("Lay Low" by Dylan Sitts)
(whoosh)
- Hey, good morning everybody,
and welcome to the vlog!
You guys know that I love to start the day out
with something exciting.
Well, sure enough, my girl here, the uroplatus fimbriatus,
this unbelievably alien looking leaf-tail gecko,
actually laid a little egg right over here on the leaf.
You could barely see it over there.
Now, it doesn't look great
in the sense that it's not completely round,
but it is hard, so there's a chance
that it could potentially be okay.
Now, the biggest thing is, is I don't wanna rip that egg off
and crack the egg, so what I think I'm gonna have to do
is actually snip off right around this leaf
and around this leaf,
and set it up and hopefully it's good.
Now, what's interesting is most of the time
geckos like her will lay two eggs,
but she has consistently been laying one egg,
and I don't really know why.
Now, the first two eggs she did lay haven't been fertile,
unfortunately, so we're gonna have to take a look
and see if she actually gets any better here.
Now, it could be a male issue, we don't know.
We're thinking about getting another male for her.
Nevertheless, she is so cool and we're gonna go ahead
and see if we can do a little surgery
on this egg right here.
Like I said, I'm just gonna just really simply
snip away right here, and I'll snip the other side,
just so that it frees that egg up off of there.
Now I can see if it's over here. (grunts)
Now I've got that egg freed up right there.
What I'll probably do is the same thing here,
is maybe just snip this leaf away a little bit right there,
just to see if I can't, somehow, get that egg off.
Let's see.
So let me see if I can get around here,
or if I have to cut this whole leaf off,
which I think I might have to do.
(scissors snapping)
Whoop.
Oh, just gonna go ahead and snip this away right here.
(scissors snapping)
Now I've got the egg, right there.
And like I said, the egg doesn't look all that good,
and I have a feeling it's probably not fertile,
but I'm gonna give it the best shot, I am.
Now, this is how you wanna set up the eggs, right here.
We'll have Hatchrite in there, a little bit of sphagnum moss
that keeps the dampness, and then we have
this little cap with a little dry perlite in there.
Right like that, and we'll just place that egg
right on that, because what you want
is you want the humidity from the sphagnum moss
and the Hatchrite, but you want it to be dry on this.
We'll just cap this off, right here.
Now, these guys take forever to hatch,
so we want know if this egg is fertile for any time.
I can candle it and see,
but it's probably gonna take me a week or two
before you really see any networks of vein
or anything like that.
So, fingers crossed, maybe eventually
we're gonna hatch some uroplatus fimbriatus,
but we'll have to wait (laughs) to see.
Regardless, either way, it is awesome
to start the day out getting some eggs!
It's not always fun keeping animals,
I can tell you that much, and Butterscotch's cage
is a little destroyed right now.
She messed it up, she shed, she's all over the place,
and unfortunately, Andrea I know you love this cage
because we have to climb inside of it, right?
- Lucky us.
- (laughs) That's the downside, too.
We've been considering moving Butterscotch lower,
but I'm not 100% sure if we're gonna do that or not.
So, we have to literally just open this cage up,
get her out, which is a challenge in itself,
and then climb in there and clean her up.
Butterscotch, are you gonna be in a good mood today?
She's a really girl, but she's definitely
a little food aggressive, so as soon as she knows
I'm not food, she's actually pretty good.
There you go girl.
There you go sweety.
Being that she's high energy,
she can definitely be a challenge
to get out of the cage at times.
(grunting)
There you go sweetheart, there you go.
She is a beautiful snake, though, isn't she?
Okay, girl, all right.
There you go, there you go.
Okay.
(lid clattering)
- Oh. - Whoop!
(laughs)
Oh God, (laughs) here we go.
Now she's got my leg.
- Oh my gosh.
- Oh, she's got me wrapped tight.
Okay, here we go.
(lid clattering)
Hoo, all right.
That was the easy part, now the hard part.
("Lay Low" by Dylan Sitts)
Butterscotch's cage is all cleaned.
We're gonna get her back in,
but before I put her back in
I've been really making a concerted effort
to handle her a lot, because she's a really tame snake.
She's never even struck at anyone,
except for food, but she's a runner.
She loves to kind of run, run, run, run.
So, I really think that Butterscotch
is eventually gonna be one of my
Big Animal Ambassadors when she's 17, 18 foot.
