Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Thinning back on the collection so I needed to do some probing to pt some snakes up for sale. got to my supposedly female blood, and "she" probed really deep- about 6-8 scales (was hard to match up on the outside because it would not sit still).

What's confusing me though is that my other blood that I KNOW is a male (seen the hemi, sperm plugs, etc) of equal size has a completely different tail structure.

So 6 scales sounds unreasonably deep, especially for a snake known as a short-tailed python. So what are the depths for males and females?

I have female borneos that probed that deep.
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You might want to talk to Dave Barker at VPI. He gave a talk in Daytona about this very thing and how probing cna fool you with bloods. Don't remember the exact comments so I won't try and say here but DO contact him by email and ask him. It was a very interesting and informative talk. Also talked about "sperm plugs" not really being sperm plugs but dried sheds since I think he said the hemipenes are actually outside organs that rest in a pouch and they just don't shed usually when the snake sheds.

I agree with Rich. Provided you are working with adults, it is standard for female bloods to probe 5 to 6 subcaudals, and occasionally slightly more. Adult male bloods typically probe 9 to 11.

The use of the term sperm plug is actually a misnomer. The term sperm plug is typically used by most people in reference to what Barker calls a hemipenial cast. It is the shed hemipenial skin and not a true sperm plug as defined in actual herpetological nomenclature. However, the use of the term sperm plug for these castings is pretty much stuck in the mainstream of the herp community and will most likely remain. So even if the term is not completely accurate, everyone knows what is being referred to with the term sperm plug. Additionally, these types of sheds appear to be produced for the most part by reproductively active males, and are comprised of a small percentage of semen. So I guess the term does have a slight amount of relevancy to the situation.

Kelly