Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering the best way to sex baby bulls they are about three weeks old.I have probed larger snakes and have used the popping method once on a young snake.Should I take all of them and measure there tails is this a good way,THANKS P-RAT

;;;

I'd say probing is the way to go. A hatchling bull is still plenty big enough to make probing easy and, as long as you're gentle about it, there shouldn't be any problems. If you pop, you definitely know when its a male, but if it doesn't pop you can't always say one way or the other (cause sometimes they just won't pop!). Theres something about popping in my mind too, it just doesn't sound good to force fragile tissue like that out (especially on an immature snake). I've only learned to probe in the past year, but this summer on a field project I've successfully probed everything from juvenile wormsnakes to large male black rats and so far its been 100% successful.

Van

I prefer to probe hatchlings. Either method can cause injury if done incorrectly so if you're not comfortable doing it, find someone local to give you a hand.
If you decide to probe, get a good set of ball tipped probes (a little safer IMO) and use a lubricant such as KY.
Sexing hatchlings by tail length would not be a very reliable method.
Good luck,
Chris

I didn't know the sex and didn't want to attempt popping or probing myself. I kempt emailing reptile people in my area until I found a breeder who helped me out. That breeder was Trooper Walsh, he helped me probe my snake and taught me the proper way to probe and what to look for in males and females. I also got to see his amazing collection and learned a lot from him.