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Can anybody recommend a good place to get my Boa probed? I live south of Philadelphia and I cannot find anybody that will sex a snake. I have tried a bunch of different techniques to sex her/him and all are inconclusive. If you do the rub down the tail technique then it feels like a male, but if you do the pop test nothing comes out.

>>Can anybody recommend a good place to get my Boa probed? I live south of Philadelphia and I cannot find anybody that will sex a snake. I have tried a bunch of different techniques to sex her/him and all are inconclusive. If you do the rub down the tail technique then it feels like a male, but if you do the pop test nothing comes out.

Either a vet...downside you pay more 'cause they are gonna charge for a visit. Or contact any local clubs or pet stores....someone must know how in Philly area. I would make sure they are experienced (vet or hobbyist). Other poss. is the White Plains shows. You could check the vendor list and see if someone there would do it for you.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

Thank you for the advice Sonya.

If this boa constrictor has any size to it at all, it can be spur sexed with great accuracy. Do not look for presence or absence of spurs, but instead, what their shape is and how visible they are. The male spur will be completely external on a very short appendage structure, and have a wide base and curved to a narrow point. It looks very much like a miniature cat claw. The female spur is more like a narrow curved spike and is recessed into the body and may require moving the scales aside to see it clearly. Below I have posted photos of the spurs on a couple of my green anacondas. The first is the female spur and the lower photo is of the male spur. The only difference will be that the boa spurs will be much darker in color than these. Even very young boa constrictors can be accurately spur sexed once you know what to look for.

Kelly

Is that more accurate than BPs? I ask cause I have had (and bred) a couple BPs that were missexed by a couple folks this way. Are boa more accurate.

To the OP...this is honestly why,(well, really 'cause my mom pounded in my head to be self sufficient) when I found a guy willing to show me, I learned to probe snakes. Now I find people coming from far and wide (literally) for me to probe their snakes. The local vets even refer to me.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

Some, but not all, species of boas can be sexed by a combination of spur shape, configuration, and size. Boa constrictors are probably the most notable because of the considerable structural differences of the spurs betweens males and females. Even newborn boas can be accurately sexed by their spurs with proper magnification and extensive practice. Other species of boas show sexual differences that are more subtle, but still observable with practice.

However, the majority of python species cannot be spur sexed with certainty due to the frequent similarity of shape and size between males and females. Ball pythons are most notable for this, as I have seen very large spurs on females and very small spurs on males. It is not uncommon at all for adult male and female specimens of ball pythons to have spurs that look almost identical. Usually only older adult specimens of the larger python species can be spur sexed with certainty.

Kelly