Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know the only sure way to know the sex of a BP is by probing but can you just tell by looking at one if it's male or female? I've heard that females get longer as they become mature but are they bigger and thicker as well? I saw a picture of the 2 BP's mating in the post below and one definitely was bigger and longer than the other. I would assume that was the female. The other snake in the picture looks more like mine as far as build goes. Mine is pretty big and eats like a pig but doesn't have the thickness that the females seem to that I see. Anyway, can you pretty much tell by just looking or can their be males that end up bigger as well? Thanks.

i think once they get older you can make a somewhat "educated guess" but you can never be sure without getting it sexed. I have a yearling female that looks no different than any other BP, amle or female, about the same age as mine.

The only sure way is to probe them but way back when I first started raising boas and pythons, there were no probes (30 years ago!) I was very good however at "eye balling" them with an accuracy of better than 90%. There are several differences that you can use wuithout probing. Females almost always get larger, heavier and have wider heads. Even though all balls have short tails, from the vent the female tapers off immediately, where as the male will continue straight for a short distance before tapering off. Also the same is true from viewing the animal from the side. Looking at the animal from the side, on the female the tail will taper downward immediately at the vent where as the male will continue straight and then taper off. If you are uncomforatable probing your ball, this works very well to give an educated and pretty accurate guess. Spur size is really not a good indicator as I have seen females with large ones. Hope this was of help. Bill