sexing ball pythons.

[K-TRAIN]

my cousin bought this ball python a few years ago, and now its full grown so we're thinking of breeding it. the only problem is, we dont know if its male or female.
i know that you can probe a snake to tell, but are there any others ways to?
i'd probe it but i've really only seen it done once, so i could probably hurt the snake.

 

[skinheaddave]

You can use the length of spurs to tell -- but it isn't 100%. Find someone who knows how to probe and get them to teach you. Balls are pretty easy to learn on, so it isn't a bad place to start.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[GailC]

Probing is the only way to tell for sure. Call around to some reptile vets and see if one will teach you.

 

[K-TRAIN]

thanks for the info.

 

[sick4x4]

depending on how deep the probe goes....tells whether its a male or female.......

 

[ilovebugs]

I always thought you could tell just by if it has the spurs but i'm not sure.

 

[K-TRAIN]

thanks. i seriously need too learn these things. lol

 

[GailC]

I always thought you could tell just by if it has the spurs but i'm not sure.

Thats probably one of the most common myths about balls. I thought the same thing too until I did research.

 

[Mina]

Spur size or body size don't really tell you. I have a male ball python that is 1 1/2 years old and is between 1200 and 1500 grams, with small spurs. When we took him to have him sexed I was told that just by his size and small spurs they would guess female, but the probe said male.

 

[skinheaddave]

Sexing based on spurs is like sexing humans based on hair length. If you consider all long-haired humans female and all short-haired humans male, you will be right more often than half the time -- but might get some objections if you assign them to mating pairs based on this and this alone.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Snake_lover_200]

do you think pet smarts will sex snakes?

 

[ZooRex]

The one advantage of my carpet python being aggresive is when ever he would musk me, I got a nice view of his hemipenes, ending the gender debate. For my other snakes, I just had the breeder sex them to be sure. I've also seen proof of a male form sheds for they sometimes shed hemipene membranes with their skin. ~ Rex

 

[K-TRAIN]

do you think pet smarts will sex snakes?

well, i doubt they would.
i wouldnt trust a petsmart for something like that anyway.

 

[Snake_lover_200]

oh ok thanks