Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A few weeks ago I posted about one of my boas that I am having trouble sexing. Cinnamon was sold as a female and at that time, I didn’t double check or know about the ‘bb’ method. There is a bulge after the vent, which led me to believe this might be a male. Tried probing but s/he was so tensed up, could not get the probe in more than 2 subcaudal scales.

I put a young known male in with Cinn last week, no action. Haven’t tried putting Cinn in with a known female yet.

Dave (rainbowsrus) was nice enough to let me bring Cinn over for some pics. We could not determine on our inspection one way or the other for sure… take a look at the pics, I’d love to hear some opinions, male or female?

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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

Vegas was also sold as a female, this one also has a small bulge past the vent, but no obvious spurs. Neither Dave nor I was able to come to a conclusion 100% but we have our theories. I took these cruddy pics, first two through the plexiglass trying to show the bulge, in the last pic, opened the door and held the tail up. I could not get any shots of the spurs as they are hardly visible.

Any opinions based on these?

Thanks!
-April

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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

Female from what i can see. can you post or send a pic of the tail from vent to tip? Say from about a foot away from the animal.
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People will say what they want to say, believe what they want to believe. No matter what proof you have to the contrary.

Brendan
BCI by Design

These aren't the best, but what I have quickly available. I can take new shots tonight to clarify if needed, just let me know.

Cinnamon baby shot:

More recently:

Vegas:


more recently:

Thanks again!
-April
(disclaimer for everyone: I am just asking for opinions, I know you can't sex a snake 100% via an internet pic)

Vegas looks like a girl.

It's still not clear on Cinnamon. It's hard to tell where the tail starts in those pictures. From the size of the spurs and how "visible" they were. I'd say Cinnamon is a boy.

However....

Some females could have larger than normal "visible" spurs. So, the length of the tail "should" tell you if she's male or female. I've never seen a female with a longer tail, like a male has. So..... If she's got big spurs, but a shorter(female like) tail, then she's a girl.

I'm going to pull Cinn out tonight and take some new pics that focus on the tail, put him/her on some glass to get a shot from underneath so the vent to tail length is easy to see.
Thanks to all for the thoughts!
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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

Vegas appears fem forsure from my perspective.
Cinamon really appears fem as well
that's a shaky guess though with Cin.

. . . Lar M
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Boas By Klevitz
Boas By Klevitz

Going by the spurs... I'd say "it's a boy". Any chance of seeing the entire tail?

From the pic id say female.
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Richard Ceniceros
Tap or take a nap

Have you tried counting caudal scales from the vent to the tip of the tail? It my understanding that males typically have longer tails. In Bci, scale counts in the low 50's and below indicate likely female, in the upper 50's and above indicate possible male. This is also, of course, not 100% but an indicator. Mid 50's could still go either way...

I typically use a shed skin for counting, and it has proven pretty accurate, except for the tweeners where I still had no idea from this method alone...

Mark
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uncommonboa.com

Hey thanks Mark, I've never heard this meathod before. I'll try it out!
-April
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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

Great April. I'll be interested to see how the count comes out!

Mark
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uncommonboa.com

My thoughts were both females.....
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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