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Caudal scale sexing

KyDaGi

New member
1st of all, apologies if this is in the wrong section of the threads.. Was unsure where to ask.

Anyway, how accurate is caudal scale sexing? I recently purchased an adult corn I was told was male, I have no probing kits or anything to accurately sex the snake myself, but I have a book that mentions caudal scale sexing...

It states 59-70 pairs of caudal scales and its female and 70-80 pairs of caudal scales and its a boy.

I counted the scales on the shed of my new adult corn and counted 59 pairs, which to me indicates a girl? Just wondering if this is always guaranteed

I will add the shed was complete too, so none of it was missing.

Thnx all in advance!
 
1st of all, apologies if this is in the wrong section of the threads.. Was unsure where to ask.

Anyway, how accurate is caudal scale sexing? I recently purchased an adult corn I was told was male, I have no probing kits or anything to accurately sex the snake myself, but I have a book that mentions caudal scale sexing...

It states 59-70 pairs of caudal scales and its female and 70-80 pairs of caudal scales and its a boy.

I counted the scales on the shed of my new adult corn and counted 59 pairs, which to me indicates a girl? Just wondering if this is always guaranteed

I will add the shed was complete too, so none of it was missing.

Thnx all in advance!
This thread may answer some of your questions...
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-61035.html

If your corn is a mature adult it can be sexed by the taper of the tail. If you can post a pic of the underside of the tail we could probably tell you if it is a male or female
 
Thnx just been having a read of that link, looks like it is a girl then as 'she' has so few caudal scales, I'll grab a pic soon too. 'She' is very mature, the last shed was almost 6ft long!
 
ok this is about the best pic i could get.... wouldnt stay still lol

fad9668a9d9088d8f6143fa243f2dbb9_zps5d24d119.jpg
 
Your snake appears to be a male....but having it probed by a vet/ professional should tell you for sure.
 
There is about 8 scales before they taper off, also the bulge(where the hemipenes are) gives it away.

Edit:::: Most females taper off between 2-5 scales. Plus the snake was sold to the OP as a male, and until proven otherwise is probably a male.
 
i will try and get a clearer picture soon, it isn't the best as he/she was just trying to explore!
 
There is about 8 scales before they taper off, also the bulge(where the hemipenes are) gives it away.

Edit:::: Most females taper off between 2-5 scales. Plus the snake was sold to the OP as a male, and until proven otherwise is probably a male.
OK..I see what you are saying. But none of my males look like that. The tails on my males don't start to taper until much longer down the tail. Here is a pic of one of my proven females. To me my female looks just like the corn in question. :shrugs:


Okeetee_Girl.jpg
 
I think we are seeing the picture differently. I see a buldge and about 8 scales before the taper which makes me believe it is a male "from the picture". I see in your female where it tapers off around 4-5 scales, which is quite common(good pic by the way). Most of my males look exactly like the OPs picture of his snake, and the fact it was sold to him as a male again leads me to think it is a male.

However, I have also seen males where at 5 scales they start to taper off. The only "True" way of telling the snakes sex is to have it professional probe.

QUestion for the OP.... Who did you get the snake from? Was it ever bred? How much of the background do you know of it?
 
It's a female. Notice how quick it tapers past the cloaca.
cornsex.jpg

I have seen this pic somewhere else as well. This picture (IMHO) is not a great picture at showing a true male/ female when it comes to scales behind the vent. Again, in my experience females tend to taper quick from 2-5 scales... male between 6-9 or more. The inbetween-ers 4-7 scales can go either way. Hence why probing them, or popping when they are young will tell you for sure.

Also make you sure you reference the place where you got the picture, or who took the picture, just to cover yourself. A lot of people get upset on the site and off the site when their pics have been copied.
 
I bought it from a reptile/aquatic store. They hadnt had a corn in so big before so i asked about it then. Original owner had it 8 years from a hatchling in a tank alone and originally named 'Rocky'. As far as i know has never been bred from.

He/She escaped and didnt show for a month so the original owner put a bearded dragon in the viv, then the snake returned..
 
I think we are seeing the picture differently.
Maybe my old eyes are playing tricks on me. :) Or maybe I'm just not seeing the angle right or something. But in my 36 years of keeping corn snakes I've never had an adult males who's tail tapered that quickly...and I've had a lot of adults. :) But like you said...I could just be seeing the pic wrong. :shrugs:
 
Maybe my old eyes are playing tricks on me. :) Or maybe I'm just not seeing the angle right or something. But in my 36 years of keeping corn snakes I've never had an adult males who's tail tapered that quickly...and I've had a lot of adults. :) But like you said...I could just be seeing the pic wrong. :shrugs:


Maybe you and me both... lol

It is hard to tell from a pic.
 
Just about to have dinner, after that I think it's time for more pics.

Going back to the original question though, I'd like to repoint out that the caudal scale count does indicate female, but again, I'm not sure if this is guaranteed
 
Just about to have dinner, after that I think it's time for more pics.

Going back to the original question though, I'd like to repoint out that the caudal scale count does indicate female, but again, I'm not sure if this is guaranteed
If you are counting 59 pairs you can be 99.99 % sure it's a female.
 
Also make you sure you reference the place where you got the picture, or who took the picture, just to cover yourself. A lot of people get upset on the site and off the site when their pics have been copied.
I believe this pic is from Don Soderberg's book. I used it because I think it's a very accurate representation of the different sexes.
I don't think he'll get mad at me and sue me...he already has all my money. :) In fact, I just sent him some more of my money today. :D
 
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