new corn, ID/sex help?

[Blue Apple Herps]

Popping is pretty reliable, IMO. I pop my snakes to tell the sex, and it works pretty well. Though, the only problem is that there is a risk of injuring the snake, so that's why research is your friend. Try looking up YouTube videos to see how other people attempt to pop their Corns, and also read up a bit on it.

I wouldn't try to pop a cornsnake that large. They're too strong and you'll be hard pressed to get any hemipenes to pop out.

Probing is another option besides popping. It works pretty well, but I wouldn't ever consider doing so unless shown how by a professional. The only bad thing about this is that if you push the probe in too fast or too hard it can damage the inside of the snake, which is not good at all. Best let a vet do the probing.

Tail lengths are not reliable unless compared with another male/female. Males have a much longer tail to be able to hold the hemipenes. The base of the tail is also thick. For females, their tale tapers a lot quicker because they have no space for hemipenes, resulting in the females' tail being short and quick-tapered.

Even then its wildly unreliable. In fact I bet ~40% of my collection doesn't follow that rule, lots of males with shorter tails, lots of females with longer tails. If you compared them you'd end up with their sexes backwards.

Probing is definitely the way to go.