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Many thanks. Appreciate you watching and commenting.

Flattery will get you everywhere!

Hi mate, yes an older one, but still useful information. Males, contrary to what many people believe, have hormonal cycles and they will be at their peak readiness for just a few months during the season. They are not actually ready to breed at any time. Since we don't need to pair up very frequently to be successful (around once a month per female), a male should be able to handle 3 females at a rate of one per week or so for an indefinite period without harm. However, he will not want to breed indefinitely, so we need to make sure we get our locks in when he's in the peak of his hormonal cycle. I live in the tropics with very little seasonal variation, so there is no specific season and females can produce at any time during the year based on their own hormonal cycles. So we have an issue with getting everybody in synch to be at their peak condition for breeding at the same time. Males ready to go at the same time as females are in their build cycle. In temperate climates (where the environment is controlled in order for tropical snakes to survive), breeding season traditionally is during the cooler months when barometric pressure also drops. They respond to seasonal change, even though they are not in their natural climate. In the tropics, the way I do it is to use food cycling and the rhythm of the room. Off season feeding is much reduced. When I want to get everybody thinking about breeding, I will wait for the rainy season (October time) and then start feeding a lot more. After a month of heavy feeding, I will start introducing males to females on rotation. The first pairings might not be successful, but what it does is get those hormones flowing and the whole snake room can detect the pheromones from paired snakes and they all get it together at the same time. Food cycling and off season preparation is critical to a successful breeding season. Once the females start to build, cool seek and go through that ravenous eating phase, we need to make the most of this period with our breeder ready males. Let the males dictate the pairing schedules for each individual male. A male in peak condition will be grumpy, territorial and will coil back in threat when his tub is opened. He will buck and shrug in combative behaviour if you try to touch him. He will also willingly go into any females tub you choose. Look up my video in the TOR Method of introduction to tell you how keen the male is. You can find it here; th-cam.com/video/WWarwwMhHSw/w-d-xo.html Other useful videos; th-cam.com/video/fIXR9W3py3E/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/ds36B-ZDhiQ/w-d-xo.html Go to Tully's OutRegious Royals for first hand info on this technique; www.youtube.com/@tullysoutregiusroyals th-cam.com/video/VzVb5aBzTFw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=cGBgJq3l8lRQfu8g Once you see that males are locking, use them weekly until their behaviour suggests they are past their peak and then rest them. They might be very willing for about 3 months. After that they tail off and need resting. They can be used again once they start showing aggressive breeding behaviour again. As long as you don't push them too hard and remove them if the females are rejecting them, they will not come to any harm, but they can get stressed and stop eating if pushed. Hope this helps mate. If you have some more specific questions on individual snakes and specific pairings, just post here and I'll try to answer them.

@@borisnoone Hi mate. Thank you for the support and comment. Much appreciated.

Hi Laura. Sorry not to respond immediately. Just been away a few days. Based on the new research and my experience with ARP's collection, I don't think it's possible to breed out the deformity of the ear completely, since it is related to the colour and pattern mutation we know as "Spider" and its genetically complex, related to how certain genes switch on and off their hormone production and receptor modulation during development of the embryo. However it does mean that the expression of the wobble can be highly variable from not noticeable, all the way to the wild corkscrew we see when the animals are stressed or their husbandry is poor. ARP's collection has a few with a noticeable wobble, but the vast majority are very mild to unnoticeable unless you really look hard. We have noticed that his trade mark Bumble Bee Calico's, which have been line bred for years, seem to be particularly good in this regard, which might suggest that genetically, a certain combination of genes or line breeding the best to the best might have improved the situation overall, but we also notice that a snake with a bad wobble doesn't automatically produce offspring with the same bad wobble and vice versa, a snake which doesn't wobble can still produce offspring that do. This is a "far cry" from the typically held belief that all Spiders wobble and there is no variation or exception to this "rule". This is simply misinformation and is not true at all. The degree of wobble exhibited by any particular individual can also vary during the season as the snakes go through their breeding hormonal cycle and snakes that have been bred may get better or worse with sexual maturity. This should come as no surprise since sexual maturity and breeding relates to levels of stress in individuals (cortisol or corticosterone hormone production) and we already know that Spiders that are constantly handled or are kept in less than ideal conditions also exhibit a wobble which goes away when the animal settles. It is actually possible to breed out the spider wobble by breeding Spider and Blackhead together. 1 in 4 of the offspring will be the Spider Blackhead allelic combination, which behaves quite normally, but unfortunately it also produces a snake which looks like a normal or wildtype! Other Spider complex genes in allelic combinations do not have the same positive effect and Cypress Spider or Spotnose Spider can often be worse. It appears the combination of Blackhead and Spider as an allelic pair, cancels out the genetic deformity to the inner ear. However, any Spiders produced from this ALS combo (50% Spiders, 50% Blackhead can still exhibit a wobble in the heterozygous state). Probably way too much information when you wanted a simple yes or no, but it's not quite as simple as yes or no!

