I know this is an old video. But I just wanted you to know how much I appreciated you talking about the power of touch. I'm blind, and currently still considering my first reptile purchase. But you almost always just hear people talk about watching reptiles, and the physical contact is often mentioned later. But it does create such a powerful connection. You verbalized that beautifully, and I felt like it really legitimized the way I interact with all my animals. Hope to get down to Utah to visit the room someday.
I visited the Reptile Room for the first time very recently. Absolutely loved it! I easily loved every single animal I got to handle, and I also compared a couple of them to a weighted blanket lol. Some snakes had noticably different textures from one another-- a delightful experience you can't get from looking at them behind glass. 😊
I personally have completely fallen in love with ball pythons, they may be considered dull but it really depends on what you want in a pet. I wanted a little companion to keep me company when I needed company but chill enough to amuse itself when I was too busy to interact with them. What I ended up with was one of the best anti-stress critters I could have asked for. My boy is charming, inquisitive and very interactive and it almost seems that he adjusts his behaviour to my mood. There is nothing quite like having a critter so naturally cautious trust you enough to fall asleep with their head on your shoulder after giving you a good hug.
Just the cutest dang faces- and yep exactly, the noodle boy is fantastic for my hermit self- and because he is cute and charming he has managed to convince a fair chunk of my snake averse friends that they aren't all horrible slimy (?!) Death machines-
I feel you. Balls are cute, what more do they need to be? People say the same about crested geckos and like, dude, I love my wearable pet, it doesn't really matter that he just kind of chills, good lord I didn't get him to do my taxes I got him because he's an adorable tiny lizard that can't catch a bug to save his life and licks his own eyeballs.
My hands tremble a lot. Always have since childhood and I'm 24 now. Since getting my ball pythons, (2 currently) I've noticed that when holding them and feeling them hugging onto my arm and hands, my hands don't tremble. They are definitely amazing pets for anxiety and nerves! They're so calming!
It amazes me to this day that green iguanas are so well known for not being handleable or good pet lizards We had one when I was a kid and only now do I realize just how amazing he was and how lucky we were to have such a chill and friendly iguana Hand fed, regularly rode on our back and shoulders, and seemed perfectly content and relaxed with a 6 and 9 year old petting him. Even had a little harness and leash to take him on walks around the backyard. Never felt like we actually needed it, he just hung around us the entire time while enjoying the sun and being fed snacks from the garden
Same, I suppose iguanas probably have the biggest range of personalities in the reptile world (from easy-going, approachable and friendly to aggressive/crazy or perennially scared).
The only one I don't have from this list are the emerald tree skinks, but they're definitely on my list to get one day. My BI is wonderful to handle, but is very shy and timid (it's almost like she has no idea that that she's 6+ feet long). I would say my Dumerils Boas are both better to handles and give much better hugs, but I love all my scaly friends!
I was thinking the same thing! Dumerils Boas are wonderful ambassador animals for snakes honestly, and mine is responsible for several fearful people overcoming their fear of snakes and even loving snakes. I still get people from back in high school who say they want to come over and meet him/handle him sometime, because he is such a gentle giant.
Damn that made me miss mine he used to wrap around the leg of my living room table and I wouldn’t tell my friends and we would be watching tv for awhile then my snake would finally move once he got bored and they would freak out 😂
Then he is super relaxed and comfortable 😌....ones that don't move at all..are most likely nervous to some extent and tolerate handling like it's no biggie.
My little boy, a year old Pastel at 32 inches likes to crawl up my shoulders, raise his head and lays it on my ear. He just chills on top of my ear while I watch TV
Man when I was really little we had one named Sambo probably about five and a half feet long definitely longer than I was at 6. It was the most socialized snake I've ever seen no head shyness never did a lot of balling up at any time or anything definitely never any aggression. He was a snake you could hand to me and my five year old brother with minimal supervision without having to worry about anybody getting hurt such a cool dude
@@marthahawkinson-michau9611 Reminds me of the old saying, the star that burns twice as bright burns half as long... truly a gorgeous reptile, at least her life can continue on as a reminder of the beauty of nature.
The mammal version of Emerald Tree skinks are Degu. They love being with you, climbing all over you, and sitting on your shoulder or head. Just be careful they don't bite your ear a bit too hard. Adults are gentle, but the young ones will nibble on your ear and it can hurt.
