Could my male be a female?

Ok, so we bought our first ball python from a local pet shop about 18 months ago when it was a baby. At the time the ball python's enclosure labeled it as a "fire yellowbelly male". We got it because my kids loved the color of it and I wasn't that familiar with BP morphs. Fast forward 6 months and I start learning all about morphs and it becomes evident my BP isn't a "fire yellowbelly" but likely a pastel lesser, so clearly was mislabeled.

Fast forward some more and we decide to upgrade from a cheap glass cage and heat lamp to an animal plastics T10 with radiant heat panel. Now he is eating regularly and shedding in one solid piece every time! Suddenly, this "boy" has shot up quickly in weight and now I'm wondering if he might be a she. Three months ago he was 561 grams and now he is 818 grams. That seems like a lot of growth for a male over a 3 month period.

Given he was mislabeled, I wonder if he is actually a she. Any thoughts on whether that growth is normal for a male? I wish I knew how to "pop" him and check but I don't want to take any chances of hurting him.

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Originally Posted by Actuary

Ok, so we bought our first ball python from a local pet shop about 18 months ago when it was a baby. At the time the ball python's enclosure labeled it as a "fire yellowbelly male". We got it because my kids loved the color of it and I wasn't that familiar with BP morphs. Fast forward 6 months and I start learning all about morphs and it becomes evident my BP isn't a "fire yellowbelly" but likely a pastel lesser, so clearly was mislabeled.

Fast forward some more and we decide to upgrade from a cheap glass cage and heat lamp to an animal plastics T10 with radiant heat panel. Now he is eating regularly and shedding in one solid piece every time! Suddenly, this "boy" has shot up quickly in weight and now I'm wondering if he might be a she. Three months ago he was 561 grams and now he is 818 grams. That seems like a lot of growth for a male over a 3 month period.

Given he was mislabeled, I wonder if he is actually a she. Any thoughts on whether that growth is normal for a male? I wish I knew how to "pop" him and check but I don't want to take any chances of hurting him.

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I honestly have the same question about mine. He is only 2.5 months old and he weighs 174 grams. I had thought at 2-3 months males are like 80-120g so I honestly have no clue about your case but itd be awesome if someone could help me figure out the same thing with mine. The only way is to prove I think and I don’t want to prove for your same reasons


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For my :2cent: my BP has gone through growth spurts, 100 to almost 200 grams between months sometimes, and he's a banana morph. I specify this because male bananas tend to be significantly less expensive than females due to how the gene's genetics work (for the sake of simplicity female bananas are harder to produce). He's just over a year old and over 500 grams last I weighed him so he's just a few months behind yours for reference.

So either the breeder somehow did a flub and I got a female for a cheaper price (which is doubtful because he came from a big name professional breeding facility, Dynasty Reptiles), or he's well and truly a male.

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Originally Posted by Actuary

...Given he was mislabeled, I wonder if he is actually a she. Any thoughts on whether that growth is normal for a male? I wish I knew how to "pop" him and check but I don't want to take any chances of hurting him.

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Pet stores in general aren't very reliable about the gender or morphs of snakes they sell; you're actually "lucky" if you manage to get appropriate care instructions from them. ;) So I'd say it's possible that "he" is a "she", & it would be helpful for you to know, as females do tend to eat & grow more than males, & may eventually need a larger home too.

If there's no breeders or experienced keepers near you that you'd trust to help sex your BP, you can always have an experienced herp vet verify the gender for you. This site may help:

https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661

There are labs you can send snake shed to, and they can test for a bunch of stuff... including gender. I honestly don't know what they charge (I think it's fairly cheap) and reliability. I just know they exist.

With that said, I would just do as the previous post, and wait to find someone or a vet that can check for you.

I know weight can vary a lot depending on how well they eat. I have a male that's 16 months and 752 grams as of 7/18. He's in shed right now and I expect once I weigh him when he's done he'll have broken 800 grams. I see about 100 grams of weight gain or more a month and he's a good eater.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Actuary

Suddenly, this "boy" has shot up quickly in weight and now I'm wondering if he might be a she. Three months ago he was 561 grams and now he is 818 grams. That seems like a lot of growth for a male over a 3 month period.

Given he was mislabeled, I wonder if he is actually a she. Any thoughts on whether that growth is normal for a male? I wish I knew how to "pop" him and check but I don't want to take any chances of hurting him.

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A 256g weight gain in 3 months is pretty normal. Most shoot for 100g a month weight gain when they're young. Growth rate doesn't determine sex, all these animals grow differently. I have a male and a female from last year who are nearly identical in weight and eating habits so it all depends.

Growth rate and size vary from animal to animal, I've seen bp males in the 3000 gram range. All the depends on willingness to eat, size and frequency of feeding. At his size a little pressure like if you were going to pop might expel "sperm plug" (hemipenal shed) which might confirm male although the absence of it does not necessary confirm female. Your best bet is to have it sexed by an experience breeder or a vet.