But that means I have to handle her a lot,
to get her more habituated to handling,
because trust me, she is a handful.
So let's just go ahead and spend some time with her.
("Lay Low" by Dylan Sitts)
And there it is.
I mean, what an absolutely gorgeous snake,
and she was actually really good today,
so she's calming down a lot.
You might know that I sometimes spin into things.
So, if a big snakes is kinda going away,
you can almost think of like a fork on spaghetti.
You wind it back (laughs) around the fork, right?
So, I'll spin in to where she's going,
and it kinda gets her around my body.
She has absolutely made huge strides,
and what an absolutely gorgeous animal.
Well, you remember the other day,
when I said I was doing really well
when it comes to egg binding?
Well, sure enough, we found a female
that I didn't see an egg that was still in.
I don't know if I'm gonna be able to get this egg out,
because it's not right by the vent,
but I'm gonna do my absolute best.
Now, I'm gonna do the same procedure that I always do.
Taking a surgical probe like this,
that has a really dull end, and I'm just gonna try
to just gently massage that egg down towards the vent.
Then I'm going to get the vent and I'm gonna see
if I can't find that egg, and again,
I don't know if I'll be able to find the egg or not,
or if the oviduct is folded.
I'm not sure what's gonna happen,
but I'm gonna do my absolute best here to try to find it.
It looks like I can see it right there!
I'm just using a circular pattern
to kinda get that oviduct around the egg,
as I gently push out.
Again, you can see the oviduct is trying to fold over it,
so what I have to do is just kinda slowly
get the egg like this.
Starting to come!
It's starting to come out!
I can see it right there, and I just gotta continue
to just circle around like this until that egg comes.
Here it comes, it's coming out.
Yep, good, there doesn't seem to be any tears
or anything in the oviduct, which is good.
And, again, I'll just continue that circular pattern
until it gets out, and there it comes out, right there.
All right, fantastic.
There's the egg I was talking about.
Again, this girl had it in here.
Now, if that would have gotten stuck,
what basically happens, this egg can dry up
and adhere to the oviduct wall,
and then it won't actually push out, even if she wants to.
So, it is kind of important,
if you can, aspirate that egg out.
Although, I really wanna beg you guys to not do this
unless you've been with someone that's done this.
I've been doing aspirating eggs for 30 years, so I know it.
So you could really injure an animal
if you go in with the probe and actually pierce
the oviduct or anything like that.
So, don't do it unless you know someone that is.
But it is important and the fact
that we got this egg out right here
really saved this girl's life,
or potentially saved her life.
So, now let's hope there's no more egg binding this year.
I always mention that some of the coolest things
I get to do in the course of a day
is hang out with my tortoises.
I mean, look at Matilda there!
She's such an awesome animal,
and of course my little leopard tortoises.
I absolutely love these guys,
and one of the things I've been talking about adding
to the vlog a little bit, maybe every couple weeks
or something like that, I'm not gonna over do it, is...
You know, we're a huge community.
You know I love you guys,
so I wanna be able to answer your questions.
Recently, we've kind of asked you
to go ahead and send in some questions.
I wanna start with this one.
- Hey there, Brian.
This is Fran, your friend from across the pond,
from Frankie's Aquatics, and I'd like to ask you
a quick question for your vlog today.
So, as you know, I've followed your channel
for many years now, and I've experienced
and shared some of your ultimate highs.
For example, cutting the scaleless ball python eggs.
And, unfortunately, we've witnessed some terrible lows, too.
Another example, when you lost your snake, Sunshine.
My question for you today is,
what has been your ultimate high?
What has kept you going, when really
you felt like want to quit inside?
What's kept your passion?
What's kept your drive?
Thank you very much for being an absolute inspiration
here on YouTube, and I wish you all the best for you
and your BHB family in the future.
- First off, thanks for that amazing question,
and by the way, I mean,
that's some pretty awesome editing skills you got there.
(laughs) Regardless, the truth is guys,
I try to take the highs and lows out as much as possible.
It's really easy, when things are going really well
or you get an awesome clutch
or you get something really amazing,
to be really high and be really excited
Then, when something bad happens,
it's easy to get really low.
If you can kinda take the highs and lows out
as much as you can, and trust me,
I talk about this all the time.
People go in the gym to lift weights
to get their body in shape.