I recently had a ball python rehomed to me and after one handling session I was in love with his calm and curious disposition. Now I understand why they're so popular. 😍
Once I fell asleep holding my friends ball python, it was so relaxing, and the little guy just stayed snuggled with me. Don't worry, he was safe, my friend was watching over us.
Here's a video suggestion. Reptiles that can be your "buddy." I'm talking about reptiles that seem to do well with active interaction and seem to give off vibes of being interested in you (but not as food.) Emerald Tree Skinks would probably make that list but you could include things like Asian Water Monitors and certainly Tegus. And there are plenty of turtles and tortoises that could be contenders here. Basically, a reptile for someone who wants to feel like the reptile is playing along.
I believe that a tortoise video would be amazing. Not to many highly regarded reptile channels talk about them, so a another possibility ranking style video for tortoises would be amazing.
Agree. People don't give them much credit but as a proud mother of one, I know how awesome tortoises are. They are underrated and in my experience, very smart. Mine acts just like a dog, and I have had him for 25+ years.
Another vote for a tortie video. My Not Russian-Russian Sprattel actually had two signs to communicate w humans (Feed me & Lift me up to where I want to go), unfortunately we lost him to post-winter rest FTT 🥺
I love handling my California King, he requests to come out at least once a day when he's not in shed. Some days he just wants to cuddle and get neck rubs but most of the time, despite being nearly 20 years old, he's very active. I made 3 cardboard tubes that are a little shorter than he is and connected them side by side. He tunnels through one and I can turn it back towards me. I tell him what a smart handsome boy he is, he gives me kisses and heads down through another tube, rinse and repeat. Sometimes he climbs on top of the contraption and plays there for a while too. Sometimes he uses my glasses as a tree branch and climbs across my face, over my head, wherever he wants to go. He lives in the livingroom so he sees me frequently and wants attention. He also likes to smell things and touch different textures. I look for enrichment opportunities for him and he enriches my life.
Every time I see you talk about emerald tree skinks I feel the need to experience what all the fun is about 😊 Video suggestion: I’d love to see a video about best nocturnal pet reptiles for people like me who work all day and get sad when our pets are sleeping when we’d like to be handling them.
Our first (and only) snake is a young Kenyan Sand Boa we got last summer! She's usually a little bit fussy about people touching near her head when she's first picked up (did this by mistake once and she let me know it was not acceptable!), and needs a moment to know she's not about to be eaten, but once she relaxes, she's super gentle and loves trying to "dig" between your fingers!
Wow! Those Emerald Tree Skinks are fantastic! They remind me of birds the way they actually WANT to hang out with you! That's crazy for any animal, especially for a reptile!
I helped a friend move their pets a few years ago, including a ball python. And I remember while my friend set the enclosure back up I just held him and he just sat there. A wonderful experience all around
Blue Tongue skinks are often quite enjoyable to handle. They do interact with you and climb on you. And in my own experience I have found the Children's Python to be quite wonderful to handle as they are an arboreal species so they hold on to you. Similarly likewise for the Diamond Python as they generally have a calm and relaxing disposition while looking absolutely stunning
I find it hard to imagine a lizard that's more tolerant than my blue tongue. They've never shown a hint of defensive behaviour, even when being awkwardly handled by children. They are more work than something like a bearded dragon though, when they're out of their enclosure they rarely want to stay still for long and given half a chance they will wander off and insert themselves into any inaccessible nook or cranny they can find. That might change when they get older though, they're only 15 months old right now.
@@dragonlady266 once I let the blue tongue on my belly and I tell ya, there limbs might be teeny but they really press them hard into your soft flesh, sometimes he even struggled to gain any traction. It's an alien sensation to say the least. Personally I find it appealing that when they wander off you can lightly pick them up and drag them closer to you and they take that like champs
@@anthony_horton Even in the wild, I found a blue tongue wedged in a tight crevice in my garage and when I reached for it, it didn't bite me or show it's tongue or any defensive display apart from flattening itself and huffing. And this was a wild one by the way
I got an boa five years ago, I wanted a little bigger snake that was manageable to handle, I got boa since a lot of people said all of them are very calm and nice and I also really like them… I got the angriest and most aggressive snake I’ve ever owned , but fortunately I learned to handle him when he was small I can manage him now that he is bigger 😂 He will try and bite you (mind you, since I’ve learned more he hasn’t managed to snag a bite for years now, not for a lack of trying though), he hisses and lunges, he’s aggressive inside and outside his tank and a pain in the ass when trying to clean or do maintenance. Still love him though, he’s very dear to me even though the feeling is one sided!
