Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,
I now have three Oregon red spotted garter snakes (2 males & 1 female), and I think may have noticed a relatively easy way to tell the sexes apart regardless of age (without probing, popping, or looking for the hemipene swelling). My female is missing a bit of her tail, but she appears to have significantly fewer subcaudal scales than my males, which each have 84-85.

In order to know if this is a valid technique, I need to have many more pictures of T.s. concinnus tails. It would be most helpful if anyone with a T.s. concinnus would take pictures of the underside (ventral side) of their snake from the vent to the tail spike and send them to me at asrrb2@uaa.alaska.edu. This is easily done by allowing the snake's tail to dangle from one hand when it's calm and taking the picture with the other hand. Be sure to turn the camera on and charge the flash before handling the snake, though. One picture using a flash and another without a flash would be nice for comparisons. Also, please take the picture close enough to fill the entire frame with the tail.

If you know the sex of your snake, it would be useful information, but it's not critical. I will most certainly share my findings with the forum. Thanks in advance,

Rick

Sounds interesting, but I was under the impression that the number of subcaudal scales weren't a reliable method?

Just a dumb thought, but wouldn't it be easier to take pictures through the transparent bottom of eg. a tank, cage, box etc?

Greetings,

I don't know about the reliability of this technique or if the reliability differs by subspecies. I only know that the number of vertebrae are sexually dimorphic, so it stands to reason that the number of subcaudal scales would also show dimorphism. That's why I need large sample sizes... to determine the degree of intersexual variation. My female has a portion of her tail missing but only has 54 scales. My males have 84-85. I think further investigation is warranted, but if anyone knows of scientific literature on the topic, it would also be extremely welcomed.

I've never tried photographing the underside of a vivarium, but as long as the pictures are clear, I certainly don't mind how they're shot. I've just had good luck holding the snake in one hand with its tail dangling. Whatever works, I guess. Hasta,
Rick

i heard of putting all the tail under cold water and it pops its self.have not tryed this yet so let us know if anyone trys it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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