# Colubrids > Ratsnakes >  Rat snake tails to determine sex..?

## Phillydubs

I have an un-sexed mandarin rat snake. Ive been doing research whenever I can over the last month plus that I have had it. I hear they can be tricky to get started in food yet mine is an awesome eater thankfully. Little snippy when you first go into the cage but once you get it out hes as cool as can be and a baby at just 16g. It also has red sides that seem to be coming in more and more each time I get it out which is apparently not common or hard to find. 

In my research I came across something that said you can tell the sex by the tails. Females have a long skinny tails. Males have a shorter stubby tail. Is this common for all rat snakes or just this species?

Based on that I think I have a female. What do you guys think. 




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## Alter-Echo

Not sure about mandarins, but in most snakes, particularly colubrids, the male has a longer and thicker tail than tbe female.

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## Phillydubs

> Not sure about mandarins, but in most snakes, particularly colubrids, the male has a longer and thicker tail than tbe female.


I can try to get pictures next time I take it out. But any guesses on this one based on what I have posted?

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## Alter-Echo

What you really need is a pic of the vent with the tail straight out behind it.

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## paulh

Tail observation is my preferred method of sexing snakes because it is the least invasive.

I have never tried sexing a Mandarin rat snake. Corn snakes and many others are fairly easy to sex by observing the tail, but it is 75-90% accurate if the snake is sexually mature and there are other snakes of the same species and known sex to compare with yours. Practice helps.

Most sources recommend looking at the tail's underside, with the tail on its back. I get better results looking at the tail from the side. (Try both and see which you prefer.) I mark the location of the vent and gently stretch the tail straight out. Then I find the midpoint between the vent and tail tip. Male tails generally taper slowly (because of the hemipenes) and are more than half as thick at the midpoint as at the vent. Female tails generally taper more rapidly and are less than half as thick at the midpoint as at the vent. 

I could not tell what your snake's sex is. Because I could not identify the vent or the tail's midpoint. The snake is also younger than I prefer.

Good luck.

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## Phillydubs

> Tail observation is my preferred method of sexing snakes because it is the least invasive.
> 
> I have never tried sexing a Mandarin rat snake. Corn snakes and many others are fairly easy to sex by observing the tail, but it is 75-90% accurate if the snake is sexually mature and there are other snakes of the same species and known sex to compare with yours. Practice helps.
> 
> Most sources recommend looking at the tail's underside, with the tail on its back. I get better results looking at the tail from the side. (Try both and see which you prefer.) I mark the location of the vent and gently stretch the tail straight out. Then I find the midpoint between the vent and tail tip. Male tails generally taper slowly (because of the hemipenes) and are more than half as thick at the midpoint as at the vent. Female tails generally taper more rapidly and are less than half as thick at the midpoint as at the vent. 
> 
> I could not tell what your snake's sex is. Because I could not identify the vent or the tail's midpoint. The snake is also younger than I prefer.
> 
> Good luck.


Thanks so much guys !!  He/she was crawling around today and I was able to get these pics. Not sure if it will help. Maybe Ill wait till it gets a bit older and try to do as you just described. 




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## Alter-Echo

Still not a great pic, but if the vent is where it appears to be, I think maybe male... that said, I'm not gonna say that with 100% certainty until he gets older.

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_paulh_ (03-21-2018)

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