Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just had my first boa litter, however, I'm clueless as to how to sex them. I've popped hundreds of pythons in the past, but I popped all 19 baby boas as female. All babies haven't shed yet. Are boas's sex influenced by temperature or am I just rusty from last year's babies?

Palpating.....

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. A little ways down (further than you might think) on a male you'll feel a little ba-bump slip under your finger. Sometimes only one.

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

It works extremely well, and once you get the hang of it, it is very easy to do. Might be worth making a little animated gif out of those images.
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Randall L Turner Jr.
Boas make the world go round.

I have some young boas, almost 2 now, that I tried this on when they were babies. I'm so glad I saw the pics because now I know why it didn't work for me, I was trying to feel the bb's on the sides of the tail. Do you think this method would work on my young boas still? I have probes but last time I probed, almost all came up as female. I think I was just hesitant with the probes and didn't want to risk injuring them.
Thanks,
April
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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

I actually just started this technique.
It was described to me.So I practiced on
a male year or less old.I found I had better
luck feeling that ba-bump on the lateral
slide slightly Ventral.The way Dave described
is the proper technique though.Lar M
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Boas By Klevitz

I've had mixed results trying it on animals much bigger then 2 1/2'-3'. I think it might just be me being reluctant to put enough pressure on the area since they are larger.
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Randall L Turner Jr.
Boas make the world go round.

Yes, this method works great and is foolproof. Great pics of the process Dave - I hope you don't mind that I took Randall's idea and made an animated gif of them.

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Kevin Blumenthal
www.blumenboas.com

Good job !That's perfect.
Lar M
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Boas By Klevitz

I had looked a little into doing just that and then got tied up with other thigs. Thanks and I have saved me a copy of me in my pics in gif format!!!
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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