Is my snake a boy or a girl.

[Greg Sanders]

I have a very healthy snowcorn and I don't know if its a boy or a girl. I know you can tell by the way its tail looks but I don't know what it is supose to look like.

What is it supose to look for a girl and a boy? :shrugs:

 

[Cegninedorf]

Greg,

Don't I wish I knew the answer to this question!

There really isn't a way to simply look at the snake and tell the gender. The snake must either be "popped" (where the hemipenes are popped out, if they are even there) or probed (which done with a probe being inserted into the snake...not something I'm willing to hurt my baby for!), and both of those techniques should really be done by someone who knows how to properly do either or your snake could suffer the consequences of being damaged.

I have looked at both of Kathy Love's manuals and while the photos do show the underside/end of the tail of a male & female -- where the male's tail tends to be thicker a bit past the vent and a female's thins and tapers quickly -- I tend to overanalyze and one day I think that Maizie is a girl, the next s/he's a boy. I really will just have to wait until I can have him/her popped. (Maizie does seem so feminine though because s/he is such a sweetheart, but who knows...Maizie stays Maizie, either way!)

If you know of a breeder or someone who is an authority with snakes (check your local herpetological society?), perhaps they can be of better assistance. Good luck!

 

[MegF.]

Sometimes if you post a picture we can make a guess. Probing is the only safe way of sexing once they've gotten larger. Babies can be popped with little trouble. Since you posted this along with a question about cohabitation, I strongly urge you to avoid cohabitation. A rubbermaid tub is a cheap and easy second container for another corn if you don't want to spend money on a second viv. Frankly, if you don't want to spend the money, I wouldn't get a second snake.