Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have two snakes from the same litter that i am comparing. they are both six months old. the one i was told was male has visible spurs and is about 27" and has a 3.5" tail. the one i was told was female had no signs of spurs at all, is 30" and has a 3.5" tail.
im not sure if the snakes were popped or probed to determine sex so im concerned the female may be a male. can the absence of spurs confirm the snake as a female?

thank you in advance for any opinions or experience information.

NO

Spurs are not a guarantee on sex. I have seen females with larger spurs. But I have never seen an adult male that has very tiny spurs.

Bob

np

Other things to consider...Tail length and tapering.

Grasp the tail gently. Put your thumb right under the vent line, your index finger opposite of your thumb. Gently move your thumb down towards the tip of the tail. About 1/3 of the way down from the vent you will feel two tiny balls roll out from under your thumb, that is a male. On the female you won't feel anything. If possible do a few babies of each sex to get the feel for it. I've not been wrong with this method yet and have done several litters. Just be careful not to pull on the tail. It is a safer, less invasive method than probing the little guys. I've actually found this can work on animals up to 4-5 feet if they are lean, once they have a lot of fat and muscle, it no longer works.
Note: I don't have any long bodied pythons to test this method on, but I had no success with the short bodied Balls.
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Delusions of Grandeur feed the EGO...

the guy i got the two from told me they were probed to determine sex. i tried the method laura mentioned on the female and i didnt feel anything roll out.
would you guys say it is safe to say i have a female with a long tail? should i take picturesa of the tail tapering for you guys to look. to me it appears to get to half size about 1/4 the way from the base like females.

this all started because i had to measure the tail and the long length worried me about their true sex.

so, then you know what to feel for. If the female doesn't have that, they certainly won't "drop" later. They are either there or they are not. I have 2 breeder females with long tails and spurs, so that is not 100%.
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Delusions of Grandeur feed the EGO...

ok. i am feeling pretty good about their sex being confirmed. the male has the "balls" (haha). so i guess i just have a female with a long tail.

is this method a highly accurate method like probing? this seems like the easiest method (not to mention least risky) for me to use when i accualy produce some babies from this pair.

this method on the litters I produced last year and the babies that I've purchased. I am 100% confident in it. It's the only method I use with neonates and younglings any more. Probably because I don't have a nice magnifying glass to view tiny spurs. But, I like this method best so far.
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Delusions of Grandeur feed the EGO...

thank you again. i was "worried" i would have to buy another female. not so much worried i would get another snake, just doesnt make sense to have three males and one female. thanks again, i will be adopting this method as my staple as well.

...Sorry, couldn't resist.(LOL) Beavis and Butt-head are my idols.

@ " two tiny balls "

LOL
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THERES NO BEAUTY LIKE THE BEAUTY OF A TRUE REDTAIL

Lloyd Lemke taught me this method many years ago and i have used it successfully on dumerils,hogs,BCI,and BCA,ETB(be very careful!) i am sure it works on many others, it does not work on BP's, but i did try it on JCP succesfully and recently on my first GTP and felt the tip of the hemipene (Lloyd described it as a rubber band "snapping back", i cant imagine probing or using a magnifying glass when this method is so simple and fast.thanks, john yocum

Both sexes have spurs, but with boa constrictors it is the structure of the spur that can be used to sex them with 100% accuracy if you know what to look for. Males have external spurs all the way to the base that are laterally compressed so they will lie flat against the body. They will show a definite curve to their shape out near the tip similar to a cat claw, and are usually longer than they are wide at the base. Female spurs are recessed into the body and at best only the tip shows externally. To see the entire female spur, you will need to spread the surrounding scales back out from around it. Once you can see all of it, the female spur shows a shorter, more conical structure with very little curve to it. It's cross-section is more round, and is not flattened or side compressed like that of the male spur. With practice, even very young boa constrictors can be accurately sexed using spur structure differences with the help of a magnification device.

Kelly

I have a very nice set of ball-tip probes,but since deciding to work with boas exclusively,I NEVER need to use them. I don't find it neccessary to pop,probe,or,palp baby boas & I've never had a "male" give birth,or a "female" suddenly go butch on me! (*lol*)I hold back alot of what I produce,so I have a fair number of animals to serve as proof of the reliability of this method... I think you just have to know what you're looking for,& AT,and after a while it just becomes very obvious.(I wouldn't give tail length/shape much credibility until at least two years of age,even then if your "female" has "dewclaws",length/shape of the tail is a moot point.)
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EMAIL

i know what the male spurs look like as my large male has huge spurs. the long tail on the female is all that made me question the sex. the snake that was in question is only 6 months and has absoluetly no spurs, she even has like dimples where they would be. after comparing the thumb method (not poping) i am pretty confident that the female is a female and the male is a male.

i appreciate everyones responses. i just need to not worry about tail length in the future. i will probably use the thumb method from now on. thank you guys all again.