Tips for palpating.

As you can see its late and I'm kinda bored so I decided to make this thread to maybe help out some members who might have a hard time palpating. Palpating is one of the things that took me the longest to master in this hobby. I know I am not alone, I have friends that have been in the snake hobby for years and they still don't feel comfortable palpating. Palpating can be an extremely useful technique and one that will without a doubt make you a better "breeder".

- When you are palpating it is very important that the snake is relaxed. Handle her until she is calm and easily stretched out. Many people underestimate the importance of this, if the snake is tensing up when you apply pressure with your fingers you wont get a proper feel.

- Dont wait till you think your in the right area to start putting down pressure, put pressure down with your finger as soon as you can and let the snakes movement bring the follicles towards your finger.

- Use only your index finger and thumb to apply pressure, The thumb does the pushing and the index finger does the feeling. This is one of the mistakes I was making, I was trying to feel follicles with all 4 fingers on the belly instead of just one.

For those of you that are completely unfamiliar with palpating here is a good video to show the technique you will be applying these tips to: http://youtu.be/TlX9y6wyrsw. Anyway, feel free to add any tips of your own and hopefully this helps someone. :gj:

Tip: DONT SQUEEZE TOO TIGHT! THERES BABIES IN THERE! Hahahaha
No really. Be careful.

And thanks, many will benefit from this.


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Maybe a dumb question here.

Is it safe to palpate after ovulation and if so, anything different about how to do it?

Use a paper towel in your palpating hand, they will slide through it easier giving you a better feel.
spooky

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Originally Posted by rlditmars

Maybe a dumb question here.

Is it safe to palpate after ovulation and if so, anything different about how to do it?

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Yes it is safe but generally after ovulation people know the female is gravid so there is not much use in palpating. Also after ovy you can usually see a bulge just by holding her up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mr.spooky

Use a paper towel in your palpating hand, they will slide through it easier giving you a better feel.
spooky

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Great tip, I'm going to try it next time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mr.spooky

Use a paper towel in your palpating hand, they will slide through it easier giving you a better feel.
spooky

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x2. Also, a soft cotton glove works great too.

I use a table leg and let them pull themselves away from me while gently making them flatten out, much easier imo than letting them pull themselves over a tub.

A satin pillow case works great if you have one available, they slide right on through your hands easily.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

I use a table leg and let them pull themselves away from me while gently making them flatten out, much easier imo than letting them pull themselves over a tub.

A satin pillow case works great if you have one available, they slide right on through your hands easily.

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Good tip Jerry, Ill have to give that a shot.

I made my own video, hope it helps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEQ-NfXjJtI