Probing vs Popping: accuracy???

I did read through the thread discussing the preference of probing or popping but now I have a question.

Which is more accurate?

What if popping shows no hemipenis but when probed, it went 10 scales deep? How can we confirm the sex?

I've heard probing is more accurate when the ball python is older (generally at least 1 yrs old) but I heard some saying popping is ok when they are young.

That would be really weird case but if thats when a female is very big. Thats somewhat impossible because last time I saw my friend probe his 3yrs old male it went about 6-7scales and do have hemipenis. In order for a female (which does not have hemipenis) and go that depth, I dont know it's got to be god damn big.

"Snakes don't bite. Just humans."

Both are equally accurate and you can make mistakes with both methods. Both probing and popping take experience. I would learn to do both, that way one method can be confirmed by using the other.

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Originally Posted by Kin

I did read through the thread discussing the preference of probing or popping but now I have a question.

Which is more accurate?

What if popping shows no hemipenis but when probed, it went 10 scales deep? How can we confirm the sex?

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I pop babies first. If you see hemipeni it's definitely male, If not you probe to double check. If the probe went 10 scales, it's male (unless you used too much force). In some species popping males is more difficult. Some species (like Jungle Carpets) produce false females when probed. It's best to do both as you did. In your case I'd definitely say male.

This ball is slightly over a year old, when we first got her, she was already 9 mths old n was popped in front of us...

We just probed her to confirm her sex as we r considering getting her a partner. No force was used when probing n it just slide right in. Now, very confused abt the sexuality... she/he is abt 3ft.

Get someone with experience to help you. If you don't know what you are doing you could injure the snake. A larger Ball Python (3 ft) is harder to pop but can be done by someone with experience.

Like Don said, both methods are accurate but only if you know how to do them. This last year was the first year I ever owned a snake and also the first year that we hatched a clutch. When we hatched out our 10 hatchlings we popped and probed and always came up with different results for the most part. It wasn't until I had hands on training from Limey (Royal Reptilia) that I learned how to pop correctly AND it still took practicing on my snakes for several weeks to learn it.

I actually find popping larger snakes to be easier, it may just be because I'm afraid of hurting the smaller hatchlings but I find it easier to evert hemipenes or scent glands with my morphs that are 500g-1000g. I also have seen videos from Travis Kubes where he effortlessly pops 14ft retic males by using his whole hand to roll.

Nothing beats visually seeing the sex organs.

yup pop first. if its a male then im good nut if it pops a female then i will try it again later on.

I'm not very good at popping, and sometimes the males just won't show me their stuff. And I'm afraid to use too much force. So unless I see penes, I'm not sure what I've got.

I was uncomfortable probing until I'd seen it done numerous times. But now that I am finally doing it, I find it is 100% accurate on everyone, including the females.

We do both. I "pop" all hatchlings and juveniles when I need to. I generally probe the bigger snakes, but will occasionally pop them as well. A lot of it comes down to your comfort level with handling the snakes. They are very resilient and do not damage easily. Be relaxed but confident when doing either. Justin Kobyka has a really good video of sexing BPs on his you tube channel. Good luck!

rechecking "females" to make sure you did it right the first time is smart :gj:

I have seen many snakes sexed wrong with probes, but have yet to see a snake sexed wrong when popping to see the organs.
Personally I won't stick any foreign objects into my snakes, lol

If you know how to do it both are accurate, if you don't well obviously it won't be.

I have seen females probing as males because they were previously probed by someone that did not know what they were doing. (Food for the thoughts)

I pop everything, I have a probe kit however I can count on one hand the number of time I have used it, when I did the animals were not mine and were VERY tensed.

Popping is fast and easy even with adult all it takes is proper pressure, finger placement and practise.

Most experienced breeders just pop. Quicker and can be qutie accurate.

I tried both popping and probing on my hatchlings .. to me it seems like probing is not as realiable on hatchlings (the scales are so small it's almost impossible to measure the distance probe went in accurately) .. that is why I only pop hatchlings now - it might be difficult at first but once you get the hang of it after dozens of tries you will be set for life