Hi... I am new

[OhClueless1]

Hi...

Not sure what to say really except my name is Jessyca and I have been bitten by the herp bug. lol I got my daughter a Ball Python for her birthday a few months back after her begging me for years to get one. I did a lot of research beforehand and was very surprised to find that I love having a snake. So I got myself one too. lol So now we have two unsexed normal babies, though I suspect one is a male and one is a female but I guess until I figure out what to do I won't know either way. The gentleman who I bought my daughters snake from doesn't believe in probing and claims he can tell once they hit 18 months or so. Sounds kind of strange to me but he has been breeding snakes and such for a long time so who knows.

I just wanted to introduce myself and look forward to chatting with you all.

Later

[JASBALLS]

Hi...

Not sure what to say really except my name is Jessyca and I have been bitten by the herp bug. lol I got my daughter a Ball Python for her birthday a few months back after her begging me for years to get one. I did a lot of research beforehand and was very surprised to find that I love having a snake. So I got myself one too. lol So now we have two unsexed normal babies, though I suspect one is a male and one is a female but I guess until I figure out what to do I won't know either way. The gentleman who I bought my daughters snake from doesn't believe in probing and claims he can tell once they hit 18 months or so. Sounds kind of strange to me but he has been breeding snakes and such for a long time so who knows.

I just wanted to introduce myself and look forward to chatting with you all.

Later

Welcome to Bp.net! If you want to learn about reptiles you picked the best place on the net!

[ADEE]

welcome to the group!!

[Repti-Rob]

Clueless1,

The reasoning behind this is that the breeder probably determines the sex by "popping" them. After they have grown a little it is possible to check on the sex by taking the thumb of one hand is placing it on the anal scale of the baby and gently pulling the scale forward, exposing and slightly opening the vent. The thumb of the other hand is placed on the subcaudal surface (underside) of the tail near the base. The thumb on the underside of the tail squeezes the tail against a finger and, using the thumb in a rocking motion, pushes gentle pressure toward the vent. The increased internal pressure in the base of the tail generated by the pressure of the thumb causes the hemipenes of the males to pop out. BUT I would not do this if you are not used to handling snakes. The best way is to take them to a vet that does herps and asking him to do it! After all that all I have left to say is welcome!

[Lucero87]

You'll enjoy it here there's a lot of good people, with good advice....side note: i thought that you could sex a bp once the were out of their shells, or atleast you didn' thave to wait 18 months, someone correct me if i'm wrong

[JASBALLS]

You'll enjoy it here there's a lot of good people, with good advice....side note: i thought that you could sex a bp once the were out of their shells, or atleast you didn' thave to wait 18 months, someone correct me if i'm wrong

Your not wrong at all..

[Patrick Long]

i heard that the "popping" method is more stressfull on the snake rather than the probeing method.....i mean i have no idea but thats what i was always told

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Clueless1,

The reasoning behind this is that the breeder probably determines the sex by "popping" them. After they have grown a little it is possible to check on the sex by taking the thumb of one hand is placing it on the anal scale of the baby and gently pulling the scale forward, exposing and slightly opening the vent. The thumb of the other hand is placed on the subcaudal surface (underside) of the tail near the base. The thumb on the underside of the tail squeezes the tail against a finger and, using the thumb in a rocking motion, pushes gentle pressure toward the vent. The increased internal pressure in the base of the tail generated by the pressure of the thumb causes the hemipenes of the males to pop out. BUT I would not do this if you are not used to handling snakes. The best way is to take them to a vet that does herps and asking him to do it! After all that all I have left to say is welcome!

This can be done soon as they hatch out so there would be no need for him to wait 18 months

[OhClueless1]

I don't think its the popping method, though I could be mistaken. This guy is really and I mean REALLY into snakes. The way he described it to me was that he can run his thumb and index finger down the sides of the snakes body at around 18 months and somehow determine the sex with with something like 85% accuracy and no stress to the snake. Like I said it all sounded very strange to me when I heard it because I have always been told to find a reputable person for probing. When I asked him about it he became very annoyed that I would offend my snake in such a manner. Very odd little man I assure you but his all his snakes are beautiful and he is very helpful when it comes to husbandry. I didn't buy the second snake from him, it turned out to be live fed and he helped me to convert it to frozen/ thawed despite my buying it elsewhere.

Thanks for the welcomes! You all seem very helpful. I think I will learn a lot here.

[littleindiangirl]

If it were me, I wouldnt like to take an 85% chance that my snake is not what he "sexed" it as. Popping and probing are the only sure methods for BP's.