Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I have been keeping reptiles for years and I feel like I am getting to the point where I need to learn how to probe snakes. I have always heard "only have experienced people do it because the snakes can be injured easily". So, how do you become experienced? I live in Humboldt County and there really are not many people that keep many reptiles and I do not know anyone that knows how to probe snake.

Thanks for any responses, ericR

Melissa Kaplan has a great set of instructions on her page. The adress is below, but I couldn't get it to work. Her site is anapsid.org.

www.vpi.com/9VPITipsAndTechs/DeterminingTheSexOfSnakes/DeterminingTheSexOfSnakes.htm

It isn't overly dangerous.. you just have to be very cautious. It is always easier to sex if the snake is in a tube, or held by someone else.

However, I would recommend going for a long drive to have someone show you how to do it. Just in case.

I was in the very same situation. I started going to our local reptile show and another one in the next state.

The first reptile breeder I asked about probing picked up a snake and showed me. Then held the snake and talked me through it.

Now I will probe the questionable ones or the very young ones. Looking at their tails works for me most of the time. I was also shown how to tail sex snakes with very accurate results.

Worth the drive....Dann

Actually only inexperienced people probe snakes. You can easily tell the sex of a snake by looking at the thickness of the tail right below the cloacae. It can be a little more difficult with some baby snakes, which you also can't probe because they are too small. In those cases you pop the hemipenes out by relaxing the baby snake, bending the tails lightly and gently pushing the hemipenes out with your thumb with a rolling motion. One sure sign that someone is new to snake handling is that they use probes. It really doesn't take long to learn to see the difference, whenever you stop at petstore that has multiple snake of the same species that are about the same size take a look at a couple and you'll develop an eye for it.

Baby snakes can be probed easily with the proper size probe and when done right, it is as safe or safer than "popping" and it's generally considered to be a more accurate method.

While I agree that many adult snakes are easily sexed by a visual exam of the tail this is generally not considered a very accurate way to sex hatchlings. To say that only inexperienced keepers use probes for sex determination is complete nonsense.

Chris

I agree with you on this. I have never used "popping" but I have read it is only safe for the very youngest of neonates. Within a short period of time (talking days here) the musculature starts to firm up and popping becomes more hazardous to the animal. I have not really researched this much so I would be interested in hearing other comments on it. I also believe that the accuracy of visualizing tail length and width may vary with species as well as age. What I am convinced of is that when done properly and with all due care probing is the most accurate method.
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Randy Hallman

I agree it must be done with hatchling and not older snakes. But its easy to do and far less of a chance of injury then probing. I disagree that probing is accurate, especially with adult snakes. Some are strong enough to resist the probe and make it difficult be sure that you have a proper reading.At best probing is unnecessary, it takes no more effort to learn how to recognize the visual differences then it does to learn how to probe. No special equipment needed, accept your eyes.

When buying a snake, I would prefer the sex to have been found via probing. Popping is too dangerous - we're talking about flipping something insideout here.

Regarding tail length - this is not accurate and is easy to get wrong. Maybe with an experienced eye, it is more accurate. But you can't exactly 'learn' that. It comes with experience. It also varies greatly from species to species, and is often hard to tell unless you have a male and a female from the same clutch and can compare on the spot.

LOL! Flipping something inside out? Iam not going to explain how a penis works on this forum, but trust me hemipenes work the same way, and they are suppose to come out like that! It's probing that is unnatural.

"Actually only inexperienced people probe snakes."

That was funny! I probe all of my baby snakes right after they hatch, way more accurate and safer than popping. Have done THOUSANDS that way.

"You can easily tell the sex of a snake by looking at the thickness of the tail right below the cloacae."

That comment is made from those that don't know how to probe correctly LOL. Only on a few species can you tell on the shape of the tail and that is also not accurate. Corn snakes are easier, but kings are harder. Plus I would never rely on that method before selling to a customer. Probe 'em!

"It can be a little more difficult with some baby snakes, which you also can't probe because they are too small."

Not with corns and kings, but I will admit that I had some very small milk snakes that I couldn't probe until they were bigger. But instead of inaccuartely popping them I waited until they were bigger and probed them with certainty.

"In those cases you pop the hemipenes out by relaxing the baby snake, bending the tails lightly and gently pushing the hemipenes out with your thumb with a rolling motion. One sure sign that someone is new to snake handling is that they use probes."

One of the stupidest comments I have ever heard. LOL

Kerby...

I never buy a snake if its been probed, it tells me that the breeder doesn't know what they are doing, and why risk buying a snake they probably screw up anyway.

When I was first learning how to probe snakes I used to practice on recently hit snakes that I would find on the road while road cruising.
You definitely want to pick a good set of "ball tip" probes. They are less likely to cause injury to your snake (but it's still possible if you insert the probe too deep or with too much force.
Good luck,
Chris

When I wanted to learn I picked up every road kill that I could find (different sizes and species) and practiced at home. It became apparent right away how far the probes would go, which sex the snakes were, and also how much pressure to use. Also what size probe to use on each species. It didn't take long to figure it out...........

Kerby...

As you can see by the posts Eric there are a few different views on this subject. Some of these Herpers on this form have been here for years. I take there advice when given and it is usually good information.

I believe you have the experience and knowledge to determine how to proceed in your quest, “to probing or not to probe”.

I took my question (how to probe) to someone who could show me. I believe that’s what you were asking for.

All of us want to learn how to better our reptile knowledge. It makes us better keepers. And as our information and understanding of reptile husbandry grows we need to share our knowledge, views, and encourage others.

Good luck Eric and I hope you do learn how to probe. I hope the person who shows you how to probe remembers that he asked someone how to probe. No doubt you will end up showing someone else yourself.

Dann….

If you are still in school, high school or college, there might be a biology teacher or a professor that may be of some help or could point you in the right direction. A zoo or herpetological society would be a good place to start, also.
Todd Hughes

I ma saying you shouldn't learn how to probe, just that when you are more experienced you won't have too. Here is link to website that give a good description of it. You will find that many snakes probe differently and some are more difficult then others.
Link