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I was traded an ALbino Green Burmese as a male. I have never probed until recently and it appears to be female.

How many scales would a male be?

How many scales would a female be?

I mean depth wise when probing?

Mike

If my memory serves me correct (it has been a few years since I have probed a burm) a male should probe between 8-12 scales and a female will probe about 4-6. Someone correct me if I am mistaken. Todd

Im pretty sure that your right Todd. Something else you may do is "Pop" him if your not sure. Im sure some people may disagree with this method, but i Dont really know that its much more stressful than probing. If you have no idea what im talking about, and if you dont have someone else to help you if its a large snake, you may not want to try this. But its a way that you can get a very definite answer.
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1.0 Albino Green Burm
0.2 Normal Burm
1.1 Java Retic

Popping is the method I prefer over probing however there are a couple things to know. First this only works on young (under a year, or 3' burms). After this they develop enough muscle control that they will not allow their hemipenes to be everted. Secondly, is that if done improperly it can give you false female readings. The Barkers have an excellant article on their wesite called determining the sex of snakes. It gives in depth details about probing, popping, and visual differences. A very good read for all snake enthusiasts. But popping goes like this. Grasp the snake so one hand is just below the vent and one hand is just above the vent. Turn the snake so that its belly is up and gently bend the tail so to expose the vent area. Then with firm but gentle pressure push your thumb at the tail on apply pressure as you slide your thumb towards the vent. In a male one our two hemipenes should evert. Females will just open their vent slightly. The article at the Barkers site gives it in a more thorough explanation but that is the gist of it. Hope this helps some more. Todd

If it is an older snake, on a male, you should be able to see small spikes on the sides, near the vent. On a female, these would be absent. And I dont know if this is a real concrete way to tell, but its another way you can get reassurace of a suspicion.
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1.0 Albino Green Burm
0.2 Normal Burm
1.1 Java Retic

Are the spurs completely absent on a female or are they just smaller?

Just smaller (usually). Sometimes hard to notice on a normal colored burn because they blend in with the scales, but usually pretty obvios on an albino.