Thanks mate. Hope you found it interesting and thought provoking.

Hi mate. Thank you! Spider doesn't deserve the bad rep it gets. Recent research shows that the spider wobble is an inner ear deformity which is common in many genetic strains of animals with colour and pattern mutations, not just Ball Pythons and not just snakes. It also means that the wobble is quite variable ranging from non existent to severe, but in all cases made worse by poor husbandry and stress on the animal. Spiders are in fact great eaters and great breeders and their pattern reduction in many of the morphs seen in the video just cannot be duplicated any other way. If our Spiders appeared to be suffering due to this condition, we might rethink our position, but the simple truth is that almost all of them do just fine and compare well against any other morphs that may also suffer similar genetic anomalies. The vast majority of ARP's spiders have very little wobble and thrive. We have even mixed them with other "Spider/Spotnose" complex genes and produced animals which thrive, when common perception is that these combos are a no no and that they suffer reduced quality of life, etc etc. It's worth remembering that the first "Spider" morph was in fact an adult wild caught example, so the gene did occur in nature and seemed to be doing just fine in the wild.

@RobertBarracloughRoyalBalls I agree that's it's very overblown, and spider is the one they always pick on even though it's just one of many that could wobble . When compared with dogs, there is no comparison, so many breeds have so many and far worse problems than a wobble .

At risk of being controversial and provocative.... I think many comments on Spider come from people who haven't kept them, nor would want to keep them, which is a personal choice. I think the often heard arguments about "quality of life" can only really be made by those who do keep them and are able to compare them to the rest of their collection. Snake body language is not often talked about by most keepers and when it is, it's often misinterpreted. Yet we're all experts when it comes to snake "quality of life"? Breeders also might not keep Spiders because their bad reputation makes them difficult to sell, which is not a factor in our local market. Spiders sell well. As has been mentioned, many morphs, particularly in their super-forms (homozygous condition) can exhibit a wobble for exactly the same reason Spiders do. I could list them, but we'll just leave it at Spider and let this gene take the rap alone.

Hi mate. ARP didn't pair this last season either and we look forward to this coming season and some real advancements in all our projects. I'll be interested to see how Acid/Static/Confusion (same gene when they develop a test I'm guessing) goes in some of your awesome combos.

@@RobertBarracloughRoyalBalls I’m going to go acid to super enchi pin or pastel Spot nose. I only have spot nose because of you…

Even today I would recommend Spotnose in any collection! You have seen what it can do. You will not be disappointed.

Hi Mate. Glad you enjoyed seeing them as much as I enjoyed showing them off.

@@RobertBarracloughRoyalBalls 100%

Hi Mate. Thank you and thanks for the comment and continued support!

Hi John. I'm flattered. Thanks for watching and commenting.

Hi Barbara. Iconic! DG version please Arawin!

Hi Mate. Thank you. Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for commenting.

@@patrickalilbitofeverything5181 thanks Patrick.

@@Ghattaka hi mate. It really helps if you can get someone experienced to demonstrate. Practise on your own can be very hit and miss. You'll get it though.

Hi Paul. Great to see a comment from you and I hope all is well with you and yours. My snakes are in the best hands and when ARP breeds again this coming year, I'm sure we will maximise the potential of our "merged" collections for some really spectacular stuff. Life here is great and I'm keeping plenty busy! Hope your new house is finished on time and you can enjoy the good life!

Other than the hip I’m doing good. Thanks Rob. Looking for the right surgeon to operate in the least intrusive way. Might cost me 20000 sterling so juggling cash flow between fixing the house and me. The house should be complete in the next 3 weeks.. so looking forward to having our home back without the trades being here each day. Mandy is in good health. She’s walking a 26 mile charity marathon from Padstow to Newquay this morning. She’s doing it for the MacMillian cancer appeal. She’s n her final year of training to be a professional counsellor. The snake business is starting to generate a little income. We have a beautiful family staying in our holiday let for a couple of days while they visit our snake facility. It’s the first snake holiday we have run. There login it as much as us. Could be the way forward for us. We hit 150 babies this year so lots of sales to be made. Projects are going well. Lots to keep us excited. I’m very grateful for your help over the years. When your video was posted I was so excited to watch it. I wasn’t disappointed. I hope your new adventures in Korea continue to enrich your lives as a family.

