probing depth question.

so i probe.

what i know..
both probe goes in deep, i got male.
both probe goes in short, i got female.

what if, one goes deep, one goes short?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EdShal

so i probe.

what i know..
both probe goes in deep, i got male.
both probe goes in short, i got female.

what if, one goes deep, one goes short?

---

Well its possible you are not getting the probe in the correct area.Or you could have a weird ball python.It does happen as SPJ had a female that probed male on one side female on the other.Is it possible to get a second opinion?

Hi,

Try popping to confirm?

I know it is possible to puncture the snake if you probe incorrectly. Of the side that probes shallow does it stop hard at the bottom or is there some "bounce" to it.

On the side that probes deep exactly how deep are we talking here in subcaudals?


dr del

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

Try popping to confirm?

I know it is possible to puncture the snake if you probe incorrectly. Of the side that probes shallow does it stop hard at the bottom or is there some "bounce" to it.

On the side that probes deep exactly how deep are we talking here in subcaudals?


dr del

---

im no expert in poppin. But i'll ask a friend who is good at it to pop it.
its a 500-grams ball, lets see if its pop-able.

i dont really get the feeling of the "bounce", scared that i'll be pushing to hard.

the deep one measure 6 scale. while the short measure 3 scale.

its not my 1st time probing too. on males i could just know, if its a male.. cause when i probe males.. it goes deep.. very deep.

on the other females, when i probe.. it will just go in short.. its easy when lots of lubrication is used.

only this is the only time, when i probe.. it goes in between deep & short. well, there is always a 1st time. the seller said its a female cause he pop it and no hemipenes came out. but all knows, that a female pop can turns out to be a male. a different case, if its pop and hemipenes came out.. that a confirm male.

so its 6-scale deep, 3-scale short.. female?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EdShal

im no expert in poppin. But i'll ask a friend who is good at it to pop it.
its a 500-grams ball, lets see if its pop-able.

i dont really get the feeling of the "bounce", scared that i'll be pushing to hard.

the deep one measure 6 scale. while the short measure 3 scale.

its not my 1st time probing too. on males i could just know, if its a male.. cause when i probe males.. it goes deep.. very deep.

on the other females, when i probe.. it will just go in short.. its easy when lots of lubrication is used.

only this is the only time, when i probe.. it goes in between deep & short. well, there is always a 1st time. the seller said its a female cause he pop it and no hemipenes came out. but all knows, that a female pop can turns out to be a male. a different case, if its pop and hemipenes came out.. that a confirm male.

so its 6-scale deep, 3-scale short.. female?

---

I'm pretty sure the male hemipene pockets go about 10-12 subcaudal scales. So, IMO, you probably have a female.

a 500 gram ball python shuold be easy to pop... but if it pops female then once again you are not sure !

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mike@OutbackReptiles

a 500 gram ball python shuold be easy to pop... but if it pops female then once again you are not sure !

---

My 800g+ female is easy to pop LOL. IMO, the males love to make popping difficult if you are a novice at popping.

i usually will pop up to 600g, anything bigger and it gets the probe!!

I pop everything these days, even my 2000 gram male - no problems.

However, keep in mind that someone probing an animal and doesn't know what they are doing can actually injure the animal, and it sounds like that's what could have happened to yours to probe two different lengths. Someone could have punctured her before, allowing the probe to go deeper on that one side.

Yeah I pop big balls, although I never accept it as a sure thing unless I actually get hemipenes... otherwise it's "this one looks like a female to me!"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rabernet

I pop everything these days, even my 2000 gram male - no problems.

However, keep in mind that someone probing an animal and doesn't know what they are doing can actually injure the animal, and it sounds like that's what could have happened to yours to probe two different lengths. Someone could have punctured her before, allowing the probe to go deeper on that one side.

---

humm.. so is it possible a punctured animal will still live on & become a non-breeder?

im very extra carefully when probing. a 2 person job, i will rub the vent area.. and see if she/he relax before the actual probing.

man, i need to learn how to pop.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EdShal

humm.. so is it possible a punctured animal will still live on & become a non-breeder?

im very extra carefully when probing. a 2 person job, i will rub the vent area.. and see if she/he relax before the actual probing.

man, i need to learn how to pop.

---

Doesn't necessarily mean they'll be a non-breeder, but that it's possible that someone before you was not really careful when they probed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rabernet

Doesn't necessarily mean they'll be a non-breeder, but that it's possible that someone before you was not really careful when they probed.

---

now, that send shivers down my spine.

hope she recover & live from the accidental probing (not by me)

thanks everyone..

I am not an expert on probing or breeding by an means, I am learning though. I can not find a vet or even LSU(which has a large Vet program and clinic) to do it for me.
I ran across this and I thought that it might help you a lot. I have included the link to the page too, it has a lot of info on probing but also popping.

Here is what they say:
"Smaller diameter probes also increase the chance of puncturing the female hemipenial homolog. This apparently happens with some regularity, and whenever sexing snakes, especially pythons, we have found it strongly advisable to probe both sides of the cloaca. Most people are right-handed and they tend to direct probing to the left side of the cloaca only. We occasionally find the hemipenial homolog on this side to be perforated in captive female snakes that are missexed as males; generally we find the hemipenial homolog on the right side of a female to be intact. We haven't observed perforated hemipenial homologs to cause medical problems; however, it does not appear that they ever repair.

One other pointer that may help to ascertain sex in the confusing cases that are sometimes encountered when probing snakes: males typically probe to identical depths on each side, while females may probe unequal depths, varying several subcaudals between the right and left sides, owing to differences in size, condition and stretch between female hemipenial homologs. The hemipenes of males tend to be much more uniform in structure and probe to equal depths."


http://www.vpi.com/publications/dete..._sex_of_snakes

Good luck! I hope this helps!! :hokitty: