This is Pete he likes to play the geetar...

[maximus30576]

I was told he is a male , he is over 5 ' and 2300 grams ,, Several have said he may be a she , What yall think

[Trent]

Pete is huge..could be a girl.Get someone to probe him.

[alessia55]

I think "he" is probably most likely a "she" because of that size. If you're truly curious you could get someone experienced to probe him. Out of curiosity, how old is he?

[maximus30576]

Alessia i dont know how old he is , his pevious owner had him for a couple of years and i have had him for about 8 months , not sure other than that . I just know he is a big ole healthy snake . And gentle as a baby ..

[KORBIN5895]

It looks like a morph. I haven't got a clue what kind though. Can you fill the idiot in? Also do you have a good pic of the vent area? Preferably a side shot.

[lady_bug87]

It looks like a morph. I haven't got a clue what kind though. Can you fill the idiot in? Also do you have a good pic of the vent area? Preferably a side shot.

it looks as though it could be a normal but I'm a BP idiot too...I do know that normals can be polymorphic so...

[alessia55]

He looks like a very pretty normal to me :)

[KORBIN5895]

He doesn't have any black. He looks chocolaty brown to me.

[lady_bug87]

mine doesnt really have any either. Like I said normals are polymorphic they can look extremely different from one another especially if they have some other gene embedded.

[maximus30576]

Korbin , fed him last night so i will wait a day or two and try to get a pic of his vent area , can you tell by that . He has pretty big spurs i do know that ..And im pretty sure he is a normal , sometimes ha looks really silver ..

[alessia55]

Korbin , fed him last night so i will wait a day or two and try to get a pic of his vent area , can you tell by that . He has pretty big spurs i do know that ..And im pretty sure he is a normal , sometimes ha looks really silver ..

Both male and female ball pythons have spurs, and the size of the spurs won't tell you the sex of the snake. Best way for an adult is to have him probed by someone who's more experienced. Then again, if you're not interested in breeding, there's no reason to find out. He/she will be a great pet, and the sex won't factor into that ;)

[maximus30576]

Well i hadnt planned on breeding but i have 2 more royals that are suppose to be males also and if pete turns out a she ,, well then maybe i will have to try for some babies ...But really it doesnt matter either way to me ,he is still Pete my big baby ..Lol

[KORBIN5895]

According to a very experienced herper on here male boids have a large bump behind the vent.

[Jenn_06]

Im guessing female because of the size, you cant feel the bump behind the vent when BPs get bigger only on babies, I think she is too big to pop so the only way to make sure is to probe, if you was closer i would help with that. And you cant sex by the spurs my female normal has bigger ones then the male im breeding her to.

[CDN_Blood]

According to a very experienced herper on here male boids have a large bump behind the vent.

Yep, a sexually mature male will have a noticeable lump where his junk is (just after the vent). While it's true that both sexes will have spurs, in males they're usually quite a bit larger than on your average female.

There's nothing saying it's not a big, healthy male, although first impressions of it's size would lead one to guess that it's a female.

Another non-invasive way to get an idea of it's sex is to let it crawl off your hand and apply a small amount of pressure underneath it while it's tail passes between your fingers. If you're gentle, you won't do any damage, but you will feel things squishing around if it's a male.

[lady_bug87]

^^ I never even thought to do that..

[CDN_Blood]

^^ I never even thought to do that..

What can I tell ya...I've picked-up a few tricks in the quarter century that I've been at this. Oh man...I suddenly feel *really* old ;)

I should say that the visible lump thing doesn't work for all snakes, but it's usually quite predominant in Royals. If you tried to use this method (or even probing) for something like a Carpet Python, you'd be in for a never-ending cycle of frustration because both methods are totally unreliable for that species.

[marvelfreak]

There's nothing saying it's not a big, healthy male, although first impressions of it's size would lead one to guess that it's a female.

I agree with Todd. I use to have a pair of 6 plus foot males that were huge. Just because it big doesn't mean it's a female there are some fat males out there.

[KORBIN5895]

What can I tell ya...I've picked-up a few tricks in the quarter century that I've been at this. Oh man...I suddenly feel *really* old ;)

I should say that the visible lump thing doesn't work for all snakes, but it's usually quite predominant in Royals. If you tried to use this method (or even probing) for something like a Carpet Python, you'd be in for a never-ending cycle of frustration because both methods are totally unreliable for that species.

So what is a reliable way to check a carpet?

Oh and in response to your first paragraph you are getting pretty close.;)

[CDN_Blood]

So what is a reliable way to check a carpet?

Oh and in response to your first paragraph you are getting pretty close.;)

I don't want to sidetrack this thread, so my final thought on sexing a Carpet is to pop it fresh out of the egg - it's the most reliable method and at that age they don't have enough muscle control that you can do any damage. I'd never recommend popping anything over a few days old.

[lady_bug87]

What can I tell ya...I've picked-up a few tricks in the quarter century that I've been at this. Oh man...I suddenly feel *really* old ;)

Wanna feel reeeaaaalllly old? I TURN a quarter century old in 5 weeks... haha