Male on Male?!

[DeepSouthSerpents]

So I was sorely disappointed yesterday - I discovered that one of my "females" is in fact male... I found this out because one of his hemipenes was hanging out for a few minutes and then he retracted it. So I said wait wait wait a minute and took him out for closer inspection. And there it was, I was able to pop out a big ole hemipene. I had never questioned it before, he was supposed to be female, has a short fat female tail and very tiny spurs compared to my other males. The even weirder thing is, he was being mated by another male for the past couple months or so. And his tail was always the one on the receiving end, on top. So I'm wondering, has anyone else ever had some freak occurrence like this? Is this a display of male dominance, was the true male confused, or was the true male just so mating crazed he didn't care if he mated another male? This is just so strange because obviously there was no female scent... Don't know what provoked the male to mate another male.

[Adam_Wysocki]

It's very common when putting two males together in the same enclosure.

Hope this helps.

-adam

[Bruce Whitehead]

Hot male on male action.

My two males Magda and Yvon having a time out.

Yvon would not mate the rest of the season, but at one point they did start battling, which was the point I repopped to make sure and found out.

Everyone is going to say it is dominance, but no one has really convinced me of that yet. We always say it is dominance...

Bruce

[waltah!]

It's like an episode of Oz up in here!

[Bruce Whitehead]

It's like an episode of Oz up in here!

That pic was my Valentine's Day avator.

[cinderbird]

I had never questioned it before, he was supposed to be female, has a short fat female tail and very tiny spurs compared to my other males.

This is why breeders always recommend you re-sex your animals before breeding. Im not breeding myself at this point in time (gimme a few years ) but they aren't sexually dimorphic. Males and females look the same externally no matter what. Spur size is arbitrary and so is tail length and size.

I'm mostly pointing this out for newer members who think you may be able to visually sex these snakes.

[Bluebead]

This is why breeders always recommend you re-sex your animals before breeding. Im not breeding myself at this point in time (gimme a few years ) but they aren't sexually dimorphic. Males and females look the same externally no matter what. Spur size is arbitrary and so is tail length and size.

I'm mostly pointing this out for newer members who think you may be able to visually sex these snakes.

Good call; A set of probes and/or the ability to pop are essential if you plan on breeding.

[DeepSouthSerpents]

Yea I popped him a while back and then took him to my usual reptile store to get him repopped, but both times no hemipenes came out and no sperm plugs. He is a big boy though, I guess he was too tense and not cooperating I have never had a sex confusion like this before lol. Guess I will have to invest in a probe set and get a vet or breeder to show me how to use it properly. Thanks!

[cinderbird]

Yea I popped him a while back and then took him to my usual reptile store to get him repopped, but both times no hemipenes came out and no sperm plugs. He is a big boy though, I guess he was too tense and not cooperating I have never had a sex confusion like this before lol. Guess I will have to invest in a probe set and get a vet or breeder to show me how to use it properly. Thanks!

It can be really difficult to pop older animals. Ive been taught how to pop and can pop animals around 1000 grams or so, but i dont trust myself to probe because i haven't been shown how to do it so i definitely understand the apprehension. Gettin someone to show you the best idea.

[Bruce Whitehead]

I tend to err on the side of caution... if I pop and get `penes... then good.

If I pop and get no `penes, then I probe. Even if it looks female from the pop.