Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was reading about probing snakes and all the books say to watch someone else do it first. I live in SE Ohio. Is there anybody reasonably close that would be willing to teach me how to probe?

Thanks,
Dan

I have read several posts to the affect of improper probing can cause damage to the sexual organs. I have "popped" dozens of baby BRB's. I hooked up with some other breeders and they showed me how and we sexed a bunch together. Was fairly easy once you get the hang of it.
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife
0.2 kids
4.12 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.1 Ball python
0.1 BCI "Elvira" normal from 1989
1.0 BCI albino / het-anery
0.1 BCI Hypo / het-albino
0.1 BCI Anery / het-albino
0.1 BCI Hypo (possible super)

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I've got to sex my baby Hogs soon. I was going to try to sex them
by popping.

Should I wait for them to eat a few meals first? Is there a
good time to do it? After their 1st defecation, does it matter
at all when I pop them?

I was told it's better to wait until after first shed, something about sensitive or fragile new skin. Not sure if that's true but I wait anyways. I figure it couldn't hurt. Also, I prefer to pop after they defecate, no health reason other than don't want shtuff all over my hands, get enough urates and urine as it is
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife
0.2 kids
4.12 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.1 Ball python
0.1 BCI "Elvira" normal from 1989
1.0 BCI albino / het-anery
0.1 BCI Hypo / het-albino
0.1 BCI Anery / het-albino
0.1 BCI Hypo (possible super)

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

i cant believe more people dont know this, Lloyd Lemke taught me this 10 yrs ago and he said it was the only way he sexed boas, i have used it since to accurately sex, colombians, dumerils, hogs, bolivians, and rainbows, and i even very carefully did it to a year old ETB recently although if it didnt prove to be a male on the first light pass i wasnt going to add much more pressure, i am sure it would work with most if not all boas, but those are the ones i have tried. it does not work with the pythons i have tried so far (BP's,JCP's). first make sure they arent ready to shed, i have done it to newborns a day old, but be VERY careful. i hold the snake in my left hand, then with my right thumb, i put pressure down onto the underside of the tail (index finger of your right hand on the top part of the tail to keep the thumb pressure. picture you are trying to squeeze something out at the bottom of the tail. then with constant lite pressure, i slide my thumb slowly down the tail. a male's hemipene will feel like you rolled your thumb over a small pea, it will snap back, Lloyd described it to me as a rubber band, sort of being stretched and then snapping back toward the vent, obviously you will feel nothing on the females. the biggest mistake i have seen people do when i teach them is that they give up too soon as they are sliding their thumb back. keep sliding, hogs for instance are farther back then you think. its best to practice on a known male first, a juvie,non biter, 2-3 ft range, just remember to be gentle but use enough pressure to feel the "tip" of the hemipene. once you feel it i gurantee you will never pop or probe a boa again. hope this helps, john yocum

succesfully for the past 3 years with 100% accuracy to this point.

I found out this way purely by accident, while lightly holding onto a males tale while I let him crawl back into his container.

It is the "only" way to sex boas if you ask me.

Chris
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Chris & Alliey
website
E-mail Us

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are you feeling below the vent along the tail or above the tail above the vent? I know, stupid question, but when someone described it to me before I got the impression it's the area above the vent?
thanks

Below the vent. Basically go from the base of the cloaca to 1/2 way down the tail "gently". I generally will sex my boas from their first shed, with great accuracy. It will take a few times but you'll be an ole pro in no time...lol.
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Chris & Alliey
website
E-mail Us

thank you! Now I need to resex the baby I kept and hope the few I sold sexed were ok! lol
Now I wonder what I was feeling above the tail that I thought were the males' B-B's ???
my poor babies hahahaah

In my male I can very clearly see the spurs, on my female I can barely see them at all. Both are proven to be their correct sex.

I don't know about others, but when I was trying to sex my litters for the first time I tried by spur length first, some were long, some were hard to even see, trouble was there were a bunch of them that fell "right between"
so I didn't think it was a good way, in adults it's easier
to tell the diff using spur length (IMO)

I noticed a few seasons ago while popping that when getting them ready to pop you can see the red veins going back to the hemipenes on the males. The females just have the fleshy color (very pale). Every time I saw the veins boom they popped and it was a male. So there isn't any pressure needed, once you have them in the position to pop and the cloaca is slighty open you'll see the veins and it's a boy.
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Ed Lilley, www.constrictorsnw.com