um how can you tell if a corns a boy or girl

hey everyone,
my cornsnake is 5 months old and i was wondering how am I supposed to tell if he's a boy or girl? Just wondering or do I have to wait till he's older

Well for hatchlings, it's not too hard. But please do remember that you should get an experienced herper that has done this before to show you how it is done. It's called 'popping' you pop the hemipenis out of the snake if it's a boy. You can't pop anything out of a gal. From an experienced herper, poping should be around 80% correct. But poping together with probing, should be at least 95% correct.
Remember both of these methods should be done with experienced herpers, unexperienced herpers doing this might have the possiblity of hurting the snake and making future breeding not possible.

Popping means putting a little bit of pressure at the end of the tail from bottom towards the vent. If its a male, the hemipenes should pop out. If it's a gal, nothing would happen (as in nothing should pop out, well.....hahah maybe poop would pop out.... ) Poping should only be done to hatchlings or at max yearling. Anything bigger than that might also lead to hurting the snake's reprodutive system....which will effect future breeding.

Probing is using tools to check if the snake is a male or female. The tools would go into the vent and if it could be in for around 8 scales it should be a male. 4-5 scales or less it should be a female.

Last warning.....remember to let an experience herper do this..... don't do it for fun when you are unexperienced......

Good luck and Happy Herping!

ok thanx

ya I think I'll wait till he/she's a bit bigger. thanx thoe
snakes rule

Just want to reiterate what Simon said twice in his last post.

Remember to let an experienced herper or vet sex your snake. (Untill you are confident enough that you can do it yourself without harming your own pets that is)

-Kev

Ps,
A real quick (and not as reliable way) of sexing them is this: males have a long slender tail (the bit after the anus) whereas females have shorter stubbier tails.
Hope that helps!

Rachel x

Yes, rachel is also correct. I wish I had some photos on hand to post to show the differences. Anyone have some photos?

-Kev

I don't have any pictures. But there are some pictures comparing male/female tails in the Corn Snake Manual, which I gather just about EVERY person on this forum owns. And nearly everybody has recommended that someone else get it, too.

I remember kayla quoting the Manual in a post, so she must have it... Kayla, look in your Corn Snake Manual!

Maybe someone with the manual could scan the picture?

-Kev

Well yes I would say that the photo thing and the vent thing is good......but then according to nicky, his corn is only 5 months old......so it's kind of hard to compare the vent of a girl or a boy. But also nicky said that his corn is 2 feet long.....maybe it is possible but I am not sure about that.

hey nicky, since you live in mississagua Ontario, I might be able to help you identify your snake if I come. (But that won't be soon as my finals exams are here already....I shouldn't be on this forum too much....but I just can't stand not reading this page...)

Are you going to go to the snake expo on June 23rd? It's in mississagua. If you are, bring it along and ask someone there to help you identify it, it might be good. Or I can help you since I'll be going there for sure (unless there is another exam on that date or after that date...)....

Good Luck and Happy Herping!