Probing

[jeff6898]

I watched the videos and read about probing to determine sex of a ball python. My question is when it says insert probe until you feel resistance. Will the resistance be obvious? I men when you put the probe in will it feel like hitting a wall at the end or is it possible to push through and cause damage if it is a female?

[Vypyrz]

I've never probed a snake, but, as I understand, it is very easy to cause damage from pushing too hard...

[LLLReptile]

I watched the videos and read about probing to determine sex of a ball python. My question is when it says insert probe until you feel resistance. Will the resistance be obvious? I men when you put the probe in will it feel like hitting a wall at the end or is it possible to push through and cause damage if it is a female?

It depends on how gentle your hands are. Just go in EXTREMELY gently, and when it does not easily slide any further, that's as far as it goes. To me, it feels extremely distinct, but if you have a small probe that is not ball tipped, if you're not careful you can go through the cloacal wall.

It is very hard to explain through text, and if you can go into a local reptile store and ask them to show you, that is the best way. I find that females are often just plain harder to probe, while males just "swallow" the probe once you slide into the hemipenal pocket. If you probe on one side and find female, check the other side to be sure. Practice first on snakes whose genders you know with 100% certainty to get familiar with how it should feel.

And lastly, I know you said you watched a ton of videos, but here's one that Scott put together to demonstrate how to probe snakes. Scott's been doing this for over 16 years now, he's got it down!

http://youtu.be/_HG1q42Ll7c

-Jen