- So, the Sphinx cats are kind of
the version of a scaleless.
Oh my gosh, this things, it's like a purple snake.
(whooshing)
(whoosing)
Hey, good morning everybody,
and welcome to the vlog.
We actually have a birthday party
and a pretty busy day here over at the Reptarium
and I hope the start your day is absolutely incredible.
And I'll keep on checking back at the Reptarium
as we have tours, we're open tonight,
all kinds of different things,
but for now I wanted to kind of talk to you guys
about scaleless snakes and what the deal is with them.
I mean some people like them,
some people don't like them,
some people wish they wouldn't breed them.
Some people like myself absolutely think
they're incredible animals but I want to go ahead
and break down what a scaleless snake is number one.
And then, number two, kind of show you
some really cool scaleless snakes.
You guys know that we just bought a collection
of a bunch of scaleless corn snakes
that are absolutely incredible.
I'll show you a few of those guys.
And let's just jump right into the topic itself.
Scaleless is a recessive mutation
or in most cases recessive in ball pythons
it's actually a super form of a co-dominant
and then there's that argument
is co-dominant just a visual het or something.
So in the ball python sense our scaleless hets
that are co-dominant when you breed them together
to produce a super form which is scaleless,
are they really just het for scaleless.
If you know what I mean, regardless doesn't matter.
The point is is that scales are made up of keratin, right?
So the mutation actually reduces
the amount of keratin causing a scaleless snake.
I actually think that this is an interesting topic.
You see in actuality a lot of mutations of snakes
and lizards and all kinds of other stuff
are actually kind of crossed over
all kinds of different lines of animals.
So, in theory and you are a feisty little monkey.
In theory a hairless cat is basically a mutation
that is lacking a lot of the keratin.
So, the Sphinx cats are kind of the version
of a scaleless snake.
Oh, if you know what I mean.
Oh my God, how did you get so angry?
It's a beautiful snake and that's one of the things
that's interesting is that scales actually can cover up
some of the patterning and coloring.
And you strip that layer of keratin away,
you get an absolutely gorgeous snake.
(visitors talking)
Like I mentioned, we have a birthday party
over here at the Reptarium today.
So we got Elvis out, meeting everyone.
I'm gonna be totally honest with you,
I can see people's points
when they don't like scaleless snakes.
I mean, I get what you're talking about I really do
because after all snakes scales are kind of their armor.
That's what protects them.
So, when you strip away that layer of protection,
I can see how people are a little bit upset about it
and I don't want to get into an argument about it,
whatsoever because again I see your point.
I just know that I've been working
with these guys for, gosh 15 years
and most of the scaleless mutations
but not all of the scaleless mutations do extremely well.
Take for instance these Texas rat snakes
or in this case a scaleless leucistic Texas rat snake
which is a double recessive mutation
both scaleless and leucistic causing this white snake
and it looks so absolutely incredible.
You know these guys will live a normal range life.
I don't feed live food to them
but the majority of my snakes I don't feed live anyways.
So, from that standpoint I think there is some danger.
If you were to feed live to a snake
that didn't have the armor,
I could see how that could be a problem
but like I said in my case, I feed them frozen anyway.
But again, I kind of can understand why people
would think it's kind of an aberration.
I mean, I get it, I really do
because after all it is really freaky
with that being said, I think when it comes to
the corn snakes and the rat snakes in particular,
when it comes to the scaleless, they do very well.
I mean, I keep them exactly like any other snake.
I don't increase their humidity.
They shed completely fine.
They eat completely fine.
They reproduce completely fine.
So, with at least corn snakes and rat snakes,
it seems like it's not an issue,
with that being said, in a little bit,
I'll talk about some of the other animals
that might not be that good of an animal to breed
when it comes to scaleless and I don't really want to
create an arguement about it, whatsoever.
My point is, I think that when you strip away those scales
it really does some amazing things to the color and pattern.
This happens to be a snow motley scaleless corn snake
and it just looks absolutely stunning.
Like I'd mentioned, it's a pretty busy day.
We have tours, we have birthday parties, more tours
and then we're open tonight.
So, right now the kids are actually
just feeding the tortoises.
- [Woman] No, they don't bite.
- [Girl] I don't want him to get my stuff in his mouth.
- So, let me give you an example of basically
what the scaleless animals do
to the pattern and color of animals.
By having the same exact snake.
One with scales and one without.
This would be an Abbotts okeetee corn snake.
Again, what you would find, a selectively bred,
beautiful okeetee, which is a locality
but specifically bred for really beautiful,
big black bars around the saddle.
