Snake Probing

Just bought myself a probing kit as I plan to learn to probe snakes with my collection getting so big. Obviously I've done alot of research on how to do it etc, but there are a few things I'm unsure of: What is the best thing to use to sterilise the probes before/after probing a snake? I've seen vodka used before. Would a small bottle of standard disenfectant suffice? What about hot water or baby wipes? My plan is to probe a snake that I have seen probed before and therefore know roughly how many scales the probe should travel to get the hang of this method.

Any other tips would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

I use alcohol wipes to clean the probe after use.

Probing is a relatively easy procedure if you follow a few simple rules:
- get help holding the snake in question so you can focus entirely on probing (once you get the hang of it you can do it alone, unless the snake is very active or too large to control alone)
- gently does it - as long as you lube the probe well and insert it gently, nothing can go wrong. Nothing about probing should be forced
- check both sides of the cloaca as the probe often goes to different depths on either side; use a marker to mark the scale that corresponds to the depth of the probe on each side, and make a determination of sex from the two results

Another handy tip on sexing are the spurs (on pythons and boas) - many will say that males will have larger spurs, and this is often the case, but a more reliable indicator of sex IMO is SPUR SHAPE - males often have more curved, sickle-shaped spurs than females, whose spurs tend to be straighter. Back this up with probing and behaviour though to confirm sex 100%.

Cheers for the reply buddy. Probed one of my snakes that I already knew the sex of last night and all went well. Relatively easier procedure, just taking it gentle and easy.

Where do you get your alcohol wipes?