Reptile & Amphibian Forums

when probing bloods/borneo
on small hatchlings/small junv
what depth for male and females

Hey,
Probing are you? be very careful if you are as bloods are very difficult to sex and you can cause injury to a very young animal if you've never attempted it. Probes should enter about 4-6 subcaudals in a female and approximately, 9-12 subcaudals in a male.
-Angel
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"Until we lose our self, there is no way of finding our self."
-Henry Miller.

I have a probing question as well. I recieved a "pair" last summer and the breeder was admittantly not the best sexer. So he said to sex them when I got them and he would take care of it if they weren't correct. So I got them and did a quick check and it seemed fine. I've kinda noticed the male/female growing at the same rate tho, so I decided to double check

Female is definately correct, but when I sex the male its kinda weird. "He" goes deep on one side and then the other it stops as a female, however if you push the probe up a little it continues to go in. So I'm curious if this could be a female with a "damaged cloacia" or whatnot? Anyways I hope this makes sense, there still a little young to compare spores, and I haven't been able to get him to exvert his hemipenis either.

J
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"It's my snake, I trained it, so I'm going to eat it!" - Mad Max, The Road Warrior

Hey J,
It is quite possible that one of the channels leading opposite the cloaca, could've been perforated and is leading to the confusion. How old is that snake and what method was used to sex it initially when first purchased? Lots of keepers don't have any experience with using probes and quite often, over zealous keepers mistakenly puncture the cloacal channel in females and think that they have a male when in fact, the extra depth is due to the accidental injury to the apex of the cloacal channel in females. Also, one thing that throws keepers off when sexing bloods of smaller size is, the "homologs", which are found in almost all pythons and can be quite large in female bloods and can be confused for hemipenes.

Below is a link for you and others wishing to learn how to properly probe and sex their charges. I hope that this helps and also, that the snake has not suffered any possible injury. Not suggesting that you caused it; It could be nothing at all.
-Angel
Snake sexing methods, by Alan Zulich

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"Until we lose our self, there is no way of finding our self."
-Henry Miller.

Angel, it was done as described in your instructions by me. Accept I dont think I was using downward pressure when turning the probe upon entrance. I just checked one side then and it was fine but when double checking I did both and got weird responce on one side. Guess I will double check here, I've tried to exert a hemipenis with no luck..

J
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"It's my snake, I trained it, so I'm going to eat it!" - Mad Max, The Road Warrior

Hey,
You might have a female after all. I would wait on probing and sexing and let her chill for a bit in the event that there is a perforation. Let her get a little bit bigger before checking again. Curiously, how old is the blood?
-Angel
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"Until we lose our self, there is no way of finding our self."
-Henry Miller.

Angel it's been a good while since I checked, as I was waiting til the shim got older. He/she is about 9 mon now I think. Maybee it's time again, really in no big hurry just curious if anyone had some insight as its something I've been curious about.

J
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"It's my snake, I trained it, so I'm going to eat it!" - Mad Max, The Road Warrior

Ok so I just double checked.. again! From the snakes perspective its left side probes to 10 subcaudals, and the right probes to approx 5.5 subcaudals (tried using a small and fairly large probe and same instance with each). Checking the definate female from the same clutch she probes 2 on one side and 3 on the other. From what I've heard females tend to vary depth on sides but a female wouldn't sex at 10... also said shim snake was fairly irritated and exertering its rectum after sexing and despite my efforts and getting musked severely exerted no hemipenis at all. Sooo.. I give up, opinions? Possibly the snake has only one hemipeni? or is infertile? ahh!
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"It's my snake, I trained it, so I'm going to eat it!" - Mad Max, The Road Warrior

about my big male.I probed him last year it went down 8 subcauduals.His spurs are still small for his size.I really don't have fun sexing him since he wiggles ssooo much.Jordan,do you have pics of the animals you want to probe?Is it those killer Borneos?Oh yeah great job on that rack system!!!

Hey,
Bloods are notorious for having almost equal sized spurs, that is, both male and females. I don't like to restrain my bloods when sexing them, instead, I just let half of the blood or short-tail dangle outside the plastic sweater box, and hold the tail while most of the body is still in the box, and then probe while the animal is 2/3 inside the box. I found this method to be an easier one, than holding or restraining, which I find impossible as we can all attest to. Eight subcaudals hmm! sounds like a possible male, but I would try resexing and getting a better idea, if you're not sure.
-Angel
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"Until we lose our self, there is no way of finding our self."
-Henry Miller.

Eight subcaudals is a male. Girls usually probe 2-5.

K~

>>about my big male.I probed him last year it went down 8 subcauduals.His spurs are still small for his size.I really don't have fun sexing him since he wiggles ssooo much.Jordan,do you have pics of the animals you want to probe?Is it those killer Borneos?Oh yeah great job on that rack system!!!
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Just because I have a short attention span doesn't mean