Hermaphroditic Snakes?

[zmd0827]

Is there any way that a hermaphroditic ball python could exist? I had what I thought was a male, breeding with a female, but since no follicles developed or anything, I had it probed. A breeder that's outside my area, had some business in town, and he said he'd drop by to check him out for me afterwards. So he did, and he could not determine a defined sex for the snake, even though it is almost four years old now.

So I took it to a strictly-exotic veterinarian, and paid 20 dollars to find out that the doc came to the same conclusion. Essentially, she explained to me, that it looks like a male, but with female attributes... And it's infertile, but acts like a male with habits of copulation.

I didn't even know hermaphroditic snakes existed!!

There goes my breeding....

[cinderbird]

Essentially, she explained to me, that it looks like a male, but with female attributes... And it's infertile, but acts like a male with habits of copulation.

What methods did the vet use to sex the snake? Because ball pythons aren't sexually dimorphic. The males and the females LOOK exactly the same on the outside.

If you REALLY want to know, I'd see if I could do an ultrasound or another kind of imaging diagnostic. A lot of those will allow you to see internal structures. Some boa breeders have them to track litter development in females. I cant' imagine it would be difficult to find hemipenes on a male, but I've never tried it.

have you tried having someone pop the snake?

[zmd0827]

Both individuals probed him/her.

[sho220]

Both individuals probed him/her.

Probing can still be iffy unless you're very experienced at it...find someone who knows how to pop...

[Stewart_Reptiles]

How far the the probe go?

Do you know anyone that can pop this animal?

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

That just blows my mind. I agree that you should find someone near you with experience popping adults.

If the probe went way deeper than 3-4 scales then it should be a male.

You witnessed locks with a female? If it is male he might not be fertile or was not producing plugs for some reason.

Was he ever injured or burned in that area?

[zmd0827]

That just blows my mind. I agree that you should find someone near you with experience popping adults.

If the probe went way deeper than 3-4 scales then it should be a male.

You witnessed locks with a female? If it is male he might not be fertile or was not producing plugs for some reason.

Was he ever injured or burned in that area?

Put it this way, he's nearly 1.5kg, and pretty long. He's been exceptionally healthy, as he's one of my most unproblematic snakes ever. Never a RI, scale issue, perfect sheds, the works. Never burned. Etc.

Given that he's not nearly as heavy as his counterpart is, he's a pretty healthy snake, and lives in a quite healthy environment. Digital UTH, bedding, digital thermostat, humidity control, ambient lighting, very low power fluorescent lighting for viewing... sufficient water...

He's probably the healthiest snake I've ever owned. The female he was paired with was the healthiest, but when she was just a babe, she got bit on her tail, and it has just accumulated scar tissue... but that's the only issue she ever had.

I watched the private breeder probe, but not too intently... I couldn't tell you how many scales in it went or not... The vet did it in the "vets only" room... so I couldn't really go look at it... I didn't get an examination because I know he's perfectly fine, they just asked me to bring him in and they'd do it.

[zmd0827]

The unfortunate thing is that the "nearest breeder" is about a 2.5 hour drive west of me... It's not a convenience.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

The unfortunate thing is that the "nearest breeder" is about a 2.5 hour drive west of me... It's not a convenience.

Since there is no indication that the people who probe the animal knew what they did at this point until you get it pop you will not know for sure.

You can always try to do it yourself but given it is an adult it will likely be hard for you to do so if you have never done it before on adults.

Just remember because a male lock with a female does not mean the female will produce for you so you can make any conclusion based on that.

[angllady2]

I agree with Deb.

It doesn't sound to me like either of these people knew for sure what they were doing.

And like Deb said, just because they locked once or more than once doesn't mean the female will produce eggs. There are hundreds of people here who will tell you that. Sometimes it's hit-or-miss.

Gale