Quote Originally Posted by Wh00h0069 View Post
In addition, it is fairly difficult to pop older animals, since they have a lot more muscle in their vent area than when they are young. I do not see that popping would harm them, unless you do it wrong. I have popped older ball pythons with success, but I have had to probe others.

Probing is not difficult, but is much more likely to cause damage than popping. You have to make sure that you use the correct probe. One to small may pierce through if you push too hard. With the correct probe, insert into the vent and rotate back and forth through your fingers while gently pushing down. Once you feel it stop, place your finger on the probe to determine the depth. Pull out and put the probe against the scales to determine the scale count. Males will have more scale count than females. Females are somewhere around four, if I remember correctly, and males are around eight. If you do not feel comfortable doing this, ask someone with experience to help you.
I tried popping him the same way as the girls. With one thumb I pulled back the vent scale and with the other thumb I rolled from the tail tip towards the vent like a tube of tooth paste. One time I have something coming out but he started curling his tail around my finger and I gave up. The mass was coming out at the center of the vent but again not a definate gauge.

With probing I have watched a lot of videos. The likelyhood of causing damage because of a lack of experience makes me more comfortable with not knowing that trying to force the issue. At this point I have six sizes of probes and no idea what size is best for the appropriate snake. If I use one too small I am more likely to cause damage. If I use one too big it may stop short and give a possible false reading of being female?