Sexing with saddles

[ballpython2]

One of my boas has 3 saddles behind its cloaca going towards the tip of his tail. would mean its a short tail insinuatingits a female?

Like does anyone know the number of saddles behind the cloaca (going to the tip of the tail) for a juvenile or an adult female/male boa?

I realize since there are many species of boa out there and they all arent the same measurements as adults (because they all differ in sizes cause a hog island will not be as long as a B-R-B when they are both adults..Of thats a proper comparison cause i think island boas are much smaller than the other boas)

I'm just asking this question as if we were talking about the common boa.

 

[GiantVinegaroon]

I never heard of sexing boas by counting saddles....I think saddles have nothing to do with the gender. I believe probing or popping would be the best methods...or looking at the vestigial spurs...but idk if there is a significant size difference in spurs between males and females.

 

[jr47]

Counting saddles is something I read long time ago. But its been a while and I am no longer keeping snakes. But if memory serves it is used to tell species not sex. Some one correct me if wrong.
There are only two ways to be sure. That is to probe or pop them. You can often tell by spurs but even that isnt 100% unless you are experienced.
There are lots of sites with instuctions on sexing that can explain better than I.

 

[ballpython2]

Ok thanks for the responses i didnt think so either just thought id ask cause im awful at trying to pop em and im not gonna spend the money to find out the sex its not super important.

but i remember reading that males have longer tails than females do as adults but then again anyway id have to measure the snake its self

thanks anyway

 

[jr47]

Some say you can count the scales between vent and tail. But you would have to look it up cause I dont remember the count for each.
Also the count saddles on boa's to tell if its a BCC or BCI. So that would do you no good.

 

[GiantVinegaroon]

Ok thanks for the responses i didnt think so either just thought id ask cause im awful at trying to pop em and im not gonna spend the money to find out the sex its not super important.

but i remember reading that males have longer tails than females do as adults but then again anyway id have to measure the snake its self

thanks anyway

male tails should be longer. really experienced breeders can sex snakes by looking at the tail

 

[ballpython2]

male tails should be longer. really experienced breeders can sex snakes by looking at the tail

well that counts me out lol...:?

 

[Jmugleston]

Saddle numbers.

With experience and multiple animals of the same subspecies (locality) you can tell the sexes by looking at tail length. Saddle numbers vary between subspecies and even within subspecies, so that would not be a good indicator for gender. The best method would be to probe them. My adults were easy to differentiate, but neonates and juvies are not so easy.

 

[scorpio1]

saddle counting is no gud, as somone said it differs between species, and sometimes individuals, you can tell by tail length you need another snake of proven sex that is the same age and size as the one you are trying to sex, and also i belive you can look at the spurs, the males tend to be longer than the females as he uses them during courtship to tickle the female, again you would need a snake of proven sex, and of similar age and size for either of these methods to work

 

[DrJ]

Looking at tail length or spurs is really unreliable and does not give accurate results. The best method is by probing, which is where (I think) you are getting the scale count from. This can differ from specie to specie as well, but overall a probe should go in a length of at least 9 subcaudal scales, and a female should be 2-4 subcaudal scales. Big difference. BUT, you need to have someone who is experienced doing this, as you can cause real damage to your snake if you mess up. "Popping" is another method, but it tends to be rather risky as well, and I don't recommend anyone using this method.

The saddles are used primarily as a starting point in determining specie. Count the saddles from back of head to vent. But, as I said, this is only a starting point, and there are many things to look at when figuring out the exact specie. But, since you said it was a "common boa", we'll say you bought a Boa constrictor imperator - The commonly "common" boa. lol.

 

[scorpio1]

yes probing is the best method but if you dont want to pay to have your snake sexed you can sex it yourself by using the spur or tail length method

 

[DrJ]

If you don't want to pay, take it to a show to have it sexed. Most people do it for free...and they are generally the most reliable anyway.

 

[scorpio1]

yes thats the best idea if you dont want to pay

 

[Gold Skulltula]

My experience with snakes is with Corn Snakes, so take this with a grain of salt, but I thought Boids could be sexed by the presence or absence of spurs.

Just throwing it out there..

 

[Jmugleston]

My experience with snakes is with Corn Snakes, so take this with a grain of salt, but I thought Boids could be sexed by the presence or absence of spurs.

Just throwing it out there..

In general mature males will have larger spurs, but that is not an adequate way to sex boids. A male and female boa of the same body size and from the same region (unlikely to know in captivity) should differ in spur length, but not an accurate way to sex them.

 

[DrJ]

I do know that rubber boas are very differentiated in spur appearance. Males have 'em; females don't. But, that doesn't apply to all boids.