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Snake sexing: lifting the ventral scale?

S

Scarlett_Fawn

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Hello, my name is Brenda, and I am having difficulty sexing my snakes.
I bought a tape demonstrating how to sex snakes, but the snakes being sexed on the tape were of a different species than mine and it didn't actually show the guy pulling back the ventral scale. How are you supposed to do this without hurting the snake? The guy on the tape seemed to have it pulled way, way back on his adult ball pythons, but the vent scale looks really small on my housesnakes/rainbow boa.
 
Be Very Careful

Brenda,
I wouldn't recommend learning to probe snakes without the assistance of an experienced keeper there to show you. It is so easy to injure a snake with improper technique.

Now I realize that depending where you are in Alaska, an experienced keeper may be hard to come by. If you know anyone close by, ask for assistance.

If you are determined to do this yourself, the answer to your questions is as follows:

Select a probe of appropriate size. The probes will ball points are best. Select a size that can easily enter the cloaca, but not too small where it could puncture flesh.

You will insert the tip of the probe into the cloaca from the direction of the tail of the snake towards the head. Once the probe has entered the cloaca, you will turn the probe so that it is now facing the tail of the snake. Be sure to try and enter the cloaca for either side - not form the middle.

Use a slight twisting motion with the probe as you very very gently insert it into the cloaca. once you reach any resistance - STOP. Remove the probe and and measure the distance that was inserted against the sub-caudal scales of the snake being probed. Depending on the species being probed, you can determine the sex by this scale count.

Again, I'll stress - if at all possible, find an experienced keeper to instruct you first hand. It's just not worth injuring an animal to determine the sex.

If you have any questions - please ask!
 
Bleh, sounds like putting in a nose screw.

Yeah, I've read about how you should view the procedure before attempting, but I thought the video would be sufficient (it's ended up not being!) :nopity:

I'm not in a rush by any means, but I would like to learn how to sex my own snakes at some point as I would like to go to the next level with my hobby some time and breed. The hatchlings will have to be sexed properly!

Who taught you how to do it? Do you think a vet could do/show the procedure for me at a reasonable price?
 
Brenda,
If you have a vet that is qualified with reptiles, they should be able to teach you the procedure. But many vets just have a passing familiarity with reptiles and very likely would need to be taught probing procedures themselves. Just make sure you find the right vet.

I learned from a fellow breeder.
 
Brenda, i am from alaska as well. where are you from and i may be able to have a few people do it for you and show you how in the process..
 
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