BP Sexing Question

I was curious about sexing a ball python. My friend just got a bp he adopted from a friend and we were wondering as to if its a he or she.

I know the true way of sexing them is to take the animal to someone who knows what they're donig and have the snake probed. But until then I was wondering if there was any truth to the spurs near their tail.

I know my male has the spurs and I don't think my female does. I also thought that the spur is used my males during mating, but I could be wrong there.

Do males have the spurs and females don't?

Both male and females have those anal "spurs".

Males should just be longer and more pronounced I believe.



But like you said, best way to know for sure is a probe or a pop.

Ok yea, I guess I just never looked that closely at my females tail. wow. There might be something to the length of the spurs, or how pronounced they are in males vs females. I dunno. But when I got my male I noticed those spurs right away. And like I said, I just went looking for them and only then did I see them.

I also heard about the tail maybe be longer in one sex vs the next.

So anyways, probing it is.

Your local vet should be able to provide you with some guidance in this regard. The vet I use took the time to show me how to do this safely. Best of luck.

The size of spurs or shape of them (more or less curved) or the shape/length of tails are just not a reliable indicator in ball pythons, as far as I've ever been told. The only way to know for sure is to have an experienced person, whether that's your vet or a BP breeder, either pop or probe the snake. I'd rather do that and know what I'm spending time raising then make a guess and find out differently down the road.


~~Jo~~

A vet is an excellent resource - as long as they are an experienced reptile vet (not very common). Our collection's vet is a 45 minute drive from us and is one of a handful in the state.

The following link provides a good explanation of the probing technique for sexing and is authored by the Barkers at VPI:

http://www.vpi.com/9VPITipsAndTechs/...exOfSnakes.htm

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SnakeySnakeSnake

Males should just be longer and more pronounced I believe.

---

That's a myth. ;)

-adam