7 years, 40", too small to be female?

Traveling for "females" and getting disappointed is just part of the territory. Sometimes you get rewarded with a big fat happy female for like $50, sometimes its a big happy male that doesn't need rescuing, and sometimes its a male is deperate help that you end up bringing home anyways.


a couple things to consider for this particular case:
1.) at 40", she might not give you many eggs, but at a good price she could be worth it (exactly what kind of steal of a price)
2.) the distance of travel - do you need her badly enough to travel to find out?
3.) she's quite beautiful!!!!!
4.)people will say "healthy", but a lot of people don't know about RI's and internal parasites. Do you have enough info about her husbandry now, aka living conditions and eating habits? Are you prepared to go there and either a.) pay for her and pay for any vet bills to get her checked or b.) pass her up if you are unwilling to take an obviously sick snake
c.) come home with a sick male? (it's very easy to come home with a sick male, no matter how much you tell yourself you wont do it - trust me, i know!!! lol)
5.) Do you have a place to quarentine her?

I personally will travel hours for a snake, whether b/c it's female or if it just looks like some idiot drove the snake down to hazardous health - I once traveled 3 1/2 hours for a potentially strong dinking project. It just dedpends on how willing your are - but remember it is okay to say no!
Let us know what you decide!

You answered your own question pretty much. The only way to really tell the sex of the snake is to get it probed by an experienced vet or breeder/snake keeper.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by adizziedoll

Traveling for "females" and getting disappointed is just part of the territory. Sometimes you get rewarded with a big fat happy female for like $50, sometimes its a big happy male that doesn't need rescuing, and sometimes its a male is deperate help that you end up bringing home anyways.


a couple things to consider for this particular case:
1.) at 40", she might not give you many eggs, but at a good price she could be worth it (exactly what kind of steal of a price)
2.) the distance of travel - do you need her badly enough to travel to find out?
3.) she's quite beautiful!!!!!
4.)people will say "healthy", but a lot of people don't know about RI's and internal parasites. Do you have enough info about her husbandry now, aka living conditions and eating habits? Are you prepared to go there and either a.) pay for her and pay for any vet bills to get her checked or b.) pass her up if you are unwilling to take an obviously sick snake
c.) come home with a sick male? (it's very easy to come home with a sick male, no matter how much you tell yourself you wont do it - trust me, i know!!! lol)
5.) Do you have a place to quarentine her?

I personally will travel hours for a snake, whether b/c it's female or if it just looks like some idiot drove the snake down to hazardous health - I once traveled 3 1/2 hours for a potentially strong dinking project. It just dedpends on how willing your are - but remember it is okay to say no!
Let us know what you decide!

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Yeah, all very good points. The "steal" I'm talking about is $60 for her and her entire setup, which means I'd be set for a quarantine tank for her also. The drive is less than an hour, so that's really not a problem. I COULD take him/her either way and have the herp vet down the street sex it and teach me to probe. Then if it turns out to be a boy rehome him again or keep him as a dink, as you said. I'm leaning toward doing that, to be honest.

If it means anything, I've driven an hour and a half before to go get a $30 Hognose :)

Or paying $200 for stunted 3 year old snakes(one boa, one ball, both males).

But ya know.. That's me ;)

Heck, under an hour is nothing - go check it out! $60 for a breedable, beautiful female, INCLUDING a quarentine tank is incredible. And I personally count it as a blessing for one to pop up that close to me for that price!!!!!

Have a field day!

Any idea how much my vet SHOULD charge me to sex him/her? I'd also like to find someone in my area to teach me how to do that, so if anyone has a contact in the Seattle/Tacoma area let me know...

Well I live in CT so my vet is expensive at $65 for a look-over, but I have heard a lot of people say they've brought their bp in for $40 or so. Just call and make sure the vet knows how to sex properly - aka don't let them pop it, make sure they PROBE it. Some may do it for free, minimal charge, ect. You'll just have to call around.

But if you're interested in getting into the hobby, you may as well learn now :D Order a probe kit and bring it with you to the vet and have him teach you. You'll def. need for that information future reference.
Determining the Sex of Snakes | Vida Preciosa International, Inc.