Fun fact; we ‘knock on wood’ because of cultures like the Celts who believed that some fae or spirits dwelled within the trees. It was believed that the fae realm was just inside of everything natural we couldn’t go into ourselves, the rocks, the ground, trees, etc.
They were truly an interesting people. Granted I’m bias, being Norwegian, Irish and Scottish, so pretty much any pagan peoples automatically get my goat. History in general is very neat.
This channel is my absolute Bible Bob. You take the stress out of a new owner right out. Not to mention Kent's corner is hella informative!😅 Thanks for all your hard work and your beautiful friends you live with
Omg! ❤❤❤ 😂😂😂 that was too damn cute!! This is going to be epic!! Bob, Clint & Kent! And Clint taking on the challenge of Kent's fear!! Priceless! Have been dazzled and adoring Clint since he made some very tasty looking cricket tacos with Emily!
Hearing all of the differences with snake feeding behavior is really helpful to me as a new ball python owner. I have a young female and I was really concerned about the lack of poop (like once every 2-3 weeks). Also, I was warming up her food in hot water and noticed they got kind of mushy and sometimes bled, so the cold water thaw is a great tip as well. Another thing that concerned me is that she had recently shed and was in hiding for a long time, and didn't eat for a couple weeks, after which I fed her her usual hopper mouse. I realized that she had grown noticeably so felt I should probably upgrade her food size. After feeding her the next size up, she immediately went into hiding for a week and then shed again. I had no idea that a big meal might start a shed cycle.
I adopted a ball python from my brother in law, about 3 months ago. This channel is so comforting, knowing i can find information on everything i need here. Hes about to have an amazing new chapter of life ❤
Lol I'm gonna love watching kent and clint interacting and you're a little bit evil Bob for making that bet knowing that you control what the outcome will be 😂
I cannot wait to find out if Cling finally breaks down Kent’s barriers! This year has been a series of bad timings (I can’t go to Clint’s grand opening because I had already scheduled a convention that is a different one than usual because my cousin decided to get married the week of our usual convention, etc.) I so wish I could have been there, but I’m super excited for everyone who makes it!
Bob, this is the exact video I needed! Been watching your channel for a while now and it has convinced me to get my first ball python, much to my wife’s dismay.😂 I have been researching and educating myself, mostly through your videos, and I’ve been lost on how to go about the mouse thawing process! I feel a lot better and more prepared now to take care of my little guy when he gets here! Your RU-vid channel, as well as others like Clint and Chandler, has made me start a love for snakes! I used to catch them for fun as a kid, but I never looked at them as amazing animals like I do now! Keep it up!❤ By the way, ordered my enclosure from Black Box Cages.😉
I’m so excited for you! There’s nothing like opening that box and seeing your new snake! I’ll be getting my second one from Bob in the next few weeks. And my first one from him, Marie, is amazing!!
@Lonesome__Dove I've done my best to educate her on them. She thinks all snakes are fast slimy evil monsters lol. I've explained everything I've learned about them through research and from experiencing them at my cousins(she's a breeder, so was also a great source to learn) and she just isn't about it, but since I assured her there wouldn't be any problems, she reluctantly agreed. She knows it'll make me happy. But I think with time and her seeing they aren't the "slimey monsters" she thinks they are, she will start to not be so afraid. Honestly, I don't think I'll ever get her to handle one, but that's okay. I'm just glad she is at least willing to let one in the house lol. Maybe she will one day, who knows!
@@loriw2661I thought Bob bred them somewhat, but I wasn't sure how to purchase them from him! I will be getting mine from my cousin who is a breeder, mostly to support her business and she takes very good care of her animals, so I would rather purchase from her than from a pet store or a random online I can't confirm is treating their animals right! But yes, I'm so excited! I've been wanting one for a long time but after learning more, I want them even more!
I've found that when my baby girl goes off food, if I try feeding during a storm she'll take it. Very similar to their breeding response. Something about storms just gets them frisky 😊
When you talk about how often a subadult or adult should be pooping, it makes me worry even more about the level of care that my new girl was getting from the guy who rehomed her to me last week :( She was already shedding in pieces, none of which he cleamed up from the tank, so that was one of my first careful cleaning things when I got her home. Then I took out her larger hide to get to some of the shed behind it, and there was so much poop and urates in there - like probably five or six clumps of each :( I'm so glad I have her now and can give her a better home life. He said she hasn't eaten for two weeks (when I got her), so I'm going to try her first feeding tonight and see how she does. Thanks so much for existing and sharing your knowledge with the rest of us! 💚
Pagliacci is a fantastic clown name. So is Pennywise. AND HOLY AWESOME VIDEO SNAKEMAN! THANK YOU! One of my BIGGEST peeves when I first started reptile caring was the fact that finding videos about feeding were frustrating because they'd be talk about feeding or show feeding but not the how, not the why and not the rundown just hte 'I already warmed the rat and here is my snake eating' then mention that if they aren't some weird offshoot tips that typically weren't relevant or helpful. So this is awesome.
