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Sexing a snake....
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by twilliamsherp on August 22, 2007
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I have been doing a lot of reading regarding physically sexing snakes. Some say it is better to probe while others use a pinch method. I read an article about a man who sexing the snakes by the shape of the tail. Is probbing dangerous to the snake? I've ordered a probing kit and tubes. Was that a waste of money?
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RE: Sexing a snake....
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by earthguy on August 22, 2007
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I find that in pit vipers I can visually sex a snake with ~100% accuracy (verified by probing) once the snake reaches about 30cm. If done correctly probing is safe. If done incorrectly probing can damage a snake internally. If you're going to do it get somebody to show you how and practice a few times in their presence.
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RE: Sexing a snake....
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by munge on August 22, 2007
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popping a neonate incorrectly is probably the most dangerous thing. probing is totally safe if you're careful, but it's still easy to get a 'false female' since they can kink their tails a bit and make it difficult to probe. visually sexing is easier but not as accurate. a big, fat snake won't show the hemipenal bulge on the sides of its tail whereas a thinner snake will. not easy to do without experience though. i prefer probing.
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RE: Sexing a snake....
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by ssshane on August 22, 2007
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Probing is never wrong. I have had 2 snakes turn out to be something different than what they were sold as. I have probed snakes for others, that were popped, and later found out they had something different than what they thought they had.
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RE: Sexing a snake....
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by munge on August 22, 2007
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probing can be wrong. a male can kink his tail so that he probes to 4 or 5 scales which can leave you thinking he's a female. cottonmouths seem to be very good at this. there is also not a lot of difference in the probe depth of some snakes like ball pythons, dumeril's boas, etc.
i always probe both sides and do my best to stretch the tail out AND visually do it beforehand so that i can get an idea of what to expect. if it looks like a male but probes as a female, i'll double and triple check and a lot of times, it works out
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