Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey,
I was wondering if anyone could tell if this anaconda is a male or female? I'm actually thinking of purchasing it, BUT I want to make sure it's male. The guy I'm purchasing from said he sexed it as male, but it seems kind of long for a male. What does anyone/everyone think?

Thanks,
~Ben

Ben,
There is no way to tell from a full body photo the sex of an anaconda this small. You would need to confirm by probing or spur structure differences. Sexual dimorphism with relation to size doesn't become apparent until they are much larger than this individual. Did the seller tell you how they determined it's sex?

Kelly

No, he just said that he sexed it as a male, I was just wondering because with some snakes males tend to be smaller than female. So I would just figure I would ask if it looked far off from a male or not Probably just wasting everyones time with it

~Ben

you are not wasting time if you are learning. It is true that some snakes, including anacondas are different sizes between male and female. However, without knowing age and how often it was feed there would be no way to make a comparison with a young one. Even if that information was given and you could say that looks large or small for the age and feeding...that still give no indication as to sex until the snake is near sexual maturity. If you have a 10 year old snake that is 8 feet..I would make a very educated guess that it is a male. if it is over 14 ft i would make the guess it is female expecially if it is very heavy bodied. with babies and juveniles there is no way to tell since both males and females are still growing the same way. I bet that snake is large enough though to make a good indication from spur sexing wihtout having to use magnification. male spurs are completely external and on an appendage, females are recessed into the scales on no appendage. males are also hooked shaped at the end while females are spaked like a cone with no hook. Female spurs also tend to be darker coloration.

Be careful when sexing young females by their spurs. While everything you said was correct, the spurs of some young females under 5 or 6 feet have not yet become totally recessed and can still be somewhat external. They may also have a very slight curve to them, but not a hook like with the males. This is when, like you pointed out, you need to look closely at the shape and attachment configuration of the spur. Everything else you said was right on. Thanks,

Kelly