I just found your Channel today, you have videos about exactly the questions i have, for example "do have snakes personalitys" and a lot more... I live in Germany and i'm thinking about getting a snake... Thank you so much for your Videos!
I’m so excited to see Kent at Clint’s place! I’m happy I got my feeding right! With the reheating (using a hair dryer) for my silly baby BP who takes forever to find the head, um butt😂. I think all of your videos I watched and rewatched really paid off!
I picked up 4 new sneks today and the moment I saw them, my voice went all high pitch "BABIES!" 😂 And that was before even saying hi to the breeders 😂😂😂
I just wanna say that I just got my first ball python and this is my favorite channel that I've been binging non stop. I'm obsessed with my snake George and the entire snake genre. You've saved me so much headache already. Thank you!
Im getting my 1st baby ball python from Courtney and Steven @leviathan snakes next Thursday 10/19.... and i got her all her rats from Layne labs and 4x2x2 black box enclosure as well. Im sooo excited 🎉
Kent watching Clints reptiles at the beginning was hilarious and brilliant! I swear Bob iv always been a Boa constrictor guy myself but I loove your content and the way you deliver it is so entertaining. I might one day get me a ball python. Defiantly gonna get it from you IF I do get one. More handsome Dan content please. Oh and have you started planning next summers herping adventure meet and greet for the channel fans? Hahaha
I'm glad you're enjoying the content! If you're a boa guy, you might enjoy a superdwarf retic :-) Must start planning the group herping trip as soon as I'm done with my year of travels :-)
I know a worse way to thaw a rat. I knew someone who got a snake with no research at all because her daughters thought mine was awesome. First time she tried to feed frozen/thawed, she boiled the rat. Then she called me. There were no more rats boiled...*shudder*
Getting a snake soon, but my only issue is thawing & smelling little dead thawed mice/rats.😅 Not quite sure i want to touch them with my bare hands either like you do, but using a Ziploc makes sense! My bathroom sink doesn't have a way to plug it so i may have to use my kitchen sink😬 and probably use the garage freezer instead of the house freezer to store them... I'm just trying to figure out logistics😂 Thank you for this amazing guide Bob! I love your videos and seeing how you treat your snakes.😊
New subscriber here. Just wanted to thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge. Also in a very articulate and well paced way. As a person living with PTSD it takes a lot longer for new information to sink in and be understood.
Thank you very much, Bob…& Kent…for your videos. I’m a new snake keeper, of a Cinnamon Pastel ball python, and the information/tips/advice I’ve gathered from your vids, have helped me out tremendously…especially regarding feeding. Link, wouldn’t eat for the first 3+ weeks, and after rewatching all of your ‘feeding’ vids, I finally got him to strike and eat. I’m not gonna go into all the details of what I did…as I’m not trying to make you read a short story…I just wanted to let you know that I truly appreciate your efforts to help educate new snake keepers🤘🤙 PURA VIDA from the opposite coast
Thank you for this video! The place I adopted my snake from gave me instructions for how they heated up their rodents and they used hot water right away…. I am so glad to know how to prevent the issues I’ve been having from that 😭
Thanks so much for this video. I watched a lot of your videos to build my confidence and finally purchased my new baby last week!! I was very nervous about her first feeding, but i tried a few of the tricks in this video and our first feeding was a great success! So again thanks so much, and keep up the highly informative videos (and tastefully comical). ❤
I give a small rat to my ball python every 14 days. I slightly modify it since I only have two snakes. Around day 12 or so, I start looking for signs that he is looking for food. He tends to rest his head out of the enclosure, moves around more at night, and peaks out when he hears me. At day 12 or above when I see that behaviour I feed the rat. I think since he is actively looking for food I get a really good response every time. Though I did have a hopper that was too big for my king snake and he happend to be out so I said why not and offered it, he was a bit confused but then took it. Perfect timing since he went into blue right as feeding week started
Love your videos, thanks for the humor mixed with great educational content. I have 20 snakes (a mix of hognose, boas, kingsnakes, and ball pythons) so I quickly needed to come up with a solution for keeping track of who to feed and when. I should have guessed someone had already made an app to help with that but I decided to nerd out and create a crazy google spreadsheet with multiple tabs and formulas. The main tab is a list of the snakes with all sorts of info (hatch date, who it came from, morph(s), what I'm currently feeding it and how many days in between each feeding). Another tab is a list of each feeding (snake name, date, and food type). And my handiest tab uses both of those to lookup the last time each snake ate and how often they should eat to list out who needs to eat today and what they're eating. It's a great help and time saver! I also shared it with my brother and a friend so that in the event something ever happens to me, they know what to do with the snakes.
