Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I took my pair of Black trees to the Veterinarian today and had an X-Ray done. I saw no evidence of hemipenes, but could see all of the organs. Pretty cool! Does anyone know if male monitors have calcified hemipenes? Can you see them in an X-Ray? Can I be fairly sure my monitors are females?

Thanks for your time.

Howard.

But x-rays are not accurate, blood tests are not accurate, and probing should never be done as its dangerous, they are not built like snakes, and hemiclitori can and are many times as long or close to the length of hemipenes.

I dont believe x-rays are dependable for sexing, ultrasound is what you should have tried. But on a tree monitor that may be difficult as well.I didnt have too much difficulty getting my tree monitors to evert, almost always did this when I picked them up. cant find my tree monitor pics but here is my gouldiX male.
Good luck,
Robert

hey there, I have heard that ultrasound may work, but can be unreliable at times too... I have learned through experience with my collection, that secondary sex characteristics, including head size and morphology, as well as tailbase shape, can be misleading, and is not always the case. I guess the only way that you can know for sure, is if a female lays eggs, or if a male fully everts his hemipenes, as a partial evertion could mean either a male or a female, as female's hemiclitori can be long as well. Here's a pic of one of my male V. beccari's hemipenis. Note the tip is "flower-like". I hope this gives some insight, best of luck with your animals..... Cheers,

bob

This is a male V. indicus X ray. You can see the white dots circled in red. Those white dots is all you will see of the males hemipenes.

The small bones that Jody shows are called hemibacula, and they are unfortunately present in both sexes in most monitors, though always larger in males. They begin to become visible on (good) X-rays when the animals are about half grown, but they are not very dense and may not show up at all if your vet cranks the milliamps on the machine. If you can see outlines of internal organs (as opposed to only bones) on the X-ray, any hemibacula present should also be visible. Trouble is, you need something to compare it to, keeping in mind that the bones become larger and denser with size or age.

Seeing the hemibacula can help, but only when used in combination with other structural characteristics and behavior. All of these things involve comparisions. That requires experience, and even the experts get fooled sometimes -- your average pet shop Joe is not going to be much help.

Some species are a lot easier than others. V. beccarrii seems to be one of the harder species, just ask Bob!

Thanks everyone. This is my first time owning black trees, but I am hooked! I appreciate all of the pictures and time in replies. I truly believe that this forum has the best experts, and feel you give the best info.

Thanks everyone,

Howard.