Now this would happen to be a scaleless version
of the exact same snake.
So, when you put them together you kind of get the idea
of what happens when you strip away the scales.
Again, the scales just put a completely different look
and texture and even pattern to the animal.
You strip that away and it just becomes really vibrant
and the pattern changed a little bit.
I think it's pretty cool because,
you know way back in the day
before scales animals were around.
I didn't realize that the pattern and color
was actually on their skin.
I thought it was only on their scales.
And again, when you strip away
those scales, crazy things happen.
Look at this.
This is actually what they would call a granite corn snake
but this is a scaleless variety.
The granite is actually an anerythristic diffused corn.
Oh my gosh, this things, it's like a purple snake.
That's right, I mean literally a lavender purple snake.
Now the ones with scales look nothing like it.
I mean they're still very beautiful
but they don't have this purple look to them.
So my point is is that you can really do
some really cool designer things with scaleless snakes
and I think ethically, when you work with animals
like the corn snakes and the rat snakes
there's really nothing that I really have a problem with
but again I can't stress enough to you,
that I understand people that don't like them.
I mean, it's certainly an opinion that I can appreciate.
I think that they're really amazing
and I just love them to death.
Here with the last tour before we open up.
You guys came from Kentucky? - Yes.
- [Brian] That is awesome.
And it is your 18th birthday? - Yes.
- Oh my God, you guys are awesome.
This is like their first guys trip as adults
which I think is cool and you decided to come here.
You are awesome, hanging out with us tonight too, right?
- Yes, absolutely, sir.
- [Brian] What is the one thing that you want to see now?
- I honestly don't know.
Like, this this was it for me.
This was so amazing just even come down here.
- [Brian] Oh, that's awesome, man.
- I'm so happy just to be here.
- [Brian] Well cool, I tell what we're gonna do.
We're gonna pull out Perdita, okay?
- Alrighty. - All right, cool.
Let's do it. - Awesome.
- Now, let's get into a couple of the animals
that aren't as nearly as successful
as corn snakes and rat snakes are.
Let's talk about the scaleless ball python.
This would happen to be a scaleless het ball python
and most people know that I produce
the very first super version of this
or like I said visual het, whatever you want to call it.
The point is we produce the first
fully scaleless ball pythons years back.
I'm not going to debate whether
or not it's a viable mutation.
It can very well be an incredible animal
and some of the mutations
that are coming out of this scaleless project
are unbelievably incredible
but the one really point of difference
is the fact that these guys don't have ventral scales
when their scaleless whereas the rat snakes
and the corn snakes actually do have ventral scales
and for whatever reason
they seem to be a little bit harder to care for
whereas I had mentioned with the rat snakes and corn snakes
there is no additional care whatsoever.
they are completely like a normal snake when you keep them.
With the ball pythons, it's a little bit different.
They seem to go into shed much more frequently
and when they do shed
sometimes you have to keep the humidity up
but if you keep the humidity up too much
it can sometimes be a problem.
So again, I'm not saying
that you shouldn't breed scaleless ball pythons,
I'm just saying that there's no doubt
that they do require a little bit more care
and then the debate on whether the ethics behind it
does increase a little bit.
Again, you know for me, I think that
if you know how to care for many animals do well,
I don't see a problem with it
but I think the jury is still out
on the viability of scaleless ball pythons.
And the same kind of goes when it comes to bearded dragons.
We all know that the silky bearded dragons
are basically scaleless bearded dragons.
And they don't seem to be extremely viable.
Now some people still keep them.
Some people actually do well with them,
but they definitely do require more care.
I personally decided not to work with silky stuff
because although I think they're really interesting animals,
I just felt like maybe they weren't thriving
and again the market has kind of dictated the fact
that most people don't breed them
because most people really don't want to buy them.
But again, I don't want to spark a debate whether or not
you should keep scaleless animals
and spark another 25 videos that are rebuttals to me
about whether you should or shouldn't keep scaleless snakes.
Listen, it's a personal decision.
You guys can decide if you want to.
The fact is is that some of these
scaleless corn snakes are absolutely ridiculous.
This is actually a motley scaleless corn
and unbelievably stunning animal.
And again, in my experience the scaleless corn snakes
and scaleless rat snakes are really amazing animals
and don't seem to require any special care.
- Hey, let's do this.
- Yep.
- I guess so.
- You guys are not enthusiastic at all.
We're gonna have a good night tonight.
Let's do this.
(laughing)
- [Woman] How are you, nice to see you.
- [Brian] It's good to see you guys.
How you doing?
- [Man] How you doing?
- [Brian] Welcome, welcome, welcome.