For some reason I feel like Bob may sabotage Kent. Don’t know why I feel that way but…… I’m so excited Kent will be going and can’t wait for the shenanigans! Also, I’m thrilled to find out that I’ve been thawing, heating & feeding the exact same way you do. With the bag & hairdryer. For some reason I feel like you may have suggested the hairdryer??? Nah, it was all me. 🤣 Fantastic video, Bob. And I’m not surprised at how many patrons you have. 🐍❤️🐍
I take mine out and leave them to thaw to room temp and right before feeding i do the same as you with a freezer bag and let it sit in hot water a little bit and then off the rodents up. Enjoyable vid as always
I'm pretty close - although my long boi ball python (he's 3 years old and nearly 5ft) is on a medium every two ish weeks as recommended by his vet as he was staying underweight on smalls. About 2/3 of the year he is a great eater - but he goes on his fast at the beginning of spring for about 3 months (he does this every year) looses about 30 grams and then in June starts eating again... your snakes are gorgeous! Thanks
Thank you!!! Just this weekend I weighed what I thought was an appropriate sized meal and realized that I had one of them completely wrong! My hatchling was eating slightly “too big”meals but she’s been loving them and she only eats once a week so I think we’re gonna keep her on them since she’s not having any issues and size up when she’s ready. However my largest snake was eating a small rat when he should’ve been eating medium or adult sized rat! I couldn’t believe it was so light! We keep a notebook since we only have five rodent eaters and it works really well for us. I’m gonna start weighing ALL their meals beforehand and start putting them in the feeding book so we know and can get better at feeding and keep a closer eye on their weight progression. I’ve been feeding based somewhat off a mix of the size of the snake/10-15% body weight and sometimes 20% for the babies eating weekly but I think I’ll be paying more attention to weight. As for thawing, I’ve had the opposite issue!!! If I do running cold water and then warm it up in warm water for a few minutes, they pop!! I assumed they popped because they have been thawing too long so I started doing a few minutes in warm water for small meals and longer for large meals and just making sure they’re thawed on the inside and not stiff. I’m changing over to breeding my own rats soon so hopefully I won’t have to worry about that!
Yes you were probably thawing for too long. That's an issue as well that makes them break open... Just remember that The 10 to 15% rule is more for younger snakes so if you have an adult ball python you don't need to go by that rule anymore. They don't need to eat 10 to 15% of their body weight
@@GreenRoomPythons thank you so much!! He is my largest at the moment and rats are getting expensive so I’m so glad I found this out before buying them. Your videos have been a big help, thank you for helping me keep my babies healthy!
My little Sans-y wanzy is insanely food motivated. If he's awake, I'm lucky if he doesn't launch himself out of his cage to eat my hand while I'm opening it on a non-feeding day. I've never even thought about wafting rat smell at Sans because not only the previously mentioned food motivation but even if he's full on passed out I can generally just boop him in the nose with the rat's nose and he'll wake from the dead and eat. 😅
I purchased my sweet ball Python Calypso, from a friend, kept the name. Cool name yes? I fed her wrong first couple times, resulting in failed feedings. Dangled the thawed rat be the tail, she latched on but my husband continued to shake it a bit. She let go and never took it again. The second time the rat was too wet. She didn’t like that. The next feeding was a success. She was hungry! But I’ve found she prefers live so that what she gets now. It means a 20 min drive a few times a month but that’s ok. She gets what she wants. I learned some things in this video. Thanks snake daddy.
I happen to feed just the same way apparently haha, I start with Luke warm water though. And for XS pinky’s for my baby corns, I just go right into hot water bc they thaw in mere minutes and I’ll feed right away. 😊
Well, THAT explains the little party poppers when the snake strikes at the pinkies 😂 I been boiling water and sticking the pinkies in there for 30 seconds and letting them cool down to body temperature before feeding them. But now I know why. Oops! Thanks for the video!!!
