Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

How do you breeders sex your neonates? I have had some experience probing larger snakes and read about popping, but am really scared of hurting them.

I think I can tell by tail length/shape but that doesn't seem reliable!

Bobster,
I like popping for sexing newborn neonates, but it doesn't take long for them to develop enough muscle control to make popping them difficult.

If you are uncomfortable probing them, you can also "thumb," them. Just run your thumb up the tail toward the vent. You should be able to feel the hemipenes. This, as you already guessed is the least reliable.

All sexing methods are disciplines that require alot of practice. None are 100%.

I recommend practicing all methods, even the ones that make you a little nervous. You will get more comfortable with it.

When I identify a snake as a female, I always sex it several times to be sure. That is advice I received on this forum a couple of years ago and it has been helpful for me.

Chris O
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www.chrisolsonreptiles.com
Naked I see the camp of those who desire nothing

Thanks Chris ofr the encouragement,

I will try popping them, and if not I'll give probing a go.

Chris mentioned this method and it is my method of choice for animals of any age. It is completely non-invasive and with a little practice, very accurate.

Try on adult males and females first. When you run your thumb and forefinger along the base of the tail you will feel a very pronounced end of the hemipenes in adult males.

Neonates (I sexed my last clutch the day they were born using this method) can be accurately sexed using the same technique. It just requires a more sensitive touch. Instead of thumb and forefinger, try thumb and ringfinger.

Popping and probing have been done for years and, in most cases, they don't seem to hurt the animals. However, I just don't feel comfortable practicing these techniques and risking injury when there's no need to.

Mike

...I can sex adults pretty accurately by looking at the spurs and palpating the tails. Adult males have pronounced sex organs and they are easy to feel sliding backwards on the tail with the tail between the thumb and first finger. I can sometimes palpate the hemipenes in little males but I cannot quite feel the hemipenes in some of them. I will try Mike's advice and use the thumb and ringfinger rather than the thumb and forefinger. Adult females have small spurs that can often better be descibed as nubs rather than spurs. The nubs are usually dark colored and can be difficult to see. The spurs on adult males are longer, often much longer and they are curved and they have dark colored bases but the rest of the spur is very light colored. The spurs on males often look like a small cat's claws.
...I used to pop baby colubrids with fair accuracy but boids, even when they are newborn have too much muscular control of their tails for me to pop them reliably.
...I always probe little boids but do it very carefully. I will sex a bunch of them at once and when one probes deeply I am reasonably sure it is a male. When one does not probe so deeply I cannot be sure if it is a female or if it is a male and I did not get the probe to go in all the way. Again these snakes have lots of muscle and can resist the insertion of a probe. All that probe shallow I will reprobe a second and sometimes even a third time. A few that probed shallow like females the first time will eventually probe deeper like males. I think that after reprobing them to be sure I am probably over 95% accurate.
...IMO there is no perfect method for accurately sexing little snakes. Some people claim they can sex snakes with 100% accuracy. I think such people just do not understand their own limitations.
...This thread is another excellent example of the many different ways we do things.
Jeff

>>Chris mentioned this method and it is my method of choice for animals of any age. It is completely non-invasive and with a little practice, very accurate.
>>
>>Try on adult males and females first. When you run your thumb and forefinger along the base of the tail you will feel a very pronounced end of the hemipenes in adult males.
>>
>>Neonates (I sexed my last clutch the day they were born using this method) can be accurately sexed using the same technique. It just requires a more sensitive touch. Instead of thumb and forefinger, try thumb and ringfinger.
>>
>>Popping and probing have been done for years and, in most cases, they don't seem to hurt the animals. However, I just don't feel comfortable practicing these techniques and risking injury when there's no need to.
>>
>>Mike

Thanks for all the advice!

I am getting there with sexing adults as most of my males have really pronounced bulges past their vents, and spurs are definitely bigger.

Had a go at palping some of the babies last night and think I got some right but will have to do it over and over before I can be even 60% sure!! I feel more confident with the less intrusive method but may still try probing. Popping..... No chance!!

Thanks again!