Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know that you can fairly accurately sex adult corns by the shape of their tail. Does this hold up for other N. American ratsnakes?

Here's the tail of an adult yellow rat. Any guesses as to if it's male or female?

The vent is where the dark marks are 25% up the picture.

Thanks!
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-audri
Webpage/Pics

That's a very long snake, isn't it??

Female corns and rats taper immediately from the vent. Males stay "thick" for a bit and then taper because of the hemipenes inside.

If the vent is where I think it is (it's hard to see...I think the flash washed the details out) then it looks male. If the vent is a quarter up the pic from the bottom, the tail looks thick until just over the 50 percent mark (almost 2 inches on the screen), then tapers.

For comparison, this snake is female: http://www.prehistoricpets.com/viewimage.asp?type=3&img=egypt_rat&n1=3-012

All american ratsnakes are easy to tell sex- usually anyway. From your photo, I'd bet money on that snake being a male. All male ratsnakes have very thick, non-tapering, long tails. Of course, I'd still probe to be certain.

Van

I agree with the other comments, about the length and stoutness of the tail. But I don't think a probe is necessary for that snake. That's a boy!