I once had a mouser that I got to switch to rats by adding mouse bedding into a spray bottle with water I then let it sit for a couple days then I strained the bedding and sprayed the rat with the water and she took it every time.
Thanks Bob this video helped so much. I have two girls. Eve is skiddish and will always strike but then have trouble finding the head. Her enclosure is cluttered and I think maybe she gets confused. Im gonna try your tips to reheat it. Also thawing in cold water first! I can't wait to try it. Thanks again. My other girl, Seline and I watched your video together
He’s back on small rats now. Almost a month on large mice 🤦🏿♀️ I’m guessing maybe the change of the seasons. Here in the east coast it’s starting to get cool so maybe that’s a reason 🤷🏾♀️
I only have 1 who sometimes decides he doesn't feel like eating, despite spending his nights hunting for food. I'll have to try feeding him last to see if the smell helps motivate him. Thanks for all the tips!
I always offer food to any unlikely takers first, that way I don't have to waste a rat. If they take a meal I'll thaw out another rat for the next one in line ;-)
@@GreenRoomPythons Unfortunately, he's my only adult eating smalls so I don't have anyone else to offer it to since they're on weaned or pups 😅 Eventually though!
I haven’t had any issues thawing in warm to hot water. I feel like after a few minutes the cold from the rat balances out the warm from the water and it ends up room temperature for the majority of the thawing anyway. I will definitely try thawing in cooler water now so see if I notice a difference.
Only difference is i do soak my mice for my boa, shes just 6 months old and slmetimes doesnt poop for weeks so i make sure she gets as much water content as possible to aid her BMs
Dobby (about 1300-1400 g, haven’t weighed him for awhile now) gets a medium rat every 14-21 days. Dreki (quite alot smaller although also an adult) also gets a medium rat every 14 days. Dreki was on the small side when he came (I think he went off food for awhile during breeding season and then just started eating again befor he came to me) and I don’t want to chock the system and feed him to much/to often. I am thinking about buying small chickens next time I go to the “rat store” (that is what Julia calls it, but the rats are all frozen) just to give them something else. I realize that if I do that I need to feed them more often. My snakes does 💩 almost every time between feedings. I have heard that about 10% of the snakes weight is a good weight of the rat. That means that my snakes does get the right size.
10% is a good weight to feed when they're younger but when they become adults that could end up being too much. You'll probably just end up with big males if you're feeding them medium rats. It also depends on what a medium rat is over there. A medium rat in the United States might be different than what they call a medium rat in other countries
14:28 its really important to hold the food item the right way especially when it comes to feeding a juvenile/sub adult snake that you just bought because you dont know what way the previous owner held them (unless you ask) I recently bought a bp that the guy said he would dangle the live fuzzy above his head and when i offered my f/t fuzzy he wasnt interested in it until i held it at a higher angle
As for my feeding, i do it differently, but i don't think its wrong. I usually thaw anything from a small rat and up in the fridge overnight in a baggy instead of using water. Anything smaller gets thawed the same day. For warming, i also avoid water, mostly because it's going to lose heat and go back to cool really fast if the rat/mouse gets wet, and i go through so many baggies if i put it in one. I have instead made what i have dubbed "the hotbox" out of an insulated lunchbox and a heat mat. Tests show it gets to and holds temperature around 105 F. This is where all python food gets warmed. Aside from that, usually i feed slightly smaller than average meals for my ball pythons (they're all adults) so that if one really, really refuses to eat, even after a few retries, i can give the uneaten rat to my rat snake. He's my scaly garbage disposal. If all the pythons eat, he gets his the next day. The end result is that all my ball pythons are on small rats, regardless of sex. I only have 7 snakes though. And only 2 are female because I'm not a breeder, but i did really like how they looked.
@@GreenRoomPythons I started my research about a year ago. Ive been slowly buying things starting about 6 months ago. I want to give a beautiful snake the best home it could have outside of its natural habitat/wild. I don't want to have to rush to buy things that are necessary or have to upgrade in 1/2 yrs. Id like to have all the enclosures ill need for its lifespan before purchasing. As well as armed w as much information as i can about behavior that i might encounter. This path started for me when i learned BP are the most discarded "pet snake" and are often neglected and abused. They're beautiful and calm so i just don't understand it.
The only thing I do differently (but have found it works better for my snakes and for me), is I thaw them in a tub at room temperature for several hours in the snake room (gets them excited), then I dunk the head of the rodent in very hot water just before I offer. This has worked great for some of my shy snakes
I dont know if it's wrong, but on feeding day, I let the rodents thaw out in the room at room temp (no water) then after they are thawed out I put them in a zip lock bag and raise their temp under hot water. I used to do it like you, but the thawing out in the room makes the snakes ready to eat when offered. I used to have a refusal here and there but since I switch, I have my picky eaters eating every time offered.
