Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How many subcaudals should the probe go in to show if its a male or female Drymarchon melanurus ?

Thanks

Steffen Stjerne

You really shouldn't have to probe them, They are very easily sexed visually. However, if you do need to probe, typically a male will probe around 8 subcaudals. This is very deep, because they have wide subcaudal scales. Use the biggest probe you can reasonably use.

How do you tell them apart visually?

Thanks

By the taper and length of the tail. There are some marked differences between the males and the females. The female has a shorter tail and the taper from the cloaca to the tip of the tail is much more dramatic. The male has a longer tail and the taper is more gradual.

I've seen female Dry's with a big old swelling in the tail you'd swear was a heimpenal (if that's a word) bulge.

So much so that upon glancing, you swear it had to be a male.

Dryguy had a couperi like that when I visted him last year...he had never probed it (assuming it was male)

but I looked close at the scales and didn't see the keels...so we probed and ...bingo...female.

Since then I've seen a couple other females like this.

I think their scent glands can swell...

Yep. My female rubidus is like that.

Oldherper may be better than me...but I've been fooled a few times on visuals.

Probing is pretty much fool proof on Dry's. Females go in 2-3 and stop dead.

You can bury the probe in a male. 7-9.

Neonates and juveniles can be tougher to visually sex than adults. With adults it is usually pretty apparent. I have had to probe neonates before, also.

The snakes are about 150 CM long.
No 1 tail is 27,5 CM
No 2 tail is 25,0 Cm

No 1 is a little longer in body then No 2

I can only get the probe in 2 scales?!?

Would a picture of the tails help you ?
The guy i bought them from insist that it is 1.1

Thanks for your help.

2 scales?.......they sound like males to me.....dannio

They only go down 2 subcaudals not 8 as oldherper says?

Dannio has his thinking cap on backwards again.

2 subcaudals is a female. At 150 centemeters (nearly 5 feet), the difference between the tail of a male and a female should be obvious, especially when you can compare them side-by-side. In a male, the proble will easily go in at least 7 subcaudals and possibly as many as 10. That's between 4 and 5 centimeters. If it will only go in 2 subcaudals, it's the same on both snakes, you can't see any obvious difference in the shape of the tail and you know how to probe snakes (inserting the probe in the correct spot and at the correct angle) then you have 2 females.

I probe many snakes no problem there.. but the dealer insist its a pair so iam beginning to dout my skills..
I thin the tails are long ore is the males longer?
Then the 25-27cm on a 5 feet snake?

25 to 27 cm would be typical for a female, 32 to 35 cm for a male.

If you have a male and a female, you would definitely be able to see the difference in the tails.

Okay now i can trust my probing skills again.
Thanks For you help!!

Males are easy...
it slides right in.

You got girls.

They too have a 'crotch' just like a male Kingsnake would only difference is it's quite abrupt in the glad as opposed to the male.. it just tapers......... mind you having said that i haven't probed my guys either ;-o

As if producing babies wasn't difficult enough, now it seems we even got problems sexing them ........... LOL

Oh well...... I still wouldn't trade them for all the tea in China OR all the Mandarin rats in China .....

Cheers

Dean