some sweet, gentle captives. Tigers mark the first designer reticulated python bred in captivity. They are generally quite tractable animals that are the visible heterozygous mutation of the Super Tiger retic. When bred to a normal phase retic 50% of the offspring are visible Tigers. Contrary to what some people say they can grow to be quite large; our largest is now over 20′ and has a lot more growing to do. Striped and lace pattern variations are available within this mutation, and these animals are typically priced according to appearance. We have bred the Tiger strain into our Calico strain; the future looks very good for some new, unique pythons involving the Tiger gene.

White Calico

So amazing she deserves a page all her own, this beautiful animal represents a very unique calico form. Her base coloration is a blinding platinum-silver white, with soft yellow and denim-blue markings, and a patch of dark gray scales on the head. This lovely lady is affectionately known as “Poison Ivy” here at NERD, and bred to our Axanthic male she has produced two clutches of Granite-Backed offspring. We are very excited at the possibility of breeding her back to one of her heterozygous sons to produce more of these exquisite white gems in the future. A dream come true for any Calico retic fan!