Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone,

My question here is about knowing the gender of your pet snake(s). I have five snakes in all, of which I am only sure of the gender of two of them (my adult burm, and my adult boa). The other three are young (a kingsnake, a milksnake, and a ratsnake), and so could still very well be probed to determine for certain just which gender they are.

But I've heard that probing isn't the nicest thing you can do to a snake (an understatement there, of course). So I wonder, how important is it to know? I understand of course the implication it has on naming the animal, but I don't name my pets (I'll explain that in another thread if you're interested as to why). And I don't intend to ever breed any of my snakes. But I can't help but have a compelling desire to know, if for no other reason than to just be able to correctly address any of them as either a him or a her.

So, is that enough of a reason to have the snake probed? Or do you feel it isn't worth the stress it would put on the animal?

Whatever your thoughts/opinions are, please share.

Thanks,
- Mark

-----
----------------------------------------------
My personal website: www.antegy.com
----------------------------------------------
My Kingsnake.com Picture Galleries

- 1.0.0 Labyrinth Burmese Python Gallery
- 0.1.0 Suriname Boa Gallery
- 0.1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake Gallery
- 1.0.0 Pueblan Milksnake Gallery
- 0.1.0 Trinket Ratsnake Gallery
----------------------------------------------
My photography on photo.net
----------------------------------------------
Me on myspace.com

I understand your desire to know. We humans are inquisitive creatures. However, understand that your snakes neither know nor care whether you use the proper gender-specific title when refering to them.
Now about probing: If done properly by an experienced herper, probing a snake is harmless, painless, and not exceedingly stressful to the animal in general. A correctly sized and gently inserted probe with proper lubrication will do no damage, physically or psycologically, to your pets. So, have peace of mind and get your snakes sexed!
-Cole