How are you guys doing?
Hi, how are you?
It's good to see you.
- [Woman] Hi.
- Welcome, guys, welcome.
People ask me all the time, do scaleless snakes shed?
Of course they shed.
They shed just like any other snake
but they look very different.
Look at how it actually looks.
This is a fresh shed from a scaleless corn.
You can see it has the ventral scales here
but the backside is almost just like skin.
Almost like if you were sunburned and you peeled off
or maybe a gecko shed or something like that.
So yes, scaleless corns do shed
and this is what it looks like.
And I tell you what, one of my favorite mutations
of corn snakes, at least with scaleless,
are these guys right here.
Anerythristic, which in this case is a ghost,
which is a hypo anerythristic animal.
I just love the way that animal looks
and out of all the scaleless stuff,
this is definitely my favorite.
We've only been open here for about 10 minutes or so
and definitely as always going off.
It's gonna be an absolutely amazing night here.
There's no doubt about it.
Tons of people, tons of feedings tonight
which I think is really cool,
'cause this is the first weekend
that we're doing a bunch of different feedings
like Bella, Elvis, Tazzy.
Of course all the alligators.
We have some feedings coming up.
We've got Honey out over here.
- Oh yeah, and we've got Elvis in the back over here.
- [Brian] What do you think, bud?
- Good. - Awesome.
Again, we're having an absolutely amazing time.
Lots and lots of people.
Hey guys, welcome, welcome, guys.
Say something cool.
- You're my favorite YouTuber.
- One of the things I find really interesting
is the polymorphism within the scaleless stuff,
especially with the rat snakes.
Just take a look at the variation.
These are all the exact same animal.
Of course, this is just a scaleless Texas rat
that has some dorsal scaling on it
which makes it look a little bit unique.
This one also has even more dorsal scaling on it
but instead of the red, it's a little bit less vibrant.
This one is almost more orange looking
and has quite a bit of scaling on it
and that's what happens.
The more scales, they don't just look quite as clean.
I mean, you can see this guy here is almost scaleless
but soon that's super bright.
Again, they can be brighter.
They can be orange.
They can be red.
They can be yellow and then, of course you have this guy
that's really nice and bright and really beautifully clean.
I absolutely love that one for sure.
And then another example
of a really bright, beautiful animal here.
And finally that chunky monkey right here.
That's almost more of a yellow color,
that is definitely in a bad mood.
But again, you could have 10 different scaleless rat snakes
and all 10 of over them are gonna look completely different.
Got Pepper out, definitely having
an absolutely amazing night here at the Reptarium.
And these guys, what's your YouTube channel?
- Sydney B.
- I don't have one.
- And I don't have one either.
- Okay, so, go follow her.
Why don't we just go ahead
and look at some of the scaleless corns
that we got from Forest and Desiree
because they're absolutely gorgeous.
This of course, is an ultramel scaleless corn snake.
Oh my gosh, and that ultramel is just that mutation
that gives it that like purplish hue
and when you get into scaleless,
oh my gosh, is that thing is gorgeous.
I showed you the ghost scaleless earlier,
this is the anerythristic scaleless right here
and remember I said the anerythristic scaleless
are my favorite of the animals
and basically anerythristic is lacking the red pigment
which basically makes it a black corn in a normal case
but when you take it into scaleless
it almost gives this lavender hue to it.
Such gorgeous snakes.
And again, taking away the scales
really changes the way an animal look.
This is a snow scaleless corn snake
and a snow corn typically has quite a bit of pattern.
A little bit of a yellow hue to it, some pinks in it.
When you get it into a scaleless,
it looks almost solid white like a blizzard corn almost
with those red eyes.
Again, taking those scales away really
changes the way a snake looks.
We're out for a little fun.
Look at this rascal here, he's got his mouth open.
Pepper isn't quite as tame as Salt, obviously.
But he's a good boy, he's a good boy
and handling him a lot
is going to just keep him as tame as possible
but he's such a beautiful animal.
- So cute.
- And this is a really crazy looking snake right here.
Remember I told you that with scaleless corn
can sometimes have a varying amount of scaleless going on.
This one has quite a bit of remnant scale throughout it
but this is actually a hypo diffuse
or hypo blood-red corn snake
with all those remnant scales,
this thing looks absolutely incredible and really cool.
It's almost like it's got a racing stripe down its back.
This is a really beautiful snake right here.
This is what Forrest was calling
an orange flow scaleless corn snake.
Now I'm gonna be totally honest with you,
I don't know what orange flow means.
I don't know if it's some kind of genetic thing
or something that he just made up, I'm not sure.
