Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My blackthroat keeps doing this wierd thing, she seems to strain then has this 3" long light pink tube type thing pop out...

I have never been home to see this.. My parents are amused with her and have been watching her almost non-stop. It has happened 3x in the past 5 days, and 2x today. She just dropped a massive load this morning, so IDK what's going on.

From what my parents say, it looks like a pink tube.. Can anyone tell me what the heck it is???

you haven't mentioned where the pink tube is coming from, but I'm going to assume it is popping out of the cloaca rather than a nostril or eye socket

If the tube is pink and has no frilly bits on the end, it is probably one of two hemiclitori. I'd assume your blackthroat is fairly large to have 3" hemiclitori.

If your blackthroat is small or medium in size, you may be looking at one of two hemipenes, in which case 'she' is a 'he'. Immature hemipenes can be pink, rather than purple-ish or blue-ish and if not everted completely may appear as just a tube. Even an adult may partially evert their hemipenes, in which case they'd appear as a simple tube.

Hemipenes are the male's penises and hemiclitori are the female equivalent. They usually rest 'outside in', in the base of the monitor's tail and 'evert'(pop inside out) through the cloaca. Think of the finger of a rubber glove, inside out until someone blows into the glove and it fills out.

People usually see their monitors' hemipenes or hemiclitori when the animals defecate.

Sorry for that, it's popping out of the vent.

She/he (never been sexed) is just about 4 feet long and almost 1yr old.

As for the color, it is pale to very light pink and looks like a tube, but since I am only getting second hand info on how it looks, it's really hard to describe it better.

Now, onto a sexing question, what is the easiest way to sex? Someone suggested an x-ray.. But since she doesn't enjoy staying still, I don't see this being possible. Is there any other way to sex a monitor my size w/o an x-ray??

X-rays work in some species, those in which mature males develop ossified tips on their hemipenes. I don't know if blackthroats get ossified hemipene tips, but even if they did I'd say yours would still be too small to reliably sex this way.

I've never kept a blackthroat, so I can't say when they start showing obvious sexual differences, but the three things to look for would be 1. larger bulges beneath the base of the tail in males 2. head shape differences (males have longer, squarer snouts - higher nasal ridges). 3.The next time you see it evert, look at the tips of the protruding organs. If it's male, you'll see an enlarged, forked, flowery bit.

Search the forum for photographs of known male and female blackthroats and compare the head shape with your animal's. I've never had much luck with the search engine on this forum, but it's worth a try. Or post some photographs of your animal on here and let everyone have a guess. The photos should include a side on head shot and a side view of the base of the tail (without the monitor's hind legs or your hands in the way).

A male at 2 feet long has two 3 inch hemipenes easily, a females heiclitori are shorter at that size. The males have a large bulged tail base (it stands out like a neon sign, its that obvious after they are sexually mature), they evert sometimes alot. The females hemiclitori looks like a smooth pink or bluish or purplish tube with a rolled apearance to the end. The males have what is described by some as "medevil weapons of war" they have 2 large thick pink or purple or bluish tubes that have what looks almost like cooling fins around the end and 2 sent glands that resemble fingers, this is of course only seen on a full eversion, partial eversion when defecating is normal. The males in some cases have a different head shape, and a different body shape. The female has a more rounded midsection naturally than a male because they are designed to create carry and lay up to 52 eggs. Males have on average a thicker lower jaw bone, and a bigger lumpier shaped head where as the females are more smooth and sloped (usually noticeably smaller head). Ill try to find the hemipene pic for ya.

Obvious male...

Not everyone can view them. I have to right click, properties then copy and paste the url to see them.

My guess is whoever your site is hosted by does not allow you to post links. You might wanna check into that cause not everyone knows how to force your pictures to show up.

The problem is with AOL I believe, I was able to visit the site then view them on his AOL. Lately most pics dont work right with AOL. I use cable and have no problem.

I don't have AOL but can't view them, either, until I right click the red 'x', choose properties, then copy and paste the URL into my browser

I have roadrunner and can't view them either.

Pam

the reason for that is they are saved in your cookies.