So I Made an Exotic Pet Care Channel on Youtube...

I figured this would be the place to post this, but if not someone just correct me.

Pretty much what the title says. I got bored and figured out how to use my webcam about a week ago, and couldn't think of anything to talk about other than my pets, so this channel was the result.

At any rate, I just made a BP setup video, so I figured I'd post this here in case anyone is interested. If anyone has critiques or ideas for things I should cover in the future I'd like to hear them! I'm mainly hoping my videos keep at least one person from killing or accidentally burning their animal, plus I spend all my free time doing reptile-related stuff anyway.

Anyways, here's the link to the BP setup video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtBhCInGsXY

Good info in the video - and moose looks great. :)

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Originally Posted by dr del

Good info in the video - and moose looks great. :)

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Thanks, I'll tell her you said so lol.

The top 10 garter snake facts video was super cool. I had no idea that they could show social behavior. Fascinating

Overall really good.

Two things did stick out to me.

1. The shown hide. The one you showed was just to big and many times that style allows light to penetrate because of the colors they are made in, I have seen that here. It would have been nice to plug the real deal plastic hides that so many of us use.

2. The dog bowl you showed. That style is bad about getting flipped because it has a hiding space under it and it looks like an inviting hide. Using the ceramic dog bowls for most of my snakes I have never had one turned over. My others are reptile specific bowls that have never been turned over either. All of mine are completely flat and do not allow any of my snakes, even the diggers, to get under them to make a mess by flipping them.

Yeah, I've been meaning to replace her hides. Got hit with a vet bill for one of my other pets and the hides went to the bottom of the priority list since she doesn't seem to have any problem hiding in them at the moment. I didn't think to mention the better brands of hide though, but you're right I probably should have. I may make one solely dedicated to equipment and decor brands and cover it there.

I'll have to give the ceramic dish a try. She does flip hers a lot.

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Originally Posted by Mustang5

The top 10 garter snake facts video was super cool. I had no idea that they could show social behavior. Fascinating

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Yup! I guess it's a side-effect of brumating in mass numbers... not a smart move if everyone is trying to eat each other. It's pretty primitive social behavior, but it's there.

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Originally Posted by DVirginiana

Yeah, I've been meaning to replace her hides. Got hit with a vet bill for one of my other pets and the hides went to the bottom of the priority list since she doesn't seem to have any problem hiding in them at the moment. I didn't think to mention the better brands of hide though, but you're right I probably should have. I may make one solely dedicated to equipment and decor brands and cover it there.

I'll have to give the ceramic dish a try. She does flip hers a lot.



Yup! I guess it's a side-effect of brumating in mass numbers... not a smart move if everyone is trying to eat each other. It's pretty primitive social behavior, but it's there.

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My ball will root around randomly. She will dig up her plants and crawl all through the thick layer of cypress I provide. Her water bowl has never been an issue.

Another tip is to place the bowl on the actual floor of the container and then place the substrate around it. That keeps the diggers from being able to get under it at all. I do this with my Bloods.

Nice video DV! Well done. :)

I like how you had Moose out the whole time to keep the interest level up.

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Originally Posted by Reinz

Nice video DV! Well done. :)

I like how you had Moose out the whole time to keep the interest level up.

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Yeah, she's my most photogenic snake. Even my calmest garters are constantly trying to move around because they're so energetic, it's hard to hold them and focus on the camera at the same time!

Thank you, DVirginiana.

I am looking forward to watching them.
Never enough good snake videos, and the habits of those garters ARE peculiar.

:)

Hey DV.

Nice job! Perfect use of props, and Moose. Everything was right there for you. Great delivery too. For a one camera one take shoot, this was well done. Can I make a couple of suggestions? This is really my area. I work in television, primarily as an editor, but I shoot and direct when needed. First off, up the resolution of your videos. It's a little hard to watch because of the grain and pixilation. If it was just because the camera was compensating for low light, move some lights to your area. If it's the camera, maybe use your cell? Most shoot in HD now. The background was not cluttered, which is good. The sound quality was also good. I was actually looking for a mic on you! Length, it was a little long. Typically videos like this need to be in the 5-7 minute range or you start loosing your audience. 9 is OK but on the long side. You might want to have a clock above the camera so you can see how long you are. We do it in studio all the time. That's really about it. Energy and information were great. If you wanted to step it up, you can even use iMovie or the windows equivalent for some basic editing and add cut away shots to products or animals, like a close up of the mulch. Like I said though, overall very well done. Looking forward to the next one.

Dave

Those are good suggestions! It's definitely my camera though; just the webcam that's on my laptop. Now that I think this is something I want to keep doing, I'll probably look into some simple editing software (so far I can only do one take and trim the beginning and end, but can't do anything to the middle of whatever I'm filming). I didn't think about using my phone, but that would be much easier to manipulate, and I could get much better views of the insides of enclosures.
I think I'm going to start breaking the videos into slightly more manageable topics. That way I don't leave out important info, but the runtime wouldn't be as long.

Someone I know in the media/publishing/promoting field actually contacted me about my videos and wants to help me set up and promote a reptile-centric blog, so I'm actually super excited. Haha, I was expecting to get like five views on anything I put up.