Popping: Easy peesy???

[PghBall]

Its a thing that I have been actively trying to avoid learning how to do because probing feels so much safer to me, however, my first breeding season is here and I need to know if one of my males is producing sperm and of course the only way to know that is to look for the sperm plugs, hence I have to learn how to pop.

The issue is that I don't know any other snake keepers and as a small woman I don't feel safe asking for a strangers help online, so my only alternative is ole Youtube University. I watched so many videos, but they all looked so forceful with hard tail bending and pressing so hard their fingertips change color and I've read stories about people accidentally hurting their snakes. I almost just kinda gave up, until I saw Scott Reader (Mutation Creation Canada) do a tutorial. I was dumbfounded! It looked like the hemi peens were just jumping right out of the tail with just a flex of his thumb.
He could even do it one handed! I'm pretty eager to try it out, i'll probably update this thread with the result.


P.s. heres the video if you're curious https://youtu.be/eI26REv4MOM

Popping is not hard on the snake once you know the propper way to do it. You have to be firm but gentle. It does take some practice and I would not recommend practicing on just one hatchling. Practive the techniques in the videos and adjust as needed for you. Have several hatchlings you can practive on and keep the sessions short to not put to much stress on the animals. Practice makes perfect