I'd probably consider blue tongue skinks to be among these lovely reptiles! Very calm and handleable, very unlikely to be hostile. Even wild blue tongue skinks seem to not panic too much when held, but obviously captive bred ones are pretty perfect, especially when properly cared for and socialized.
PSA: Lillith passed away a few weeks ago from an unlucky medical issue. Check out NERD's channel for the video titled "Lilith has died.. ( the truth )" (link here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-k3OklAg2v3g.html) for more info!
My blood python is my "chill and watch tv" snake. He's defensive when I remove him from his enclosure, but once out he'll tolerate anything except being grabbed - chin scratches, the occasional snoot boop, etc. Like your sand boa, he seems content to just sit in my lap for extended periods of time.
I am sitting and watching old videos and I had a neat idea for a side series! You should do a "best pet camera" sub series for people who want to know how you get some of the amazing B-roll you do.
I could spend hours listening to someone as enthusiastic as this guy talk about their favorite things. Those are some of the coolest conversations I've had.
We got two ball pythons and one beared dragon. One is named Pretzel and the other is named Rambo. Rambo got his name because he was brave enough to bite my husband as soon as he held him for the first time LOL!! Rambo only was feisty because he had just got delivered in the mail and was not happy about the journey. I never thought I would be a snake person but I actually love holding Pretzel he is my baby. I want a hognose now! Jarod Hall if you are reading this, Izzy and I miss you and hope to be home next week. I know you will be watching this tonight. Clint, thank you for your amazing content! It gives me something to watch to take my mind off the fact that I am four hours away from home with my son in the hospital.
There is definitely a power to touch and exposure. This is exactly why we bring our Ball Python to different school and groups for a lesson in snakes! It is amazing to watch their fear disappear and their curiosity triggered. I hope I encourage some of the next generation of handlers!
Handling is one of the reasons I think I might want a ball python. I’m really more into colubrids, generally, and I love my king snake to the moon and back, but he won’t exactly sit in my lap while I play video games. Gotta see what’s on the desk, in your sleeve, behind your chair.... Still delightful to handle, of course, but I understand why a lot of slower snakes made the list, especially for potentially nervous handlers.
I wish I lived closer to Utah, I would totally love to go spend at least a day at Clint's Reptile Room. I wish someone would do something like that here in WV. I have four lizards, two snakes and a hedgehog, (yeah a mammal, but she wouldn't let me leave the pet show without her) and when people come over everyone wants to know what they feel like and has a great time time handling them. Well, except the hedgehog cause of spiky reasons although she is generally really easy going there are some people she just doesn't like. The reptiles and snakes though are always so easy to handle for everyone and real laid back. That's why I love reptiles.
Just adopted my first ball python a few weeks ago, and she's perfect to hold while watching tv. After holding only my wild man corn snake on the reg, having a snake just chill there and not try to explore absolutely everything is a nice change of pace. Of course I love both of them, it's nice to have a wild man snake and a calm man snake.
Ball pythons are the reason I’ve been fairly obsessed with snakes and reptiles lately. I took my daughter to an event my library was holding where a local rescue had several animals that the kids could see and interact with. Their ball python had been held by kids all day, and yet was still patient and affectionate even. It not only sought me out, but it even tried to hold on to me when the keepers tried to remove it. My daughter got to hold it too and it gave her no trouble at all
Lilith passed away a a month or so ago 😭great videos! I love my snakes and I have all on the list except the gopher. My common boa, Gomek is my favorite(yes he is named after that giant croc of the same name).
I held a 'little/fairy penguin' as a kid - My dad worked on the Bass-straight (That the area between the Australian states of Victoria and Tasmania, for those who don't know) Oil rigs back then, and they rescued one that got some oil on it. So my dad got to bring it home for one night before taking it to an animal welfare center to be cleaned up and released. It was clearly VERY wild, but it wasn't really afraid of us either, so it let me touch it without any *obvious* distress. I remember we plugged the shower drain and let the water fill up just enough that it could splash around a bit while still standing on its feet.
