Gender Determination Question

I'm trying to determine whether or not the butter motley we got a couple weeks ago is a male or female. I think (hope might be a better word) it's a female, but I'm not certain. I candled her as best I could, and couldn't see any sign of hemipenes. I've read that the number of scales on the underside of the snake from the cloaca to the tip of the tail is another indicator. My confusion is that there are two rows of scales, side by side, split down the middle. Am I supposed to count one row and multiply by two or just count the scales on one side?

Just fyi, I know these methods don't provide proof positive of gender, especially when hoping for a female. I'm just looking for indicators. Any help, opinions, tips are genuinely appreciated.

you count all the scales.

The only 100% full proof method is to have it examined by a vet or other qualified person that can "Probe the snake." You should not try this yourself as you could injure the animal if you don't know how.

Having said that, visual inspections are relatively reliable, and I'm certainly no expert, but I have guessed at dozens of snakes over the years and only been wrong 2 or 3 times.

Not being able to examine your snake, and looking only at the picture, I'm saying it's a female. But again, I could be wrong.

Your corn may be too large to use the popping method of sex determination, so as Karl mentioned the snake should be probed for an accurate assessment. Unfortunately, a visit to the vet will probably cost as much, or more, than you paid for the corn. I would seek snake breeders in your local area, perhaps through a local herpetological society for assistance. Your corn appears to be a female, but they can fool you. One of the females I got a couple years ago bred one of the other females when I put them together to clean their containers. The original breeder said it was female, and visually it looked like a female, but I failed to probe it and there you go. At least it was a fertile, proven male when I sold it.

Thank you both for the input!