i cant believe more people dont know this, Lloyd Lemke taught me this 10 yrs ago and he said it was the only way he sexed boas, i have used it since to accurately sex, colombians, dumerils, hogs, bolivians, and rainbows, and i even very carefully did it to a year old ETB recently although if it didnt prove to be a male on the first light pass i wasnt going to add much more pressure, i am sure it would work with most if not all boas, but those are the ones i have tried. it does not work with the pythons i have tried so far (BP's,JCP's). first make sure they arent ready to shed, i have done it to newborns a day old, but be VERY careful. i hold the snake in my left hand, then with my right thumb, i put pressure down onto the underside of the tail (index finger of your right hand on the top part of the tail to keep the thumb pressure. picture you are trying to squeeze something out at the bottom of the tail. then with constant lite pressure, i slide my thumb slowly down the tail. a male's hemipene will feel like you rolled your thumb over a small pea, it will snap back, Lloyd described it to me as a rubber band, sort of being stretched and then snapping back toward the vent, obviously you will feel nothing on the females. the biggest mistake i have seen people do when i teach them is that they give up too soon as they are sliding their thumb back. keep sliding, hogs for instance are farther back then you think. its best to practice on a known male first, a juvie,non biter, 2-3 ft range, just remember to be gentle but use enough pressure to feel the "tip" of the hemipene. once you feel it i gurantee you will never pop or probe a boa again. hope this helps, john yocum

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