If you don't really need to know, I personally wouldn't bother...and I've sexed snakes in the past, when I bred some. I have the probes. But I have a small
Western Longnose snake that I've never sexed and whose tail shape is quite ambiguous. These are lizard eaters in the wild & very difficult to keep as pets
since they very difficult to get-keep on mice (& you all think BPs are hard to feed?) but anyway, he (?) is now 16 years old & feeds great for me on mice
(f/t fuzzies) other than going off feed for a few months in winter...so do I want him to feel harassed by me probing his tail? Heck no! If I don't need to know
for breeding, I don't bother. There are minor risks to sexing, and none with leaving well enough alone. Many kinds of snakes I can make an educated guess
that's fairly accurate as to their gender from tail shape, but not this guy (or gal). He's a pretty little tri-color, btw...similar to a milk snake, red, black & yellow.
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