Hi Paul. I broke my pelvis in 2013 racing superbikes, which involved the right hip joint, which although healed without surgery, can be both painful and restrictive at times, but it's not debilitating and I can still do what I love doing, so I can live with it. But I can see how it could easily reach a stage where this was not the case, even with some of today's wonderful painkillers! Sort yourself would be my priority if its affecting life. Korea has introduced American Large Mouth Bass to most of it's waterways. They are thriving. We were out today (midsummer) and many rivers are chock full of heavy weed growth and the banks are overgrown, so weedless soft plastics are the order of the day, fished surface, shallow or dragged along the bottom where there are gaps in the weed. My better half has become addicted to this style of fishing and we had a great day out. They are brilliant fish to catch. Super aggressive in warm water. We might need to change our approach a bit when winter comes, but by then we'll have Pacific Cod to fish for in the sea as well! So much variety of fish here.

@@RobertBarracloughRoyalBalls thanks Rob, good advice. Fishing sounds fantastic. Love some predator action. Need to get my hip fixed before I go crazy with the fly rods. Good luck 9n the winter dish8ng expeditions. Let me know how you get on

Thanks mate. Hope all is well with you and it's awesome to see comments from my usual subscribers even though I haven't made a video in a while.

Hi mate. After all the fuss about DG being polygenic, it turns out its a simple Mendelian recessive after all. I think most of our morphs are also influenced by "kickers" and "enhancers" and this is what makes a really nice looking one vs an average one. This is the element of "polygenic" that was initially confusing, but the picture has become much clearer with more data. This "polygenic" element may well be important for DG, but its not unique to DG. So breeding het DG to het DG is the same as breeding any other recessive with a het to het pairing. You have a 1:4 chance on producing a visual DG. The other 3 out of every 4 offspring will be 66% poss het for DG, again just the same as any other recessive. And just as for a visual to visual pairing, choose the best looking examples you can to pair for your het to het pairings since the quality (and any genetic kickers and enhancers) will also be passed on to the offspring. In my case, we started with a really nice visual DG male from Justin Kobylka to make all our hets and double hets and this really helps to ensure quality in subsequent generations. If you are buying hets, rather than making your own, try to establish from the breeder what the parents looked like and try to get photos before buying.

Hi Paul. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment. Much appreciated.

Hi Erica. Nice to get a video out and get such a warm reception in the comments. Hope you are doing well too.

Thanks Joe. I'll get the next one out in a few days. More really spectacular stuff from ARP. Fishing here in Korea is so varied. In winter we have very cold conditions and Pacific Cod. In summer we have tropical conditions and get Mahi Mahi, Yellowfin Tuna and even Marlin. And everything in between with the changing seasons. Fresh water, Salt water, from the bank, beach, shore or boat, it's all good.

Thanks mate. Yes, alive and well!

Hi bro. Thanks for watching and dropping a comment. It's nice to get such a good reception after not posting a video for a while.

Hi Ron. Hope you are well mate. You are making some great snakes!

Thanks mate.

Hi mate. Thanks for the warm welcome back! Yes I managed to get some footage during my last home leave. There's another one to follow on ARP's snakes.

Hi Patrick. Thanks for the best wishes. Life is good! Stay tuned for the ARP episode.

Hello again Patrick! Never fails to amaze me how you find the time to watch and you're right back in my comments section after quite a long break with no content. Your support is much appreciated mate.

Hi Barbara. It wasn't without some trepidation that I posted a new video but the reception has been tremendous and such a warm welcome back in all the comments. It's great this community still has such a great spirit. It's inspiring.

@@milans1665 hi mate. Sorry for the lack of recent content. Hope you enjoyed the eye candy on this one. I have another lined up looking at ARP's snakes. Thanks for your continued support. Much appreciated.