I like the hair dryer trick you showed a long time ago! But I don’t thaw out a lot at one time! It helped me getting my first Bp going I watched and tired a million tricks but the hair dryer method my first bp took immediately but definitely could have been some user error in there for the other methods I tried first!
I really love your Super dwarf retics, they look so cool. Sadly I can't have one :/, but I adore watching yours :D Once Kent started watching Clints Reptiles I had a feeling you'd be at the grand opening xD Great video, and maybe you may like my name for your leopard-pied: Razor, or maybe Snowstorm? Also, I loved that phone call at the end. Really funny, and be careful about your 100$, Clint is not to be underrestimated. I still have a question about ball pythons: I'm probably getting mine in a few months and I've heard that babies can get scared in bigger enclosures. Now, is that still a thing if it has lots of clutter in it, and a lot of hides, or would you recommend starting in a smaller tub and then upgrading it? Thanks in advance!
I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Most babies will do just fine in a larger enclosure as long as there is plenty of clutter and hides. But if the baby doesn't eat, the solution is often to put them in a smaller enclosure for the time being.
@@GreenRoomPythons aw a shame. maybe i'd be able to craft something with things at michaels. they look super neat! i wanna make a snake room in the future for my two ball pythons :)
Omg I just thought of the BEST name for your little pied boy. You have Dash, why not name him Dot? Like in morse code! I know he has big circles and not necessarily "dots" but Dash's dashes are pretty big too so I thought it was kinda perfect. I really hope you like the name cause I'm super excited about it lol.
When it comes to the warming of frozen rodent's I over time adopted a 3-step cycle sort of. This method came about out of necessity with too many mouths. Fist is getting all the food to be sorted into two separate buckets large and medium rats in one and everything else in the other topped off with around room temperature water. About a half hour later it's time for fairly warm water to start bringing things up to warm-ish, at this point I start getting my snakes into their tubs. Last round of water is the hot water about another half hour in, I spend this time spot cleaning or full cleaning enclosures and scrubbing water bowls. This way everybody gets fed and I'm not bothering them when I'm trying to clean their rooms. (I don't cage feed due to cohabitation I don't like to break up fights.)
@@GreenRoomPythons Primarily Carpet pythons. Anything prepubescents can cohab given enough space otherwise adults are only kept in pairs. As long as nobody goes rouge, I'd rather give a larger shared space whenever possible over bare minimum solitary space.
Just found your channel, awesome information. I just picked up a baby female ball python on 10/1 at 61gr (DOB: 7/10/23), in just over 2 weeks she's now 81gr, ate about 6 days ago. I was told to feed her weekly at around 10-15% her body weight which usually equates to about a hopper. Hoppers tend to range between 9-14gr. Does this seem enough? Is the weekly schedule Ok? I too also target train. I also have a fairly new MBK that's target trained but is now I believe in some brumation/hybernation? Stays in hide for about a week now. Last fed on 10/5, was eating fine before then and usually active outside the hide. Should I attempt to try to feed it while it's still in the hide? Wave a food in front of it? Thanks again!
Congrats on your new snake! Yes that feed schedule sounds about right, you'll want to bump up to rat pups once the snake gets to be around 120g or so. You can always offer food when a snake is in their hide
Hey Bob (and Kent)! Your entire channel has been very helpful for me in preparing for my very first ball python (she’s a fire pied) and I’ve watched nearly all of your videos. Since she’s being shipped, I’m going to quarantine her in a bin (modified with holes) for about a week and try to feed her then… but what’s your take on heating while she’s in quarantine? I have her enclosure all set up with a heating pad and ceramic heat emitter on the warm side, but I’m not quite sure of how to go about heating her quarantine bin… any advice would be appreciated!!!
When I'm defrosting mice in warm water prey animals don't open up but if I do the same thing in bag they open up like crazy. So in my experience with ziplock bag you need to thaw with cold but with only water can be warm (not super hot or boiling as I saw some people do!) 😊 Edit. Also I'm agreeing strongly with handling by tail. I see a lot of people do it and I've noticed that sometimes snake get scared by prey being above them or when it seems too big (due to size). I'm happy you talked about it :D
Can't wait to see you at clints in a few weeks!😁 also, I first went to clints barely able to look at a snake, and now I have 4. 😂 So bring that $100 cuz Kent's gonna be loving snakes before you know it!😘
