sexing?

[vwsrcool]

ok i know i ask alot of questions, but you folks seem to have all the awnsers. how do you tell the sex of a garter snake? i know you can probe them, but ive never done it and i dont want to hurt the snake. i was told you can push a certain spot on there belly and if its a male a gland pops out. and i have also been told that if there are double scales past there vent that they are female, and if there are single scales they are male. is that true?

[ssssnakeluvr]

on adults, probing is the most effective method. You can VERY GENTLY squeeze the tail towards the cloaca, if it's a male, his hemipenes will pop out. You can only do this on newborns up to a month or so old. older snakes muscles will be more developed and you can injure them. The double/single scale thing in not true...they all have double bentrals past the anal plate. generally femalews are longer and stockier than males....generally. Females have a shorter tail than males, males tails are wider and longer...

[Thamnophis]

Thamnophis has an anal scale that is not divided and Nerodia has an anal scal that is divided.

A, B & C - Female tail; ventral and lateral views. The tail base enlargement noticeable in some females (see B) appear to be male glands, but note that the tail tapers rapidly

D & E - Male tail; ventral and lateral views. Tail base is thick, and this thickness extends for some distance beyond the vent.

Illustration and description by kind permission of Mr Robert J. Riches, author of 'Breeding Snakes in Captivity', 1976

http://www.gartersnake.co.uk/mainten...#Sexing snakes

[nessy]

from what age can this visual method of sexing be used?

[Thamnophis]

Originally Posted by nessy

from what age can this visual method of sexing be used?

Most succesful is when they are adult. But even them it is not always completely clear.

When there are young coming out of the cloaca, you can be sure it is a female.

[Stefan-A]

Quick question about popping, it can only be used to identify those that are males, right? I mean, even if it doesn't necessarily let you identify every single male, it's not possible to accidentally identify a female as a male by using this method?

[Cazador]

If there's a way to mis-identify anything, someone will do it but in general, it's hard to make a mistake by popping a very young snake. Sometimes people make errors when they see two little reddish dots that slightly protrude. These are the openings for the musk glands and shouldn't be mistaken for hemipenes. They're very small, but the male's hemipenes can be everted quite a ways. The other mistake happens when somebody tries to pop an adolescent or older male. They think that just because a hemipenis doesn't pop out, that it's a female. As Don mentioned, this may not be the case.