The first snake that ever bit me was my ball python. In her defense, she missed the mouse, but she compounded that mistake by wrapping and refusing to release my arm. Took 20 minutes to get her off.🤣
Our cornsnake introduced a lot of people around us to snakes and she was very chill with handling. I found it amusing the first thing most of them said was "they aren't slimy!". lol
I once had a pet Sudan Plated Lizard, and while there is some controversy over owning them (since they are all wild caught) it was one of the most chill lizards I ever had, even more personable than my Bearded Dragon. It would happily sit in your hand, loved to be petted, and since it shed one scale at a time, petting it from the tail up to the head was very enjoyable for him, he would close his eyes and lean into your hand as you groomed him. They test everything around them with their tongue as well so you got lots of lizard kisses everytime you handled him. He was a bit shy and flighty when you first went into his cage but once you had him he was just totally chill, and even if they do run away, they aren't that fast, and prefer to hide. Honestly because they tend to burrow a lot, they are more enjoyable to handle than to just observe.
Clint's 'reassuring fellow apes about the scary snakes' vibes were on full blast with this one. Him telling us to look at the "goofy" eyes on the sand boa gave me major zoological outreach flashbacks, lol, I love it
My ball python. Bubbles. R.I.P. was an amazing snake to hold. He was so calm and easy going guy. I always said, if you had a fear of snakes, Bubbles would definitely change that. People would say, snakes do not show effection. Generally yea that's true. But Bubbles was different, he did in his own odd way. I do miss him terribly
Another fantastic video Clint and team. I recommended you to my therapist who is getting a reptile for her kids and they binge watched you and one of the little ones took notes on each reptile. Btw I will be contacting you about doing a interview. Hopefully we can make that happen. I know you are very busy.
One of my favourite features boas have is the hump on their noses! I have a very Italian nose and I’ve always been insecure about it, but boas have such a beautiful bend in their snouts I find its given me some confidence that my boa and I have matching nose bumps💞
I'm not a reptile owner, just a fan of the channel, but I totally agree with your sentiments about handling large, good-tempered snakes even with my limited experience. Feeling their grip gives you a hint of how strong they are, but they are gentle and just trying to hang on.
Hey Clint! I'd love to start off with how amazingly helpful, informative, and educational your videos are. I have all sorts of different reptiles and even went to get my first reptile in a long time from your recommendation of great snakes, which would be the Kenyan sand boa I named Onyx! While I now have a ton of different creatures, there is one that I believe would be considered among the coolest and most beautiful snakes ever, the dominican red mountain boa. I wonder what your take would be over how you would rate this awesome creature. Either way, I appreciate you and everyone that works on these videos as it wouldn't come together so well without everyone being awesome there.
You are absolutely right about there being something special about touching and handling animals. I certainly feel more connected to animals when able to interact like you say, and I am sure many other people are similar. I'm almost offended by the rules that prohibit it, although I know it is for good reason in many cases. Let's hope the public gets more opportunities like your reptile room. Thanks for what you do! I'm thoroughly enjoying your videos and sense of humor, haha.
Hi Clint. My son and I love watching your videos every week! We would love to see you do a video about land hermit crabs. There is a lot of bad information out there and it would be great for someone like you to inform people about how to actually care for them. Thanks for all you do!
I would love to see a video on my favorite native Utah reptile: The Rubber Boa! These guys are handleable similar to the sand boas, and are renowned for never biting as well.
This channel is the only one that I can get all the information that I want in a minute or two but stay for the whole video for the enjoyable content !
I really want to go to Clint’s reptile room and handle some sneks. I remember a teacher at the school I attended 6th grade at, and she had a bunch of snakes that I loved to go in and hold before school.
Re: extra video for Patreon supporters... I like this idea! I've seen other channels change their subscriber schedule to put out videos for Patreon first. Ok, so videos out late is NOT a patron benefit; it's a subscriber loss. This exclusive video on Patreon is way better than punishing the subscriber audience with a whole new schedule. I'm a subscriber, but not a patron because 1) can't afford it, and 2) I don't own any reptiles, but I subscribe because I love animals! Thanks for still keeping so many videos free and educational each time you upload for your subscribers!! I get so much out of my weekly visits, and words can't say how important that's been during a global pandemic in chemo quarantine. It's a "stinking rad" gift to animal enthusiasts. Thank you!!
I recently learned that my psychology professor and his daughter keep snakes, and that makes that class so much more fun. It makes me excited to sit through lectures
I'm partial to a corn snake myself. I own 3. I've had my old boy around 5 & 6 yo's necks & taken him into old folks' homes. I always trusted him completely, he's just so chilled. I don't work for that company anymore & even if i did, he'd probably be retired now due to his age, he's about 16 now.
