Sometimes things are misconstued and misinterpreted and get out of hand in a hurry when there was no ill intent to begin with.



It helps to understand the motivations of the people who are answering the questions. Most times we have no idea the skill/knowledge level of the person asking the questions. Most times they are beginners. So, we have to key our answers to a beginner unless we know otherwise. If you are a beginner with your first snake and get on here and ask "How do I know what sex my snake is?", if I respond with "Well, insert a sexing probe into the cloaca on either side, if it probes 2 to 4 subcaudals it's female if it probes 8 to 12 it's male.", then that response would have no meaning whatever for you. If I respond with "Well, look at it's tail. If it's short and tapers steeply it's a female, it it's long and tapers gradually, it's a male." You could understand that. If you responded with "I know that, dork, how many subcaudals will it probe if it's female and how many if it's male?" then I have an idea that you are a little more advanced and I can key my answers accordingly.



I am very reluctant to tell someone how to probe or evert. I usually just tell them to go find someone with experience to teach them. If they don't know what they are doing, they can cause serious damage to the snake. "If someone askes "How do I sex my Prairie Kingsnake?" I'm not going to say "Well, stick a probe into it's cloaca and see how far it will go in." (it will go a long way if you push hard enough). Or..."Well, grab the snake by it's tail and squeeze the crap out of it and see if anything pops out." (I don't even want to think about that) If someone knows what they are doing, generally their question will look something like "How many subcaudals will a female Irian Jayan Carpet Python probe vs. a male?"



At any rate, I would really like to see some clear digital pictures of your snake's tail bottom and top...any chance of getting your hands on a digital camera? I (or one of the other guys or gals) on here might...just might..be able to help.

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