Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone ever compared tails in male/female pyros???
I always probe and occasionally will pop, but don't trust it if I cannot get hemipenes.
This is a 2009 pair, one I have seen hemipenes and the other has no probing depth what so ever.

When comparing the tail lengths and tapers/width after cloaca, They look very close in morphology. When I have had common kings or ratsnakes, there always seemed to be some obvious differences from male to female.

I will take better photos of this mated pair when my partner is able to help hold the snakes still. I know without a doubt they are male and female because their clutch of seven babies just hatched! LOL! The female is the one with the broken triads.

Thank you for posting this great question!
-----
Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

How about an easy hint, females have lite centers in the red bands by the vent. Males do not.

Its not a hard rule, as some females don't, but many do.

In your picture, its also easy because your female has eggs bulging out. hahahahahahaha

Keep an eye out for the lite centers.

Also, once you become familiar with pyros, females are built totally different from males.

Light centers on the ventral or dorsal side??? Do you mean that faded yellowing color on the top of the red bands??? I have never heard of that being sex related.
A little more detail please??
Thanks

FR, thanks for the hint about the vent markings. Will look at my snakes and see.

But if you are referring to my photo, there is no way the female could be bulging with eggs as they are just starting mating early this spring in that lock photo.

Here she is being bulging with eggs several weeks later! LOL!
-----
Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Wow look at her.... Shes huge.
What locality is she or is she generic??
I am located in AZ and last year I found a pyro that looks just like that near madera canyon. Shes a looker

Her ancestors were gathered in the '90's by my friend Herb from the Santa Rita Mountains.
-----
Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Wow, she has a low band count for that range but she is very cool!

Although Madera canyon is in the santa rita mountains, The pyros that I have seen there Which only consists of 3 have looked more like Huachuca mountain kings formerly known as woodini.

Close relatives to my female. When I bought her in 2008 from a dealer she was billed as woodini, but later when I tracked down the actual breeder he said he gathered his first pyros from Davis Mt area. I am not very knowledgeable about Arizona. Please excuse brain fatigue. Have posted maps to help sort this.
maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=107540191085537189169.000475c9b8f64775ac393&t=h&z=5
www.mountainzone.com/mountains/detail.asp?fid=5412056
-----
Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Is this what you are talking about?? I inspected all of mine and even the males that have bred before have it.

I believe I may be confused?

Yea, The body language is right with this pair because My male went off feeding when my female shed after brumation and she ate through the spring and all and has no probing depth.

When they are next to each other, he goes crazy and does the funny head tilt thing like he wants to get at her also. I know its a pair but was just curious about the tail shape. Never heard anything about that lite centers in the red bands either??