Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Feeding Tips for Ball Pythons


Samuel “Sam” Raymer is a successful entrepreneur and business owner who currently serves as a land agent and CEO of Raymer Land Services in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Outside of his professional work, Sam Raymer enjoys breeding ball pythons, and plans to develop a python breeding website.

Ball pythons originated in west and central Africa, and have become common pets for their docile nature and reluctance to bite handlers. Also known as royal pythons, ball pythons are non-venomous, and capture prey using constriction. In terms of appearance, these snakes have a stout body that is either dark brown or black, with a cream- or white-colored belly.

Although it is common for pet ball pythons to experience periods of fasting, they should be offered meals every 7-10 days (more for juveniles). Meals should consist of small rodents that have been frozen and thawed out. This prevents the dangers that come with offering live prey to a snake that may not be interested in feeding. In regards to size, the rodent should be roughly the size of the ball python’s midsection, and leave a small lump in the snake’s body once it feeds.

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Performing a Wet Exit in an Upside Down Whitewater Kayak


Samuel “Sam” Raymer, the owner and CEO of six companies operating in the mortgage and land acquisition industries, has been leading his own firms for upwards of two decades. When he’s not busy with work, Sam Raymer enjoys whitewater kayaking.

Regardless of how skilled you are at kayaking, your kayak will likely flip over at some point when going through rapids. When this occurs, it’s important that you do not panic and instead work toward either performing a wet exit or flipping yourself upright.

Wet exits are usually the best option for beginning whitewater kayakers, since rolling a kayak upright is more complicated. To start this process, make sure your head is well protected while underwater. This requires that you lean as far forward as your flexibility will allow. From this tucked position, you not only protect your head from rocks and other obstacles underwater, you are also in a better position to reach the grab loop of your spray skirt.

The spray skirt is relatively common for whitewater kayakers, since it keeps water from getting inside the kayak. However, since the skirt is kept tight, it effectively will keep you inside your kayak unless you loosen it. This is why it’s so important to find the grab loop quickly - so you can release the skirt from your kayak and get out. While this loop is usually located at the front of the cockpit, this isn’t always the case, and you may have to feel around the rim of the cockpit for it.

Once the grab loop is found, securely grip it and push the front of the skirt away from the lip of the cockpit coaming. Then pull the skirt off the rest of the cockpit and over your head. Bring your knees together and push off from the cockpit coaming to propel yourself out and away from the kayak and to the surface.