How do you tell a snakes sex?

Answer 1

size

Females do tend to be bigger. But to tell if the snake is a male or female, you can look at some external features or sex it. Usually the spurs near the vent are longer in males, and the tail is also longer in males. Also, you can use either the probing method or the popping method of sexing. With the probing, the snake should be about a year old in order for the measurement to be accurate, the probe will go in about 4 scales for females, and about 9 for male. For the popping method, you will have to squeeze the cloaca or the hemipenes out from the vent. If hemipenes appear, a small protrusion, then it is a boy, and if a whitish bulb appears, the cloaca, it is a girl.

Answer 2

Between male and female, you mean? It's actually very difficult. The females always grow to be larger than the males, although this is never an accurate method of determining gender. An experienced vet or snake-keeper has to "probe," which consists of sticking a metal instrument up the cloaca ("butt") of the animal, or "pop," which is when the person "pops" the sexual organs out of the animal temporarily. These are both very dangerous methods and can injure a snake if done incorrectly.

Answer 3

First you will need these supplies...

1. A metal probe
2. Rubber Gloves (not necessary but good to have)

Then take out your snake. Find the Cloaca of the snake. It's located near the end of the tail. This is the opening that allows your snake to excrete waste. Now put on the rubber gloves and pick up the probe. Slide the probe gently down the Cloaca of the snake, towards the tail. If the probe slides down into the base of the tail , your snake is a male. If you put the probe in and it doesn't go in very far (don't force it) your snake is a female. *This will not harm or hurt you snake*

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I don't recommend the method above unless you have seen it done several times, This CAN harm your snake if you do not know what you are doing!

For the casual snake owner:

Unless you plan on breeding them, there's no reason to, just pick a gender to call it.

If you really need to know, there are several methods. The only method I would recommend without veterinary assistance is not very accurate unless you've had allot of practice, and that is to compare then length of the tail past the cloaca, males usually have longer, more slender tails. The other methods are 'popping' and 'probing', but unless you are experienced this is best left to a breeder or vet.

Answer 4

The best answer is: take it to a vet to have it sexed.

When corn/rat snakes are young enough there's a technique called 'popping' that is very accurate. Once they've grown, or on larger breeds of snakes, the only way is to 'probe' them, which involves making an educated guess based on the length of the sexual organs.

If you don't know what you're doing either method can be stressful or even harmful to the snake. So if you had to ask this question, you should be asking your vet.

The good news is, unless you have plans to breed them, there's really no reason to know whether your snake is a male or female, and if you plan on breeding you have allot of questions left to ask, I would recommend buying several books on the subject.

Answer 5

u have to have someone who is experienced with snakes to either probe it or pop it.