Checking the sex of your pet snake compared to other pets can be somewhat tricky. It is not easy finding out if a snake is either a male or a female, especially since they both look similar.
Nevertheless, it is not impossible to differentiate between the two if you acquire the experience.
A veterinary staff or an experienced caretaker should be able to show you how to tell if your slithering buddy is a male or female.
It is crucial that you sought professional aid before doing anything that might hurt your pet. Most snake owners unconsciously hurt their pets because they wanted to try it on their own.
Consider the tail of your snakes, the shape of the tail, and the size. The male snakes have a pair of hemipenes (sex organs) that are tubular lay intact inside the snake’s tail. Whereas, the female snakes do not have this characteristic.
These organs are located just below the vent-like opening known as the cloacal, which runs down the tail on both sides of a snake’s midline.
Having their hemipenes house inside the male penis makes it hard to determine its sex at first glance, but with the obvious visible clues, you can easily tell if your pet is a male or female.
The length and shape of the tail of your snake can easily tell you the gender of a snake. The male snakes have their tails (towards the base down to the tip) thinker and longer than the female snakes.
It also becomes smaller or thinner toward the end differently, while the female snakes possess thicker and shorter tails as it grows evenly at the tip.
While this is easy to understand, it may be difficult if you don’t have both sexes of the snake species to compare their characteristics.
Using the tail method is good but not entirely reliable; this is why more common skills are adapted to accurately identify the sex of a snake that supersedes the tail method.
Probing
The probing method involves inserting a thin metal rod known as a snake probe into the cloacal vent of the snake while it is still conscious.
The metal rod can be inserted further down a male snake since it possesses a pair of hemipenis that runs down both sides of the vent allowing the probe to drop down into one of the spaces that point towards the tail tip.
Probing a female snake, however, requires a different approach as the metal rod will not drop down the vent far enough like the male snake does because there is no presence of space in the vent towards the tail. Female snakes only possess small scent gland spaces.
The metal rod slides down an average of nine to fifteen scales if it’s a male snake and an average of one to three scales if it’s a female.
Ensure to have someone hold your snake still if you are using the probing method to determine the sex of your pet. Also, make sure to take the appropriate measurement of your snake to get the right probe measurement.
Getting a proper measurement for bigger snakes can be problematic, but with the right direction, you can get it done.
Popping hemispenes
Popping doesn’t involve harming your snake. Basically, it means temporarily reverting the snake’s hemipenes, so the pair becomes visible outside the tail. Popping is done when the hemipenes move out of place.
Achieving this requires firm pressure with a finger on the snake just below the vent just enough for the hemipenes to pop out.
This method can only logically work on smaller snakes like the ball pythons, but care must be taken to avoid errors.
It would be totally cool if you could tell your pet’s sex so picking a name for it becomes easy. It is entirely imperative that you seek professional help if you feel you are not qualified enough to determine the size of your snake.
Best of luck!
