Battle of the Sexes!

**Minkness** · 11-29-15, 05:18 PM

So, as I dream of my future snakes and go over the list, and think of what I have now, I have realized that I have a slight gender bias. I seem to be more fond of female snakes to male snakes. This seems to go for more animals as well. I have my breeding geckos of course I need more females to males, but when I think about it...I actually like the girls MORE....I have a girl dog, a girl cat, a girl horse, and 4 female snakes....and as I think of owning more snakes, I find myself more inclined to want a female of some peices, or a male of others for no real reason.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of preference? If so, does it have any particular reason? (Other than breeding purposes)

**EL Ziggy** · 11-29-15, 06:10 PM

As far as snakes go I prefer to have pairs because I'm a bit compulsive about things being balanced. With the exception of my 2.0 carpets all my snakes are 1.1's. Now my SO is worried about me getting 2 female carpets for my males. I admit it's bothering me but so far I've controlled my impulses to balance things out. Even if I just add one female I'd feel better because that would give me 7 snakes, which is one of my favorite prime numbers. I slightly favor female dogs and cats over males but I've kept more males. The best dog I ever had was a female rottweiler (RIP Lucky). My cat is a female but she doesn't know she's a cat.

Wingbeats · 11-29-15, 06:25 PM

I purposely got females for both of my snakes because I don't have breeding plans, and female rainbow boas are larger than males.

I like the bigger ladies for rainbow boas, and no behavior weirdness during breeding season

With other animals, it just sort of worked out. Both of my cats are female, but both are random strays/barn kitties and so it just so happened they are both female when they got rescued.

I have no idea the sexes of my fish, except for my male betta. Because he's pretty.

SnoopySnake · 11-29-15, 06:46 PM

For me, preferred gender depends on the species. My rainbow boas are a pair, because I want to breed them, but my male was my first one because males stay smaller. My retic is male because males were cheaper and stay smaller. I preferred a male white lip because of size but wasn't set on it and would've gotten him even if he would've been female.

chairman · 11-29-15, 08:13 PM

I'm with everyone that prefers to keep pairs. I do prefer males in species that I never intend to breed because they're usually more manageable in terms of cost, size, and a dearth of reproductive issues; but I guess that preference is driven more by practicality vs a genuine preference for males.

I have observed, much to my consternation, that male crested geckos tend to be significantly prettier than females. Thus I tend to want to acquire males even though they cannot be housed communally like the females can.

**Minkness** · 11-29-15, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chairman

I have observed, much to my consternation, that male crested geckos tend to be significantly prettier than females. Thus I tend to want to acquire males even though they cannot be housed communally like the females can.

That depends on the gecko really. My females well outshine the males for color, pattern, and in one case, structure. Maybe I just got lucky?

chairman · 11-29-15, 08:57 PM

Well, perhaps my opinion on what makes a gecko appealing is different. Could be that the genes in my collection are more likely to appear in males. Could be that I have so few females hatching out compared to males that the boys have a better chance of exhibiting a coloration that I like. It really does seem that of all the geckos I've hatched, the prettiest ones inspire the most colorful language when the loupe comes out.

**Minkness** · 11-29-15, 09:05 PM

Hmmm....that could be the case. I do have 3 hold backs right now that are too small for sexing yet, but there's 1 I'm really hoping turns out female lol.

Sylphie · 11-30-15, 03:33 AM

Well if I'd have to choose only one gender I would go with males. I noticed that males are a lot calmer than females, even with breeding season being on (but I'm speaking only about colubrids, I don't have experience with others).

But as I'm having species that I really like I'm trying to have at least 1.1 to try breeding in future... and it's more economical to have harems with few females than one female and 3 males right?

**Tsubaki** · 11-30-15, 05:36 AM

I don't really have a preference now I'm no longer breeding as much, males are a tad more iffy as adults in the world of giants.. But either is fine with me tbh! Currently have 2 females over 4 males.. spiders i do not want males though, females being bigger/prettier and living longer.

trailblazer295 · 11-30-15, 07:17 AM

I have male snakes because they stay smaller so caging I can afford gives them more space then if they are bigger. Female cresties so I can house 2 together and a female cat because that's what she ended up being.

Slithersaurus · 11-30-15, 11:50 AM

Most of my snakes are male. My kingsnake is male due to a random chance. (I just purchased him not thinking about sex and it turned out that he is a male.) Both of my P. obsoleta rats are male because there are none of female avialable when I bought the first one and the second one is a prize from contest and he came to me as male as well. My corns however are 2 females and one male as I want to breed them with that ratio. My flying snake is a female because I just like her appearance which is a little more bluish than most flying snake, again it has nothing to do with sex at all, just an individual's appearance.

**Minkness** · 11-30-15, 12:23 PM

Ah yes....I like the females if smaller breeds because they do get bigger (like my western hogs) but I like the idea of a male boa (not sure if BCC or BCI yet) and a female Hog island boa since I also generally like having pairs as well. Already planning on saving up for a male carpet, even if I never breed them lol. But mostly, I seem to just genuinely adore female snakes and lizards lol.

Handyhens · 11-30-15, 01:27 PM

I tend to have female animals too. I don't usually care what gender my pets are, but more often than not my pets turn out to be female. My dog and cat are both female, all 4 chickens are hens because a rooster is against the law, we refer to our big angelfish as a "she", and I have a sneaking suspicion that my king snake is a girl. To be totally honest, we don't have any proven male animals. My tortoise is showing male traits, but he is to young to know for sure.

IW17 · 12-03-15, 08:16 PM

I have more males for several reasons.

1. They are often available as individuals when females are only sold in pairs/trios
2. There size is in the range I like, smaller in pythons and boids, larger in colubrids (generally)
3. They tend to be cheaper than females

That being said I own several females, and sex alone doesn't deter me from an animal.