Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A well respected, local pet store recently sold me a rescue Mexican Rosy Boa as a female. "We are quite confident", I was told. Plus, twice previously, I had used that store to probe snakes to determine gender. I got looking at this boa, however, and noticed how long & thick the tail is. Not content with information told to me (which conflicted with my prior experience), I began researching online text & photos.

After much searching, I found these two gems:

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1) http://www.[url ban]/Answers/ReptileProblem.aspx?Id=31840

jbt123 Justyne Lobello Macon, GA Jurassic Reptiles
PS- the spurs really tell you nothing. I have females with HUGE spurs, and males with teeny ones. I also have males with short tails and females with really long tails. The probe is the most accurate way to sex them- but its easier to tell when they're about a year old. When I'm not certain, I just probe them every couple of weeks ( to not stress them) to confirm my findings.

I have about 40 rosies. My boy is only about 2.5 feet long- and that may be pushing it. His girlfriends are nearly double his size and girth. The Mexican locales tend to be smaller. When you get into coastals and Arizona locales they are bigger.

2) http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/snakes/467521-atb-probing-issues.html

A couple years ago, I bought a pair of Amazon Tree Boas. The male was proven and the female was a 3 year old virgin. She had been apparently sexed twice (probed) and I did not sex her myself. The person I got her from is someone I know and trust, and the person who did the sexing if someone I know of and he is an expert with 20 years of experience. The male has wrapped the female on several occasions this month.

I recently traded them to another breeder and he sexed the female as a male. He indicated that he used the proper size of probe, did not perforate any tissue, and probed 12-15 scales deep on both sides. The person who probed the snake a male is someone with a lot of experience with Tree Boas (mostly Emeralds) and lots of other snakes.

I always say unless it probes male it can only be 100% sexed if it has been bred. A male can tense up and probe as a female, some people with loads of experience claim to probe 100% accurate but it is impossible unless you are putting them to sleep to do it.

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I have a male with tiny spurs, but his hemipenes can be felt by running my finger on each side. At 34 inches total length, his tail is about 3.5 inches long, nowhere near the 14% figure quoted so often online for males. (His tail would need to b 4.76 inches to be 14% of total length, per the Myth.)

Did the pet store owner who sold me the boa simply look for spurs, found tiny ones or none at all, and ASSUMED the sex to be female? Or, did he probe and the snake TENSED, so the probe only penetrated partway?

Sexing mistakes likely happen WAY too often. How many of you are *CERTAIN* of your snake's gender?

1.0 Lampropeltis getula splendida
1.0 Terrapene carolina carolina
1.0 Charina trivirgata trivirgata

With rosies it is not about tail length.

As a guideline, males have spurs, females do not. Yes there have been exceptions, but the exceptions are not common, hence they are exceptions. I have never seen a female with spurs large enough for me to call them spurs. I have heard they exist however.

Female rosies tend to be larger than males. Of course, when you do not have another similar locality animal, the comparison is probably not useful for you.

Like one of the posters said, put 2 rosies together in Spring, you will know what you have.

Post a pic if you can. I say spurs equals male. Also, pet shop employees often do not know.

BTW, 34 inches for a Mexican rosy? They are often smaller, especially males. What color is the snake, tan with relatively straight black stripes?

I'm convinced that mine is a female.

I also know now to disregard tail comparisons, so useful with Kingsnakes & Ratsnakes. Rosy, Rubber & Sand Boas are just different that way - no comparison.

Mine has very broad, dark stripes. Upper, light stripes are tan, lower body is beige. Belly has dark bars & speckles.

Research from the Internet, and the book, Rosy Boas, Patterns In Time, shows that she most resembles snakes from mid Baja, from San Ignacio on the west to Mulege on the east. (Dark stripes get slimmer by the time you reach Cabo San Lucas.)

She also has considerable scarring on her right side, for over 10 inches, and the extent of the damage suggests other than a single rodent attack. She may be wild-caught.

I'm STILL trying to get decent photos of her scars. If I succeed, I'll post them later.

You may have done some research, but none of your examples are from Rosy-specific sites.
IMO, the most accurate way to sex a rosy is a visual inspection of the presence or absence of spurs.
1. No spurs = female
2. Well defined, pointed & curved spurs = male
3. 1 spur, small and/or bulbous spurs = probable female

Probing is problematic with rosies. I have personally seen well-intentioned pet store employees mislabel sex based on incorrect probing.
I've seen a number of posts on the subject on the rosy forums and on Facebook and the majority of experienced rosy-keepers will agree.
I've had nearly 1,000 rosies born since I started breeding them and I can't recall ever being wrong unless the spurs fell into the 3rd category above.
Link

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Thanks,
-JC
www.rosyboas.to

See my late reply above. Mine is likely a female.

I really appreciate your feedback. You defend your assertions with logic, reason & specific examples. So refreshing!

Always learning on the long Herp Road...