Male Vs. Female

hey guys. im new here. a friend referred me here, and im hoping to get a simple question answered. i love snakes, and i have always been an amateur owner... having only one snake my whole life... she's now 9 years old. and she's a ball python.

anyways, a friend came over and looked at her and was handling her... and my buddy said that she was a he.

i thought the rule of thumb was that females had very stumpy tails compared to males, who had longer, tapered tails? ill post up a picture later, when i have the time... but i compared my snake to my buddy's clearly-identified female, and they are completely different. they are both the same age give or take, and my friend's female is about three times the weight of my male, shorter in length, and has a stuby tail... my male is long, much thinner, and has a thinner, longer tail.

is there any real way to identify a snake's gender?

Yes. learn to either probe or pop your snake. There are videos out that teach you how. Look in the care section or do a search.

No, you have to pop or prob.

Popping and probing can both be harmful to snakes. Either be very careful and read up and review videos before trying...or have someone experienced show you how...

I have a vet that does probing to determine the sex of my snakes. They insert a probe into the cloaca area and depending on how far into the tail the probe goes lets you know if you have a male or female. I know you can find an article to explain it better but it's relatively cheap and it is not harmful to the snakes when done properly.

Actually I'm interested in that too. How much does it cost for a vet to probe a snake to determine the sex of them? Also, is it a common practice for all vets to be able to do this? Or should I look for an exotic/reptile vet?

:welcome: to BP.net, you will tons of info for your animals in the various sections of the forums, if you can't fnd an answer to a question, post it & the members will do their best for you :)

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Originally Posted by zmd0827

Actually I'm interested in that too. How much does it cost for a vet to probe a snake to determine the sex of them? Also, is it a common practice for all vets to be able to do this? Or should I look for an exotic/reptile vet?

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Are there any local breeders in your area? They may help you out. Personally I wouldn't even bother with a regular vet...they probably have no idea what they're doing...an exotic/herp vet would definitely be a better option...if there are any in your area...

Popping is better done on babies, its safer for them. Probing for older snakes. Any reptile breeders or vets in the area should be able to do it. Vets will probably charge you even though it only takes a minute to do.

I found a reptile rescue that was close to my area and the owner was happy to take a look at my snakes that i took in and sex them for free.

You can't always count on the lengths of their tails or their spurs. I had one "male" that was very characteristic of 'male' tail and spur length, and when probed 'he' turned out to be a SHE. :rolleyes:

You can always type "pop and prode ball python" into Youtube to get an idea of the process. Before I got my first BP I did months of research and came across tons of videos on YT on the subject.
I still wouldn't feel comfortable doing it personally.

Just to clear something up. Popping is not danergerous or harmful to adult bps as long as you know what you are doing. A lot of big breeders only pop bc it's fool proof, if you don't believe me watch videos of the guys that have been doing this longer than many of us have been alive. You should be able to find a breeder in your area to get some tips from either on here or local herp clubs. If not you *could have a vet do it, but most vets aren't very experienced with bps. It would cost you the visit fee and maybe a bit extra, probably $25-45.

Popping is the easiest way whether you deal with a baby o an adult however sometimes older snakes are harder to pop as they have a better control of their muscle.

I pop at any age very rarely probe

In both cases the best way to learn is to have someone near you show you how to.

Do not attempt probing on your own if you have no experience you could seriously injure your snake.

Learn to pop with someone as well it's the best way to know the right placement of your fingers and how much pressure to apply.

Try finding a local herper near you or even a member here local to you and willing to teach you how to do it.

OK... Anyone in NC fit the description? Lol.

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Originally Posted by zmd0827

OK... Anyone in NC fit the description? Lol.

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While I'm not experienced with BPs at all, I do have multiple reptiles...That disclaimer out of the way, there are a few easy things you could do to check for someone in your area to help you out.

First and foremost, use Google. Type in your city, state or zip code and follow it up with things like reptile rescue or herp society. Most areas have some sort of group that loves reptiles, and if you work with their schedule, 9 times out of 10, they'll be more than happy to meet with you and help you out, whether it's with sexing or any kind of general upkeep questions.

I would check that out before I did anything else, and if that doesn't work, search for breeders in your area next. Worse comes to worst, see if you can find a mom and pop type pet store in your area, and they might be able to point you to someone that could help.