So I'm gonna talk to Forrest and Desiree.
Find out what the heck an orange flow is.
Regardless of what it is, it certainly is gorgeous.
And I showed you that hypo diffused corn,
this happens to be just a diffused corn scaleless
or what they would call a blood-red scaleless.
On the normal scaleless ones, as they get older like this,
I think the scales actually mask the pattern
and they stay almost solid red
but interesting enough without the scales
could still see all of the saddles
which I find really interesting.
It is a beautiful snake.
This is another interesting one right here.
This is actually a caramel motley scaleless corn snake.
Now that's a triple recessive mutation.
The motley of course is the pattern that connects
all the saddles and makes those little circles.
The caramel is actually another recessive mutation
and when bred to an albino,
that's what makes the butter corn snakes.
And then of course, the recessive scaleless
and this one again has a lot of remnant scales on it
but it's really a unique looking animal.
We're starting to slowly wind it down here.
Sunrise is still out though.
Hey guys, how are you?
How's everything going?
Still quite a few people.
I think we're like 15 minutes away from the end of the day
but still kind of popping.
I tell you what, this was an absolutely crazy night.
Tons of people.
What's going on?
You got Perdita out.
You got Sweetie out, awesome.
Hey guys, what's going on?
Definitely an awesome night, right Bruce?
- Oh yeah.
- (laughing) Bruce's always got it going on.
But we're definitely just about ready to shut it down here
in another 15-20 minutes.
And I'm showing you all these crazy scaleless mutations.
This is actually just a normal corn snake
in the scaleless variety.
So, that gives you an idea what it looks like
when it's not got a bunch of other mutations in it.
Still an absolutely gorgeous snake.
And again, the first time I ever saw a scaleless corn snake
it was just a normal that looked almost just like that.
And this is what kind of sold me
on how beautiful the project was.
Look at how unbelievably soft and beautiful
this hypo motley scaleless corn snake is.
Wow, it's just so subtle the patterning on that.
Wow, that thing is gorgeous.
This is another really super cool animal here.
This is an albino motley scaleless.
Again, a triple recessive mutation.
I'll tell you what, there was a lot of triple
and even quad recessive mutations.
That's hard to get.
I mean you're talking about really long odds.
But the albino, the motley, and the scaleless
are all just a recessive combination.
Whoo doggie.
This is one absolutely incredible snake right here.
This is actually a quad recessive mutation.
This is what they would call an amber motley scaleless.
The amber is actually a hypo caramel
which are both recessive mutations.
Of course the motley is that really cool pattern
that I've been talking about.
And have been saying it all along
that the scaleless are recessive.
Think about that quad recessive, oh my gosh.
And the last snake I'm gonna show you
are these tiger scaleless corn snakes.
Now this is that mutation that Lori actually picked out
when they first were hatched
and said there's something really goofy going on
and then Forrest and Desiree actually named them tigers
and I can certainly see why.
They kind of have that tiger look to them, for sure.
So we don't really know what the genetics are on these guys
but they are absolutely stunning.
And with that said guys,
I'm gonna just leave it up to you guys.
Not everyone is gonna like scaleless.
I completely understand and I respect your opinion.
If you think somehow a scaleless snake
is not a good thing to have,
like I said, my experience is that they seem to thrive.
They do well, they live full lifes.
They reproduce, they do everything like a normal snake.
At least in the case of the corn snakes and the rat snakes.
So, those are the two species
that I will continue to work with, for sure
and I absolutely love them.
There it is guys, another one in the book.
Absolutely crazy busy here at the Reptarium.
I hope that you guys enjoyed this scaleless vlog
because again, I've always just had this fascination
with scaleless stuff, so I think it's amazing.
Let me know what you guys think.
And again, I don't mind if you somehow
don't agree with me on it.
I mean we can agree to disagree.
As long as they are healthy, happy, thriving,
and stuff like that.
I think that they're absolutely amazing
and they are absolutely beautiful.
With that said, I am going to go ahead and end the vlog.
I wish you guys an absolutely amazing day, evening
whenever you guys happen to be watching.
Your support does mean the world to me.
I am serious guys, from the bottom of my heart,
thank you guys so much for everything.
Do me a couple favors before we get out of here.
Can you smash that like button.
Turn those post notifications on,
so you know when I upload a video,
which is every day, seven days a week,
at 9:00 in the morning, Eastern Standard Time.
Remember to make that comment down below
because I do love reading about you guys.
Be kind to someone
and I promise I will see you guys tomorrow.
("Bass Boosted Hip Hop Beat" by Jobii-Smart Cube)