You need to do the same thing with your mental health.
You need to actually put a lot of energy
into that mental health, and that's something
I try to do each and every day.
The other thing I do is try to surround myself
with really positive, upbeat people on...
None better than (laughs) of course
these two monkeys right here.
I mean, how can you be in a bad mood or something,
when you've got these two guys around.
The question was, how do you deal with the fact,
when things are going really well,
and then maybe, potentially, go bad,
how do you keep happy and positive?
- Well, the key to that is,
if you're happy during the lowest points of you life,
you can even be so positive during the high times,
you know what I mean?
So, you've gotta learn from your losses, okay?
Don't take them and be like, "Oh, I'm so sad."
Take that loss, analyze it,
really pick it apart, and then
it will tell you how to win next time.
- I just bury it, deep down inside.
Just cover it up.
(somber music) - [Katie] They ask you
how you are and you just have to say that
you're fine when you're not really fine.
But you can't just get into--
- Bury it down below the seven and a half tacos you can eat?
- Yeah, that's right.
Dude - Because we all know you
can't eat more than seven and a half tacos.
- Amateur numbers, amateur numbers, man!
- But honestly, guys, dead serious,
I do try to surround myself with really great people
that can kinda keep me on an even keel,
and I've just learned to live with the ups and downs
of life, business, all the other things,
and with you guys it makes it really easy.
Take a look at this bold mack snow right here!
That thing is so clean, it's crazy.
I'm not gonna lie to you, Jessica is off today,
and I was looking through these, and I was just blown away.
But I don't even know what some of these are.
I'm not as in-tune with gecko marks
as I am with a lot of animals.
I look at this thing and I think, "What the heck is it?!"
I mean, I know it's a mack snow,
but look at that crazy pattern.
I mean, that thing is absolutely ridiculous.
Again, I'm sure there's some genetics behind it
that Jessica (laughs) just probably knows better than I do.
Look at this one, too!
This is actually a bell albino,
but that pattern is ridiculous.
It's kind of a bold stripe,
but it's also a little bit patternless,
so I don't know if there's some eclipse in there or not.
Regardless, I did wanna get back to the Q&A.
- Hey, this is my Q&A for Brian.
I was wondering, why are you coming out to Utah?
I live out in Utah and I love watching your videos,
and I was just curious what you're coming out to Utah for.
Beautiful city, not much to do, but, just curious.
- I'm continuing to just marvel at these geckos.
What in the world is that?
Of course, this is a mack bold.
But regardless, I am coming out to Utah,
here within the next month for sure.
We're gonna be at SeaQuest in Salt Lake City,
and we're just gonna be hanging out,
doing some really cool vlog stuff,
some other things like that.
Then, I definitely have to hit
some cool park when I'm there.
I'm not sure if I'm gonna hit Arches or Zion or whatever.
I'm not 100% sure.
As a matter of fact, I have a question for you!
What park should I go to when I'm close to Salt Lake City?
I'm only gonna have like a day or so to do it,
but yes, I am coming out there.
Definitely stay in touch.
We will be at SeaQuest, for sure,
so if you wanna come out and hang out with us,
we'd absolutely love to see you there.
Back to geckos, continuing on
with a crazy mack snow bold animal.
This has to be a white and yellow, but oh my God!
What a gorgeous little monkey!
I could sit here all day and look at these geckos.
They're insane!
This is one, I'll be honest,
I don't know what the pairing is.
I didn't look at the records, but I'm not exactly sure
what it is, but it's just really ridiculous.
And we're just starting to hatch geckos,
so, over the next couple months,
whoo doggy, we're gonna have some beauties.
So let me know down in the comments
if you guys like the idea of doing Q&A's every now and then,
and if you want me to highlight a question that you have,
go ahead send them over to @jaytomsky on Instagram.
What's up Eric?
Another busy day today?
- Yep, super busy day today.
Of course, going through, cleaning everything,
checking on everyone.
Then, I'm gonna come back, see them again, feed them.
Lots to do.
- I can see you have a load of rodents over here, so...
That's part of the deal here, guys.
I mean, I always tell people
it's like painting a bridge, right?
You get to the end, you come back, you paint again, right?
- Yeah, that's right, that's true.
- So feed, and then the good news is,
is that after you're done feeding, that turns into poop.
- Yes!
- [Brian] And then you have to clean it.
