Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have three Cal. (Black and white phase) kings, I know for sure that Luna, I have had her for two years, is a female...but for fear of posably hurting my two new ones I do not know what they are...is there any way without "popping" them I can get them sexed?

Usually with adult King Snakes it is pretty easy to tell visually, especially if you have representatives of both sexes to compare. The male's tail will be noticeably longer than the female's and the taper will be more drastic in the female.

Popping is usually only done with neonates. If you can't tell visually with an adult, the only reliable method (short of going to a vet and having it x-rayed) is by probing it with stainless steel sexing probes. This needs to be done by an experienced person, because it is very possible to injusre the snake if it is done improperly.

A good way to remember how to visually sex-
Females have a radish tail
Males have a carrot tail
It's easier to tell by looking at the snake from the side or the bottom than from the top.
I've found this to be pretty reliable but I'm not too experienced at it yet.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

Never quite heard it said that way ....but it does the job!

Kind of like when I tell people the difference between venomous and Poisonous. "A raw carrot is edible so it is not poisonous...But you could stab someone with one ...so it's venomous!"

Frank