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Sexing snakes based on shed skin?????

D

deerhunter

New member
Hey,
my mid-summer '07 just shed, and on the old skin there are two tiny red dots, one on each lateral side of the cloacal. Could these be markings from the hemipenes? Have any of you ever seen anything like that? I don't know whether my snake is male or female. Recently I tried to evert the hemipenes with no positive result. Either I wasn't doing it correctly, the snake is too big, or it is a female. Any thoughts?
 
Eh, I just used the search function (like I should have done before I made the thread). It looks like both sexes can have the red spots on the shed. But still, does anyone know what causes them?
 
What morph corn snake do you have? Is this the first shed? An 07' can be popped but I wouldn't do it unless you seen it done before.
 
IIRC I saw a thread one time about counting how may scales after the vent to sex a snake, so maybe you can still use the shed skin but I am not sure how accurate it is... let me do some searching
 
I think the red dots are possibly drops of blood where the skin works loose in the cloaca but I am not 100% sure...lol
 
Any reputable reptile shop or herp vet should be able to sex your snake for you. Most vets charge a nominal fee (say $20) and most shops will do it for free.
 
susang said:
What morph corn snake do you have? Is this the first shed? An 07' can be popped but I wouldn't do it unless you seen it done before.
Click to expand...

This is the third shed since i acquired it in early-mid september. He's shed religiously during the first week of each month. it's a normal corn morph. yeah i'm very new to corns and am gunshy with the whole popping procedure. The shed is approximately 22" long. How much do they stretch the skin during ectdysis?
 
It's a very good idea to be gunshy when it comes to popping and probing snakes! lol I still want to go to a professional for lessons on how to do it correctly...

The shed can be up to 40% bigger than the snake itself. :)
 
I would imagine a snake 22" long is too big now for popping. You could try 2 things yourself - the couting scales thing as described and by judging the shape of the tail (or post a pic and someone could have a go) Neither of these methods will be accurate though. If you really want to know, take it to a pro and get it probed (probed by a pro ha ha :uhoh: )

Beanie :)
 
that sounds good! I'll take a picture of him tommorrow sometime (he ate yesterday) and post it. You guys can have a go if you like. I did the scale counting method, which suggests he is a male. However 1) I don't trust my scale counting skills because I only did it once, and it's a pain in the a** and 2) I don't trust the method to begin with.
 
shed'n my skin said:
disclaimer... I have not tried this at home
Click to expand...
I have, and quite honestly before I knew how to pop and probe, I used it after every perfect shed. If I recall correctly, all but one of the snakes were right on the money and accurate. I believe I had about a 12-15 at the time . . . that was 7 years ago now! :eek:

Anyway, short answer, yes it works, and while not perfect, as far as I'm concerned it works in a pinch (or until you learn the other more accurate methods). :shrugs: Of course, the only 1 true, 100% method is actual copulation. Not too often, but 've been fooled with males NOT popping. I've been fooled with males that didn't probe too deep or females that did, and I've been fooled by tail shape and size. :)

D80
 
I would have to say that this is the first that I have ever heard of counting scales to determine the sex. So I went ahead and tried it cause it sounds alittle shady. :uhoh:

Come to find out, it works! :crazy02: My male is a male & my female is a female. HAHA I already knew this, but the scale count confirms it, so...
 
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