Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I took a bunch of pics of Pumpkin's vent area today. I've been noticing that she's gotten rather "thick" around that area over the past 6 months or so. It's not so noticeable from above or below, but in profile, she looks quite chunky. Also, I only say she, because that is what the petstore told me...however, she was never probed. They just glanced at her tail. So, what do you guys think? Male? Female? Fat? If so, what would you recomend?

As far as the specs-

She's guessed to be a late '04 (I'm guessing she's maybe a year and a half to two years old).

At her last measurement and weight she was 35" long and 240 grams (about a few weeks ago).

She currently gets one small mouse every 7-8 days. She defecates on average 3-4 days after she eats like clockwork, and is faily active nightly by day 4 or 5 after eating. I take her out around 4 days a week as well, so she gets exercise then as well.

Anyways, here are pics from ALL angles. Please ignore our HIDEOUS nails and such...I was making molds all day today and the boy was sculptin fer 10 hours. Yuck!

The thickness is extra noticable in this pic. It varries depending on how she (he?) holds her tail. In the following pic it's barely noticable. The norm with her seems to be somewhere in between the two.

Here's a full body shot:

What do ya think?

Thanks!
-----
**************************************
- JENN ROSE -
www.jennrose.com

0.1.0 classic corn~ "Pumpkin"
1.0.0 leucistic texas ratsnake~ "Worm"

hard to tell without having another tail of a similar sized snake to compare it too. I can't say what sex it is, I haven't been able to figure out the sex of my two adult corn snakes, all I know is one is male and one is female but which is which I don't know. As it's not easy to hold two squirming snakes to check their tails by yourself, I haven't bothered trying to sex them myself.

The bulge shown in one of the pictures I don't think is anything to worry about, it could just be fecal matter moving down to be expelled later, or just the weight of internal organs pulling downward by gravity.
-----
PHLdyPayne

Doesn't seem overweight to me. How long ago did it eat before you took the pictures? The day after Hope eats she looks fat but 5 days later or so she looks very thin.
-----
0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Ball Python "Wilson" (Castaway)
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
0.0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Onyx"

It was actually 6 days after she last ate. I don't even touch her for the first three days after she eats.
-----
**************************************
- JENN ROSE -
www.jennrose.com

0.1.0 classic corn~ "Pumpkin"
1.0.0 leucistic texas ratsnake~ "Worm"

I am going to go out on a limb here and say she looks like a she to me. My females tail seems longer than my males. Also she dosnt look fat at all just looks like she needs to deficate. I havnt notice in my other snakes yet but my Boas look fat like that on the lower 3rd of there bodies at that time. Hope this helps. Remember just because I think it looks like a girl dosnt meen I am right. Your bed bet would be to take it to the vet or other experienced person to be probed.
My Research and Collection

Jenn,

From here it looks like a female that is ovulating. This is what you get for paying attention to your animals the way you do. Hold her up from the first third of her body with her tail towards the ground. Look at about the area just below your hand and you will likely see a rounded belly instead of the usual flat belly. You can run a finger down the belly as you hold her and she will tighten as you go down and this will really show them if they are there.

You will also feel a soft cushy feeling in the lower belly. Those are ova. If you don't have a male you may still get infertile eggs from her but she may just reabsorb the ova.

Let me know what you find.

Later Jason

Just by look it definetly looks like a female. Never 100% but I would bet money on it. To me she looks a tiny bit obese (corns don't store fat in the tail so where the body cavity ends is where it is noticeable.) It is also highly possible she is ovulating, but you can't tell that from pics.

If it does turn out that it isn't ovulation and it's simply a case of having a bit too healthy of an appehtite, what would you suggest? A smaller meal size?...or just more time in between feedings? Should I bump it up to every 9 or 10 days maybe, instead of every 7 like she has been on?
-----
**************************************
- JENN ROSE -
www.jennrose.com

0.1.0 classic corn~ "Pumpkin"
1.0.0 leucistic texas ratsnake~ "Worm"

Jenn,

I don't think your snake is overweight at all. It looks very healthy, and you have it on a fine feeding schedule. You could probably go 10 days between feedings now. My daughter's corn never refuses a meal, but my son's king and my milk sometimes do, so they can go 2 weeks no problem. They're all '05s. I offer every 5-7 days.

As for sexing, you should find a reputable breeder nearby and see if they can "pop" the snake's hemipenes (if it happens, it's a male - otherwise there are none and it's a female). I've heard sometimes you can get a "false" result if it IS a male and the hemipenes don't pop. But if they "DO", then you positively know it's a male.

Walt

You wouldn't want to pop an older snake, though, as they have stronger muscles. You could hurt them and/or get a false result. Probing is best. Most reputable breeders can tell by looking at the tail. Good luck
-----
**********Misty**********
The more things change, the more they remain Insane!

2.1.2 bearded dragons
0.1.1 water dragons
1.3.3 leopard geckos
12.20.0 corn snakes
1.1.0 jungle corns
5.2.0 king snakes
1.0.0 royal (Ball) pythons
1.0.0 Sinaloan milk snake
0.1.0 Tri-Hybrid milk snake
0.1.0 rat snake
1.1.0 Leucistic rat snakes
0.0.2 prairie ringneck snakes
0.1.0 chilean rose hair tarantula
1.1.0 emperor scorpions
1.1.0 Congo African Grey Parrots
0.1.0 German Shepherd hybrid dog

Yes, I know. I'm actually going to go get both of my snakes probed this Saturday.
-----
**************************************
- JENN ROSE -
www.jennrose.com

0.1.0 classic corn~ "Pumpkin"
1.0.0 leucistic texas ratsnake~ "Worm"