Male or Female?

[chicnhed]

Is there any way i can tell what sex my snake is? It obviously isn't old enough to start producing eggs or not. I heard rumor that you can tell by the shape of the tail or something of that nature. Is that true? Is there anyway i can tell?

 

[SPJ]

Tail shape, spur size, etc are just guesses.
The only way to accurately sex a snake is to probe it.
Do not try this yourself unless you know what you are doing or you could seriously hurt the snake. Take it to a qualified vet or someone with experience sexing snakes.

 

[chicnhed]

what tail shapes match what? sorry if i seem too persistent, but i'm just so curious!

 

[Sybella]

Males have hemipenes inside the tail and females do not. A female's tail will taper from the vent to the tail tip. A male's tail will stay the same size or thicken a bit for an inch or so and then taper. Does that help?

 

[chicnhed]

yes, very much!!! but, i'm not quite sure what or where the vent is...

 

[Sybella]

The vent is the only openning on the tail end, where everything but eating takes place...it's easy to find because it is the last scale that goes all the way across the underside. The tail scales are segmented after the vent to the tail tip.

 

[Sasheena]

The vent is the opening from which a snake passes his/her waste, also where copulation takes place, it is located on the underside or belly of the snake near the tail. Here's a graphic I just whipped up that sort of gives an idea of the difference in tails in male vs. female.

 

[Sasheena]

The short tail in the picture above would represent a female, the longer tail would represent the male.

 

[chicnhed]

wow, thank you. you all have been very helpful. i think i have a female =D