PROBING or POPPING?

[MS2]

Which is the better way to sex baby ball pythons? I can't "pop" to save my life, but I've heard probing can hurt the snake. Your thoughts....

[Skittles1101]

I've heard popping is definitely easiest for babies. If you aren't "good" at it I wouldn't attempt it. Have you had someone walk you through it in person or are you going by youtube videos and the such? I found it helpful to see it in person, slowly, and have the person who's experienced walk me through it.....

[llovelace]

Babies are easy to pop, they just let it all hang out, but as Leah suggested above watch some vids, or have someone show you.

[ptate]

Popping is the easiest and safest way to sex babies and literally takes a few seconds to do. If you never done it before I would recommend getting someone experienced to show you

[OhhWatALoser]

I pop em, just seems easier. I have no idea how to probe though. Not that its recommended by any means but I learned from a youtube video.

[Kinra]

Both can cause damage if you don't know what you are doing, but young snakes are pretty easy to pop. I can't pop any of my older snakes, but I have no problem poping younger snakes. You might be able to pop a baby. I wouldn't attempt to probe without someone there to teach you.

[MS2]

I've watch video's, had someone show me, and tried popping and probing. I fell like I'm going to hurt them when I try to pop them, and they just will not pop. That or I have a whole bunch of females.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

100% pop them.

BTW it is much harder to hurt them then most people think...

[Alexandra V]

Depends. If you have the knowledge and experience necessary, probing is a more accurate bet, but for just general owners without probing experience, I definitely condone popping because it's a lot harder to hurt the animal that way.

[MoonlightBoas]

I prefer using palpation over probing or popping to determine the sex of snakes. Palpation is easy to learn how to do, and much less invasive to the snake. I made a short video demonstrating How To Sex A Snake using the palpation method. I'm using a Brazilian Rainbow Boa, but works just as well with a Ball Python.