I was super happy to see pituophis start off this list! I've been holding off on getting a snake until I'm able to get a northern pine snake, because that's the species I really want. Luckily, I'm in contact with a breeder who's hoping to produce some this year!
Lilith's disposition was extremely docile before she reached nerd. Nerd will tell you this themselves, and you can see people free handling her even before she was shipped out
Lilith also had chronic health problems that actually caused her a significant amount of pain. I don’t know if there was anything that Nerd did or didn’t do that changed her disposition, but I can tell you from personal experience that chronic pain will make a calm, docile human cranky and irritable.
@@bromaro I didn’t mean to imply that you thought it was Nerd’s fault. I honestly think it was her un-diagnosed chronic medical condition that changed her personality. From what I understood watching the video that Kevin did describing her necropsy, she would have been in a significant amount of chronic pain for many years. I’ve watched chronic widespread pain change a human’s personality. It’s totally possible with a snake.
Clint: aw Buttercup you're so precious, I'm just gonna rub you on my face you cutie Buttercup: so we're doing this again huh? eh whatever. But yeah I can see why the sand boas are the least intimidating- they're basically a live animal with literal googly eyes. Oh, speaking of eyes! Hey Clint I have a question for you! When you show close ups of the Bearded Dragons I often see that their eyes are doing what, in birds, is called pinpointing- the pupils get wider and narrower in quick succession. I know what it means in birds and I know that reptiles and birds are more closely related than we used to assume, but I don't want to presume when sometimes critters can just kind of do similar stuff that isn't the same. So as a guy with a literal expert opinion, can you tell me what it means when Beardies pinpoint?
my roomate used to have a common boa, bigass snake it was about 6 feet give or take, definitely longer than me, she was a beast just being in her presence u can hear, see, and feel every breath she took and the feeding response man! her eyes would dilate to the point they were pitch black all the way around. She was very intimidating to be quite frank, but i also came to trust her quite a lot, my roomate would hand feed her live rats and she always seemed especially careful about her aim, incredible experience just watching her feed too, constricting around them, pulling them up onto her perch/bar that she hangs on
I have a retic as mellow as the first snake you showed. I tell people "she puts up with me well". Ive always messed with her even when she didn't want me to (when she was a baby) because I knew I wanted her well handled and socialized as an adult. Less of a danger that way ;)
I would love a video on best reptiles to watch. I enjoy handling but I mostly like to have something that will fit in an enclosure in my living room and be fun to just sit back and watch.
If you're taking requests, I'd love a video on Chuckwallas. From what I've seen, they appear to be a more handleable Uromastyx, but I'd love your take.
RIght?! I have six and only the second youngest is not as handleable and she is by adults, we have a two year old that begs to hold them all and she does, but the second to youngest is still a little squirmy and is fast. The newest baby we have had for three weeks is SO SUPER chill! We have a tessera ghost that will just lay there while you rock him. Part of my wonders if the ones that can't see as well are more relaxed because it's true for three of our morphs. The others are fine but they are much more watchful. They watch everything that goes on.
My (very gentle) 7 year old son loves our bearded dragons. He usually gets tired of sitting still before the dragon does. They love napping on his shoulder. We're getting our first snake, a hognose, next week, and he's all mine 😆
NOOOO😭 I loved watching your videos as a little kid. I remember having bearded dragons and unfortunately :/ very neglected dragons. I was very small and fascinated by them. My parents with no reptile experience at all bought me 2 and were not aware of how costly and the unwillingness to keep up with that cost they would have. Eventually little 8 year old me grew a pair and decided we should find them a better home and so thats what we did. Now I’m 20, sleep deprived and college bound,with a job and some money saved up👀 and am willingly taking care of a corn snake, a ton of awesome fish, a dog, and a parakeet that bring my stressful life some JOY! Unfortunately its getting crowded in this small apartment me and my family share😂. Your video is giving me uncontrollable urges of wanting to own some beardy and not to mention the emerald skink! It looks so fun! Hopefully the future brings more space to grow my exotic family :). Love your videos clint as soon as my I get my bank account back (* i lost my wallet today ._. So i froze my accounts* )im looking forward to ordering Some clint merch!
Thanks for this video! It's funny that you mention coming to visit the Reptile Room. My fiancé and I just today were trying to figure out what we want to do for our honeymoon and I was trying to convince her this would be a worthwhile trip. The verdict is still out, but I showed her this video. With a little luck and a dream, maybe I can convince her.
