What gender is this corn?

[hypnoctopus]

Back in November, I bought an amel stripe for my 8 year-old sister at a reptile expo. The snake was sold to us as female, but comparing her(?) to my male snake and my female snake, her tail length definitely seems at least as long (if not a tiny bit longer) than my male snake's tail. All three snakes are around the same age and size.

Today while we had Popsicle outside, she pooped and I noticed a little red thing pop out of her vent right before she pooped, which appeared to be a hemipene.

We have no intention of breeding her or anything, but my little sister insists that 'Popsicle' is not a boy's name, so we need to know the gender.

Anyway, just by looking at this picture, does this tail look like a male or female tail?

Here's a picture I took of her with my male snake (I added lines to show approximately where each of their tails start).

Thanks for any input!

 

[cornsnakeforsale_com]

Looks male to me, but probing is your best bet to know for sure.

Those two snakes are the same size?

 

[Kate]

Popsicle can be a masculine name!
I also think it compares male.

 

[hypnoctopus]

Yes, we were thinking we might get him/her probed. Does the snake have to be a certain age/size to be probed safely?

And yes, Popsicle and Orville (the butter stripe) are around the same size, although Popsicle is a bit larger by a few grams, and about half an inch longer.

 

[Nanci]

My first thought was "totally male!" But you can never be 100% positive unless you pop a male hatchling or he probes male on both sides or you see his hemipene when breeding.

 

[The_Thunderer]

I'm agreeing with the male "thoughts" too... but as Nanci and others have said, this sexing method is "iffy" at best.

 

[Nanci]

Well, it's a lot more accurate with a full-grown male, anyway.

 

[AliCat37]

My first thought was also male, but probing will be much more accurate.

 

[cornsnakeforsale_com]

They probe at any age.

 

[xStaticSnow]

That picture from above looks super male in my opinion. I don't know a ton about corn snake sexing but if I apply the same knowledge used in sexing garters to corns I would put my money on male. I've also noticed the same thing when my male corn opens his vent to use the bathroom, sometimes I can glimpse what appears to be a hemipene so you're probably right. Better to check though! Don't want your little boy to end up with a name like Popsicle

 

[Paddy]

i had the same question not to long ago. try popping him/her here is a link i was given that instructs how to do it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ1g_kv_jko

 

[SadinaSaphrite]

At what age are corns considered sexually mature? Judging by tail length alone, I'm guessing my 8 month old anery is a female, but I have no way to tell, and I don't know anyone I trust to pop (her?) safely at (her?) size. If she is a male, will her tail lengthen when she becomes mature?

 

[Naagas]

Sexual maturity is usually judged by 3 years or 300 grams.
(This is at least the safety line for breeding).

I still can't accurately guess by tail shape alone... and why chance it (when even the most experienced get it wrong) when a vet will usually pop/probe for a small fee or even free?

Yet, if you aren't going to breed, I fail to see why it matters at all.... the snake doesn't know or care. You don't know. Just pick a sex and go with it.
Unless the snake has a clutch of slugs, you won't know any different.
And even then, you can still safely call the snake any sex you want without fear of offending it. I promise.

 

[hypnoctopus]

Well, Montana used her own money to pay for probing. And, as I suspected, the snake is male! Montana insists that she had to rename him, so his name is now Blaze.