Does this sound average / right for a female?

[Jane-Pythons]

My first ball Python was sold to me as a female when she was a hatchling - they sell a decent amount of BP's throughout the year, but over a year and a half later now that I'm considering breeding next season (if I'm confident she's ready) and am looking to buy my second ball very soon.

I know the most accurate way to tell sex is for them to be probed which I might be looking into soon to be absolutely sure before I get my second ball, but was wondering if I could get feedback on whether or not her growth and current size sounds more like that of a female than a male, and if she's growing at a good rate in general as growth charts seem to be different; I know BP's grow as different rates so my questions are a bit redundant but responses would be highly appreciated!




Weighed today she's 950g (ate a small rat 5 days ago, due to poop) and 39-40 inches long. I've had her since mid December 2018 and I suspect she was perhaps 2-3 months roughly when I bought her - is that a good size or thereabouts for now?

In terms of sex the only way I've been trying to check myself is via her size, her spurs (super small) and tail size and she seems to check out as a female for the most part. I didn't anticipate breeding at all when I got her so didn't think to ask the staff if she was proven.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

First you sex a female BP by popping or probing not by it's size or size of the spurs.

As for growth a good average growth is about 500 grams per year, for an animal that is fed approximately once a week.

Now some animals might be double that in a year and some might be less there are a lot of factor in play, weight out of the egg, how soon they eat on their own, genetics, food refusal, fast etc.

[Jane-Pythons]

I watched a video about popping adult ball pythons (I thought you could only do it to the hatchlings, I know it just gets harder as they develop the muscles) and no hemipenes were present while I was putting a good amount of pressure on. I don't know if a picture would be allowed or if it'd be deemed too graphic?

So for now from what I saw I'm taking it that she's female, but I'll likely double check tomorrow by repeating the process so I'm certain as I'm not sure how good they are at hiding the hemipenes when they're older despite the guy in the video making it look way too easy to tell, aha.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I watched a video about popping adult ball pythons (I thought you could only do it to the hatchlings, I know it just gets harder as they develop the muscles) and no hemipenes were present while I was putting a good amount of pressure on. I don't know if a picture would be allowed or if it'd be deemed too graphic?

So for now from what I saw I'm taking it that she's female, but I'll likely double check tomorrow by repeating the process so I'm certain as I'm not sure how good they are at hiding the hemipenes when they're older despite the guy in the video making it look way too easy to tell, aha.

You can pop any ball python at any age however if you have zero experience the chance of you popping an adult is close to zero, adult are hard to pop because of their control. People that never pop a BP already have a very hard time with hatchlings because of pressure and finger placement.

You can post a picture but if you did not pop correctly the picture will not tell anyone anything.

[Jane-Pythons]

I used two hands when I was doing it but for the sake of trying to capture what I was seeing I held it with one, I put enough pressure on so that the tail was flattened a fair bit and even tried different methods like rolling up my thumb from a bit lower etc, and all I can see is the two glands and the hole. I did this 10+ times (making sure the snake wasn't stressed to any degree of course) and got the same result.

[Absololol]

Looks female to me but I'm far from an expert, just a hobbyist like you lol

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[Jane-Pythons]

I've been popping this girl for the last 3 days to try to be sure and confident that she's a female and no matter how hard I press, or what angle I hold her, or whether I roll up my thumb or not and after watching a bunch of popping tutorials, I get the same result.

So this is either a sure female or a dude with SUPER determined to hide hemipenes pahaha.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Looks female to me but I'm far from an expert, just a hobbyist like you lol

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Absolutely no way to tell from those pictures

Popping requires both hands and specifically both fingers one must apply pressure before the vent area the other must roll back the tail (inward)

Position and fingers are wrong so is pressure.

Here is me popping something similar in size 950 grams male, obviously my finger placement is different so is the amount of pressure I apply with both fingers.

[Jane-Pythons]

Thank you for the feedback @Stewart_Reptiles ! Massively appreciate the help and the visual, I'll try to put that technique into practice next time and see if I yield the same results

I'm just always a tad worried of pressing the tail too hard when rolling / pressing and hurting them, but I doubt my skinny little fingers could inflict any proper damage