Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well didn't actually lose her, found out "she" is a "he" so the group is now at 3.5 instead of the original group purchased as 2.6. Still a breeders favor group.

I learned me a new trick - palpating to determine sex. I was sexing my new boas and noticed the "BB's" while I was doing it. Once I noticed how they felt, was easy to figure out how to palpate such that I'm very confident I can feel them every time!!! LOL, was like a kid in a candy shop palpating every baby I own. Even verified all the 2007's I still have here. Only found one other mis-sexed snake so far and that one I actually very pleased about - Pebbles is actually Bam Bam! I really wanted a male to hold back for Daisey and voila!!!

What works for me...

Let the snake slide through the fingers of my left hand until just before the vent then stop letting it slide through. holding it on either side of the vent belly up, place right thumb under spine post vent. Slide tip of ring finger along belly from vent to tail, leaving thumb in place. I was shown to slide both finger and thumb and that never worked for me.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

hey pretty cool... any chance you can post pictures of that step by step?
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-Stephen-

0.1 soon to be wifey (hopefully)
1.0 rotwiler/chow (Boomer-wifey's pooch)
1.0 norm corn (Jake aka grumpy old terdhead)
0.1 col redtail boa (Dixie-my baby girl)
0.1 ball python (Bella- wifey's baby girl)

hopeful for not to distant future:
--brazillian rainbow boas 1 female for sure
2 or 3? maybe a breeding pair?
-- bearded dragon for the wifey my list got to big...

Good idea Stephen, here they are, used one of my newborn baby BCI for the pics...

Let the snake slide through the fingers of my left hand until just before the vent then stop letting it slide through.


holding it on either side of the vent belly up, place right thumb under spine post vent.

Slide tip of finger (pointer finger used in these pics)along belly from vent to tail, leaving thumb in place.








Somewhere around here I'd expect to feel the bb's if it was a male.

To be certain if I don't feel the BB's the first pass, I palpate a few more times changing my finger angle slightly from one side to the other. If I still don't feel a anything other than a smooth tapering, no BB's, it's a girl!!

Again, I tried to learn this earlier on baby BRB's and their BB's are so small I didn't get it. Now thsat I know what I'm feeling we'll see how well I can check the '08 crop.

So cool to learn a new trick, I never did like popping them!! I agree with all that have said palpating is much less invasive and safer for the baby being sexed.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Ooh, cool! I think I've got it... And I think one of my "females" is a male, lol.
I tried probing the other day and couldn't quite figure it out. The probe went just as deep for the four boas I tried (very shallow, no more than 2-4 scales) even on the male that I'm sure is a male. I stopped, because I didn't want to hurt them.
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Rachel Squier

1.1 BRBs
1.0 Albino Colombian BCI
0.3 Het Albino Colombian BCIs
0.1 Poss Het Albino Colombian BCI
0.1 DH Sunglow Colombian BCI

Probing always scares me, I alwys wonder if they could get hurt that way. I have a set of probes and have never used them myself!!

Once you've felt the hemipene(s) slipping under your finger, there's no mistaking it. A female will never have that same feeling. Last night I palpated until I either felt the hemipene(s) or was certain I'd tried it enough that they are not there.

The most common sexing mistake is a male incorrectly identified as a female. With popping, probing and palpating you're specifically looking for the "male" results and all else is deemed female.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

so i know that with popping it is most accurate when done with neonates... is palpating the same way or can you get equally accurate results with adults???

also dose that work with all snakes or just boas... proally all snakes right?
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-Stephen-

0.1 soon to be wifey (hopefully)
1.0 rotwiler/chow (Boomer-wifey's pooch)
1.0 norm corn (Jake aka grumpy old terdhead)
0.1 col redtail boa (Dixie-my baby girl)
0.1 ball python (Bella- wifey's baby girl)

hopeful for not to distant future:
--brazillian rainbow boas 1 female for sure
2 or 3? maybe a breeding pair?
-- bearded dragon for the wifey my list got to big...

I think palpating would work with all ages but with larger specimens, you might not be able to tell the diff between hemipenes and fat deposits???