@@RobertBarracloughRoyalBalls I really appreciate your content. You know very well that my wife and I have been watching you for many years and watching your progress. Thank you again for the consultation regarding the determination of genes in our clutch at @veronica_reptiles ☺😅😅. Despite the bad photos we sent you, your prediction was confirmed by a worker from Kinova. Many thanks

That's awesome mate! And now I can make the connection. I did get the link for the better photos but need to sit down with pen and paper and make more notes. At first glance I didn't change my initial ID's, which is often the way with ID's. We second guess, change our minds and then come right back to our first impression. When I do ID's I always like to highlight the features that I see that make up an ID. This way, when we get another clutch, we'll all have a better idea of what to look for. I don't think just saying what it is is very helpful in most cases. I still owe you that description and I will get to it for you. Meantime, I'm glad you got an extra set of eyes on the clutch and I hope you found the section in this video on the special clown project useful. You would have also seen a number of other combinations with similar gene stacks to your own clutch. I think you got what you wanted in the clutch!

@@RobertBarracloughRoyalBalls thank you very much, I'm very curious to see how the IDs turn out overall. And thank you for your work on youtube.

@@kcsroyalpythons8249 hi mate. Sorry for the lack of content, but the snakes are doing well. I'll do a follow on video looking at ARP's collection when I finish with editing. I love spicy food. Korea has a fairly international cuisine, there are Indian and Western style restaurants here. I'm not a fan of Kimchi but other Korean food i like. Fried chicken and beer is a thing here. The rice is different! Korean rice is sticky. Malaysian rice is not, so we have to bring our own rice in to do Nasi Lemak and Nasi Goreng 🤣. I especially miss mamak breakfasts and Roti Channai.

@@11royals96 thanks mate. More than ok! Life is good. Missing snakes.

@@Akhatchntails thanks mate. Nice to hear they are still useful.

@@ingenunis5003 hello Tennessee!! Welcome. And thanks for subscribing.

@@frankartale1026 i do wish you luck. Provided temps and humidity are good, the eggs should hatch. The maternal instinct in females is very strong and its unusual for them to abandon a clutch. There has to be a reason for this. I love the behavioural aspects of the hobby and especially how individual keepers set-ups influence or modify behaviour of our snakes. I'm intrigued by the unusual behaviour of abandoning what sounds like a perfectly healthy clutch.

@@RobertBarracloughRoyalBalls Thank you for reply. I will tell you, the father was helping incubate the first 3days with the mother. Everything about my situation seems to go against every recomendation but i've had healthy snakes for 17 years. This is the first clutch this snake (which is at least 18 years old) ever had. The snakes are used to being in the same hide all together for years. The mother even let a couple of the other snakes in with her with the eggs. Now i have it blocked off so no snake goes in ther. Until i see the mother try to go back in the hide and honestly i don't know if i should let her back in. I was able to feed the mother 3 days after she laid them. On schedule with the other snakes.

@@frankartale1026 ah....cohabiting. i wasn't sure from your post. So males will try to mate with females at any time. He may be trying to mate rather than play any role in incubation. His presence may be what drove her off the eggs. Communal nest sites have been hinted at in some of the documentary videos but its always females with eggs in the nest site guarding multiple clutches. I think females do share nest sites and there is competition for the best spots to lay, but males are not involved in that process and i can find no reference to any species of snakes where males incubate, guard or provide care to offspring. Amazingly adaptable creatures who always find a way, but i would speculate that cohabiting/competition and unwelcome attention from an unwanted male my all be factors in her abandoning her eggs.

@@RobertBarracloughRoyalBalls Well just now the mother decided after 6 days to return to the eggs that i have been caring for. Same day my real incubator arrived. im not sure if i should take them away from her ?

@@frankartale1026 hi mate. I think you are well into uncharted territory here. The eggs will hatch if the incubating conditions are good. The danger is the female might now roll or disturb them. She might kick them off the hot spot so she can occupy it if she is not being driven by maternal instinct. I would set up the incubator and get it running stable over the next day or so and then reassess the situation when you are happy with how the incubator is running. Watch out that she doesn't start to disrupt the nest and roll the eggs meantime, in which case you may want to remove the eggs immediately.

Hi mate. After all the fuss about DG being polygenic, the story becomes much clearer. Hope this both simplifies the picture and was helpful. I think with increasing knowledge from shed testing, we'll find many of our favourite morphs are effected by (but not controlled by) a suit of other genes which influence what we call "quality" or the expression of how a particular individual shows off the visual traits we associate with a particular morph. The principle of "quality in, quality out" is based on very sound genetic principles and will always be the best approach.

