sex determination

[Thamnophis]

Hello Lisa, welcome here on this great forum...

[ferdinand]

just tried to determine the sex of our Butler's garter snake--we don't have a 2nd one to compare it with but the tail does to seem look like a female's, & the hemipenes do not "pop"/evert with gentle pressure...

[adamanteus]

It is rare that the hemipenes can be popped in anything other than very young snakes. If you post a couple of pictures some of the guys on here will be able to help you decide which sex you have.

[ferdinand]

I'll try to get some photos posted soon. Thanks for the input!

[knitnzu]

Hi All, Thanks for all of your comments! You are a very active and friendly forum! Here's a picture of the snake. We were thinking it to be a young male.



It looks like the taper begins a couple inches past the cloaca, so it didn't seem like a more pronounced taper as described for females. My herp friend (at ME fish and wildlife) said he thought it was a young snake and that the taper isn't as pronounced/differentiated until they are a bit bigger. We handled it quite a bit, no musk!

Shortly after we let it go in the woodpile, I went back inside the house, was doing laundry, and saw something move. It looked like THE SAME SNAKE! Like magic transportation or something. I just put that one out too.

I will likely not be a regular here, but you all have been just great and I will heartily recommend your site to anybody I know with an interest in snakes in general and garters in specific (and I have a big mouth!)

[mikm]

It appears 'male' to me. Come back around anytime ...

marian

[adamanteus]

I concur, from the tale it appears to be male. As Marian says, come back anytime, and thanks for the contribution.

[ssssnakeluvr]

looks like a male to me too.

[Cazador]

I also agree with the male assessment, but it's not the taper near your finger that gives it away because that would be one ENORMOUS set of hemipenes . It's the lack of an abrupt taper closer to the vent.