Popping works well on noenoates because they have less muscle control and is easy to force the hemipenes out. Adults have much more muscle control and is difficult at best.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Shoot yeah i have been doing this for a long time works best for boas at a month of age or so, linda H taught me this, i use my index for this works great, since all snakes have the same feature, it should work for them at the same early age i would think a male is a male that is a male.
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1.4 various boas(Flicka,Felony,Nova,Alias,Alibi,confessa,custody,Ms.Demeanor)
0.1 BRB Abalone; ABBI
1.0 Rott X (OSO)
2.0 cats (Simba, Morris)
fish & feeders

The first time I palpatated mine - nearly all of them bit me. I then figure out that I should not try to hold the snake so it is best for me, but rather do it while the snake is in a more natural position. It only took about 20 bites for me to figure out the snakes did not like being upside down....
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Mike

7.13 BRB
1.2 Spotted Python
1.0 Cal. King

Hey Mike, thanks for the tip, My 2007 BRB's are all calm so no big deal and the BCI's are not nasty like BRB's as hatchlings. I'm sure I could palpate in any position now that I have the "touch".
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I only have one 07 baby that still likes to bite - and it was one of yours.

I just had her out - and she only struck once. She is getting much calmer.

The 2 Wilma babies I have (2 and 6) are both looking just incredible. The Betty baby (#2) and Savannah male (#9) are both in shed, so I was bummed. I wish I would have bought more from you.
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Mike

7.13 BRB
1.2 Spotted Python
1.0 Cal. King

Well, if it has to be a biter at least it looks good???

You did get some of my best, got them early and shipped out last year so I didn't even get to see them color up, sniff... So how about posting some pics????
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

The biter looks just incredible.... She is getting much better. I usually get so strikes when I get her out and into her feeding container. Just tonight was a single strike.

I need to get pics of most of my snakes. One I got from Mike Lockwood has gotten super dark. Plus other people I have bought from have asked for pics too. Out of town this weekend, so hopefully in the next couple weeks I can get pics of most of them.
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Mike

7.13 BRB
1.2 Spotted Python
1.0 Cal. King

Glad to hear she is settling down.

That's one of the hard parts of being a breeder, so many babies go out there and I never see/hear about them again. I've litterally got hundreds of babies out ther and only seen pics of a couple dozen. OOOuuuu, thread idea, look for a new post.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

dave misses his babies... that poor guy a lonely poppa with all his children out on their own trying to make their own way in this world
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-Stephen-

0.1 soon to be wifey (hopefully)
1.0 rotwiler/chow (Boomer-wifey's pooch)
1.0 norm corn (Jake aka grumpy old terdhead)
0.1 col redtail boa (Dixie-my baby girl)
0.1 ball python (Bella- wifey's baby girl)

hopeful for not to distant future:
--brazillian rainbow boas 1 female for sure
2 or 3? maybe a breeding pair?
-- bearded dragon for the wifey my list got to big...

was wondering when someone was gonna say that!!! I havent tried yet, but given the investment recently put in, think will give it a crack and make sure i dont have any sex wrong. Is there any other trick, to stop them nailing you? Mine are all tame as, i stil havent been bitten yet by any of my snakes. Only bite i have managed was with a friends ball python, and that was on purpose!! It was psychotic and i wanted to know what it felt like. Wasnt half as bad as thought would be, but still am worried that when i do get striked i will pull back in fright, and do want to hurt the snake if get held on to. Is it easy to do this with by yourself, or better with 2 people?
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Dave

2.2 Normal BRBs
0.1 Anery BRB
2.1 66% poss het anery BRB
1.1 het hypo BRB

Paid for, but stuck in europe somewhere hope to get from next german show
1.0 Anery BRB
0.1 66% poss het anery BRB
2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo

Hey, that works really well, thanks! I think I "lost" a girl as well, I'll check "her" again in a few days after she's digested dinner, but I felt some pretty distinct BBs right about where they should be.

I did 5 yearling cave dwelling ratsnakes as well, much harder since they're much smaller, but there was a difference.

Neat!

There are a few fairly easy ways I have come across to position boa's for palpating. First is to have a friend handling the snake in general(it crawling on them) and you just gently palpate as it rests/crawls. Since it is mostly in control of it's body and completely supported they tend to not mind the attention.

The second is to let the snake crawl across a surface and get a finger hooked under it's body. Just let it keep crawling over the finger until the finger is at the vent. At that time start gently aplying pressure from above with your thumb. As the tail passes through your finger and thumb you should feel the bb's if it's male.

Personally I normally hold the snake in one hand and with the other hand run the thumb along the belly(at the tail) while applying pressure to the other three sides with my bent fingers. But this approach is largely because I find my thumb more sensitive then my fingertips.

Also keep in mind I have not been using this to sex boa's under about 4-6 months old as I learned to palpate when my pair were about that age.

Sean.
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1.1 BRB
1.1 Triple Het TPRS's
0.1 Silver TPRS
1.1 Amel Bloodred Corns
0.1 Abbott Okeetee Corn
0.1 Blizzard Bloodred Corn
1.1 Thayeri Kingsnakes
0.1 Reeve's Turtle
0.2 Amstaff's
1.0 Pudytat