Sexing Your Snake... via spurs.

[Akren_905]

Hey everyone ive read 4 books so far oldest one was from 1991 and the rest much more recent. But in the books they talk about popping hatchlings, and probing but if done wrong it harms the animal. But in the oldest book ive found it talks about the flap and their spurs. If they spurs are more curved its a male and more straight its a female, mine has straight spurs but the flap picture was small and black and white it was hard to see details. So im sure ive got a lady because the spurs are like pencils.

[rabernet]

Probing and popping are the only accurate ways to sex a ball python.

[mykee]

Using spurs to sex an animal should be right about 50% of the time.

[Akren_905]

buy how do you prob with out hurting your snake? it looked very delicate in pictures ive seen and i havnt found any videos on doing it on youtube.

[JLC]

buy how do you prob with out hurting your snake? it looked very delicate in pictures ive seen and i havnt found any videos on doing it on youtube.

Probing is NOT something you want to teach yourself to do, even if you have a "good" video. To find out for sure what sex your snake is, you'll want to find a good herp vet or an experienced breeder. (Not necessarily a big breeder...but someone with experience in popping and/or probing snakes).

[Akren_905]

ive looked theres not to many people in my area who breed snakes or is jsut an animal vet and i dont feel like pay 50 to find its a female if i an do it at home with spurs not popping cause shes way to big and alomsot a year old. Some people ive asked say they know how to pop or probe but if they do it wrong i get a strile snake.


there has to be a "save" way to tell from the cloacal flap and spurs so some one check their boys and girls see similaritys or differences and show me in a picture plz i dont feel like driving to london just to get a snake sexed(2hours).

[Elise.m]

From what I understand, spurs are just built up shed that don't always fall off, but sometimes do. Take this thread for example, and look for post #8. It explains it a little more, with pictures.

Like previously stated, popping or probing is the only trusted, tried and true way to sex a snake.

Edit: Everything after post #8 explains it better.

[Akren_905]

The males spur was hooked lol and the flap had shine back from the camera flash couldnt make it out properlly. couldi jsut get a link to another site if its not here.

[JLC]

Ok...let me put it this way:

If it makes you happy to "know" that your pet snake is a boy or a girl based on spur shape or tail length or cloaca flaps....go for it! There's nothing wrong with using that as a guide to help you decide on a name and know whether to call it a him or a her.

IF you decide to get into breeding...a situation in which you must know with certainty that the gender of your snake is correct...if you ever decide to invest in expensive morphs....then knowing and being able to determine gender accurately is essential. It's also important to KNOW the sex of your snake if you ever intend to sell it. This is NOT something you should teach yourself via internet videos. When the time comes, it may be worth the investment to take one of your snakes to a good herp vet and have them teach you how to probe and/or pop a snake properly. Or maybe by then you'll find an experienced individual who can show you. Attend some local reptile shows and get to know the vendors there and you may find someone who can teach you. Or join a local herp society if there are any around.

Hope that helps some!

[smd58]

I agree 100% with Judy, probing is something you must learn first hand. I learned from other snake keepers, they also tought me poping. I think both are a skill of both a light touch and pressure.