Trying to learn to pop bps, afraid to hurt them

I have read many forums and watched many videos, but I can not for the life of me pop my male ball python. I am afraid I am going to hurt him. I am trying to practice for when I produce my first clutch, but there are no breeders near me who can show me how to correctly do it in person. I am holding him directly under the cloaca, and rolling the tip of my thumb from the mid section of his tail up to his cloaca, but I can't get anything to pop out. Is there anything I am missing here?

I would suggest you learn how to probe ball pythons instead of popping them. You can get the kit from Reptile Basics for like 20 bucks I think.

I never tried popping but probing came pretty easy to me. Plus probing is a lot more accurate than popping. As long as you're very careful, probing is a breeze.
Anyways, that's my two cents.

Here's a great probing video:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=194166

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I may just try that then, I hate having to 'squish' his tail like that. Thanks! :)

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Originally Posted by spazhime

I may just try that then, I hate having to 'squish' his tail like that. Thanks! :)

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Np. Just don't over think it.

As long as you're careful and gentle, you'll do just fine.

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i tried to probe once .. thought it was a girl .. found out after i learned how to pop it wasn't lol .. popping is easy once u find a method to do it .. a lot of videos show u but the quality is blurry .. its not that hard .. its hard to explain maybe ill try to make a video tomorrow with good quality and show u how its done

How old is the male you are trying to pop? Popping is the easiest on brand new hatchlings because they have less muscle control. I'm not saying you can't pop older animals....I have popped adults before. It just takes a bit more effort, so for older animals probing is easier.

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Originally Posted by Misha

I would suggest you learn how to probe ball pythons instead of popping them. You can get the kit from Reptile Basics for like 20 bucks I think.

I never tried popping but probing came pretty easy to me. Plus probing is a lot more accurate than popping. As long as you're very careful, probing is a breeze.

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You can do just as much if not more damage probing as you can when popping. Don't push the probe too hard and use the correct size or you can blow out your girls. Punctures happen all the time and are not good.

Adults are harder to pop but I trust my eyes a hell of a lot more and there is nothing more accurate than what you actually see when done correctly.


OP, you said there is no one around you. Whats your location, you might be surprised?

You're not pressing hard enough. Do you have any young snakes? Smaller snakes are easier to pop with very little pressure. The big ones need a lot of pressure to pop. And if you can't see anything, that means you being too light.

Personally, I hate probing. Its much too invasive for my liking. Ever since that one guy here pushed a probe through his snake's hemipene, it got me all paranoid.

And what can be more accurate than seeing actual genitalia sticking up at you. Lol ;)

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Popping takes time, patience and practice. If you only have one snake, practice with him/her a few times and then give the snake a break. If you have multiple snakes, you can practice more often without irritating the snakes. Hatchlings are easiest as mentioned above as they do not have muscle control down there. Juvenile and adults are harder to pop but, if you practice and get the technique down, they can be popped with ease. I'm sure if you tell everyone where you're from, there will be someone close by that could help you out. :gj:

As I've said before in another popping thread. I wouldn't necessarily say that smaller animals are easier to pop. I have a very hard time popping small animals and a very easy time popping 400-1200g animals. Its all about learning the technique and getting the feel for it. There really is no substitute for having another established breeder show you in person with multiple animals in their collection of varying sizes and sexes.