Hi mate. These are locally made tubs by Twin Dolphin twinsdolphin.com/ Available in a wide range of sizes and colours, these are the 2418's which are 56cm x 44cm x 16cm. They range in size from 2414 up to 2419's so cover all sizes of Ball Pythons and are actually marketed as storage trays. Twin Dolphin make a wide range of trays and storage boxrs in many different styles. Please remember I don't use heat mats in the tropics and there is no temperature gradient in my tubs so the dimensions can cater for the snake, rather than a temperature gradient. The racks the tubs are in are also locally made and very simple in construction, again because they do not need to cater for heat mats.

Hi mate. Since i live in the tropics with a perfect climate that mimics a Ball Python's natural environment, i need no artificial heating or added humidity. My snake room is buffered which means it doesn't experience the mid day heat (which tropical snakes avoid anyway) nor does it drop in temperature at night or after rain. I'm lucky i don't have to do anything at all to achieve this. Those that live in cooler climates will need artificial environmental controls. How much control depends on local conditions which is going to be different for everyone. One setup in one climate isn't going to work in another, which is why we see so many different setups. The complex and related interplay of heat and humidity is a tightrope. Changing one almost inevitably effects the other and getting it just right can involve a great deal of fine tuning. Because of where i live, that aspect is also taken care of. I think there are a multitude of ways we can achieve an ideal setup and allow our animals to thrive. They are all tailored to individual conditions which includes the microclimate in the room the snakes are being kept. Many people have cool sides in their setups in the low 80's or high 70's f. It never gets that cold in the tropics so wild Ball Pythons would never experience those temperatures. I would need air conditioning to drop temperatures this low, but its also unnecessary for me. My snakes thrive in the environment nature provides and i use no temperature, humidity or light controls. There is no temperature gradient in my tubs, nor is it necessary. A perfect constant temperature and humidity day and night works great for my snakes.

Hi mate. This is where our role in controlling what happens in the snake room supersedes nature. There is absolutely nothing natural about introducing our chosen male to a chosen female and trapping them together in a tub. When the female is tired of the intrusion and the males job is done, she will let him know it's time to leave, but he cannot comply. He is trapped in the tub with her, so we need to do the job for them. If we don't, both animals will get stressed, in particular the males. I believe not observing the body language and reading the signs correctly is one of the reasons males go off food during the breeding season. We push them beyond a threshold stress level by leaving them in with a female for too long when the female has had enough. Males, contrary to popular perception, are not always ready to breed. They too have hormone cycles and need to be at their peak readiness to breed when we need them to be and timing is sometimes a bit off. This requires patience and persistence and a keen eye for snake body language to determine exactly what's happening during the pairing. If he's not ready, it's always best to split them up and try again in a week or two, rather than force the issue and stress him out. Same goes for all those folk lore "cures" of rubbing male hemipene casts on the female or using another males shed to get "competition" going, or even worse using two males at the same time. If a male is not ready, no amount of coaxing will get him to breed. His behaviour is controlled by his hormones and in nature he would avoid both females and other males until he is ready. Forcing confrontation in our captive environment can only lead to unnecessary stress and even greater reluctance to breed together with refusing to eat.

Hi mate. I think at 32 grams for a hatchling, we would immediately be in intervention mode. This is certainly underdeveloped and possibly did not absorb all its yoke. A normal size for a hatchling would be 65 gms to 80 gms plus or minus a bit. For a snake this small, survival becomes the prime driver and getting any food into them at this size gives them a better chance of survival. Often they won't eat themselves and have difficulty with their first shed, so I often don't wait too long to assist feed them if they refuse to eat by themselves. They have very little reserves and will not last as long as a normal sized hatchling would, so we need to get something into them. A pinkie mouse for a snake this size is a good start. Easier for them to eat and digest since sometimes the digestive system is also either very small or not fully formed. Also easier to assist feed if this is necessary. The aim is to get them stabilised and through their first shed. They will not grow much on a diet of pinkie mice, but once established and they get stronger, the feed size can be upped. Hopper mice (with fur) are more attractive to baby snakes, since there is more smell and they stay warm, so once the snake has had a few meals and looks like it is digesting ok and especially if it does eat by itself, hopper mice are good for the next few meals. After that, hopper rats as per a normal baby ball python as soon as they are willing to take them. The smallest baby I have had survive was 22gms and it needed months of TLC and assist feeding to pull it through. Unfortunately at this size, they don't all make it, but it's still worth trying.

Thank you. Hope it's useful. Food for thought at leaat!