- You know what, that's job security, 101.
(laughing)
- [Brian] All right, I'll let you get to it.
- Thank you.
("Lay Low" by Dylan Sitts)
- In the dungeon, what do we have today, Kelsey?
- Today we have a Xanthic female breed to a Dragonfly male.
- Awesome!
This is an amazing female!
I actually showed you this girl the other day.
She's a VPI Axanthic.
I love this animal.
I know you love this animal too.
- I do. (laughs)
- I know you do, so I know you're excited.
Let's see what she has.
(drawer rattling)
Aw, looks like a good clutch, too.
Look at that.
Oh, there we go, whoop.
Oo, that's kind of a weird egg, huh?
- That's a weird boob egg.
- Yeah, that's a really-- - It's on the wrong end.
- Yeah, it's all over the place.
But, ironically enough, I can see
there's some discoloration in here
where there's some veinage.
So, this does look like a good egg.
Will it hatch?
I'm not 100% sure, but it does look like
some of the eggs are rolled a little bit,
and they look like they're really fresh,
so they haven't really adhered together really well.
So, we'll candle them, just to make sure,
but that is a really beautiful clutch of eggs right there.
Good job. - There we go.
- [Brian] What do we have?
- One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine!
- Nine eggs, not bad!
Like I said, this one's a little bit goofy,
but it still looks like it's gonna hatch.
Again, that's gonna be really cool.
I love Axanthic stuff.
We need to get more Axanthic stuff.
- Yes.
- Because I know it's one of Kelsey's favorite.
(laughing)
So, that's all we have for ball python eggs today.
Good job, as always, Kelsey.
- Thank you.
- Real quick break from the vlog
to open up something that says, "Open on the vlog please."
So, I have no idea what it is,
but we're gonna go ahead and open it on the vlog
and hopefully it's something good.
Do you think it's a piece of gold or something?
- I don't know.
(package crinkling)
It's something, a bottle of something.
- [Brian] Ah, what do we got?
- Well at least it's taped shut, so that's good.
Dechlorinate.
- Dechlorinate for the fish tank?
- Leave in conditioner.
Removes yellow from gray hair! (laughs)
What?!
- What is this? - Who is this for?! (laughing)
Is this for you?
- This can't be, this better not be for me.
(laughing)
What is this?
So it's called Dechlorinate.
It's obviously some...
You leave it in your hair and it removes the gray.
Reverses effect of gray hair.
This is from Andy.
Thank you Andy.
(laughing)
"My dad works really hard for this product,
called Dechlorinate."
So, obviously, it's your dad.
"He's a hairdresser in North Carolina,
and has been selling it in his saloon."
I guess, I dunno what you're trying to tell me.
These are highlights.
- And you know what, they're gonna be Dechlorinated.
He's gonna try this, and then
it's really gonna shine. (laughs)
- All right, so if next week
I look like 20 years younger,
you know that this product works well.
- No, you're gonna look 20 years older!
It's gonna be snow white! (laughing)
- Snow... (laughing)
Well, thank you Andy.
I appreciate that.
I'm gonna take this as a compliment.
That you're trying to help me. - Yes.
- But, I do appreciate your dad being an entrepreneur,
trying to push the product.
Thank you for sending it to me,
and I'll keep you guys updated on it.
I think Lori's having
to much fun with this one. (laughing)
Always trying to improve over here at the Reptarium,
and I know it's little silly things.
I've showed you guys this,
with the CR codes and stuff like that,
but one of the problems was is that
on the screen cages we couldn't put the stickers,
so we ended up making these plates right here,
and we just added them to the Abronia cages
and to all the chameleon cages.
But I will tell you something.
I added them, I'm all proud.
I'm like, "Look at this, Lori.
How awesome is that?
Karma's over here, fantastic."
Then, when the zoo was open, Lori mentioned
that the Veiled chameleon
and the Jacksons chameleon
looked a little bit off.
That's right, I put the I put
the Veiled chameleon on the Jacksons cage,
and the Jacksons on the Veiled cage.
So, I was so proud of my work,
and as it was, I screwed it up.
With that being said, I'm gonna go ahead
and change those out, call it a day,
wish you guys an amazing day,
tell you how much I love your support,
be kind to someone,
and I promise, I will see you tomorrow.
("Lay Low" by Dylan Sitts)