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Husbandry and Basic Care General stuff about keeping and maintaining cornsnakes in captivity.

Gender?
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Old 07-26-2021, 11:35 AM   #1
nikkirnoto
Gender?

I honestly didn't know where to ask this question. In the long run it really doesn't matter as we won't be breeding but how can you determine the gender of your snake? We were told Roxie is a girl because they tend to be larger than males. I'm just not convinced the petsmart staff is that educated

I know the best way to determine gender is with a vet or probe. I'm not doing a probe or anything but I did read that you can tell on a shed but I see no difference in the size here.

Sooo in short is there someone here who can tell me , is Roxie a girl or boy?

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Old 07-26-2021, 12:04 PM   #2
Shiari
There's a company that you can send a shed to that will DNA sex your snake, Rare Genetics inc.

There is no size difference between the sexes, *especially* when they're *babies*. My largest snake by far is a male. His daughter is my next largest, and the mother of his daughter next after that. Then there's a male, some more females, the remainder of the males and my smallest is a female that is only 3'5" long at 9 years old.
 
Old 07-26-2021, 03:49 PM   #3
hypnoctopus
Since she's still little and a light morph, you can try candling her tail by holding a bright light behind it to check for hemipenes. You could also possibly have a local breeder, reptile store, or reptile vet pop her for you. Another option you might be able to try is counting the scales on the tail. Looks like the very tip is missing, so you might have to wait for the next shed. Size is primarily determined by feeding schedule and genetics - sex doesn't seem to have a part in determining size for corn snakes. But since you have no breeding plans for her, she won't mind if you call her by the wrong gender.
 
Old 07-26-2021, 06:24 PM   #4
nikkirnoto
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiari View Post
There's a company that you can send a shed to that will DNA sex your snake, Rare Genetics inc.

There is no size difference between the sexes, *especially* when they're *babies*. My largest snake by far is a male. His daughter is my next largest, and the mother of his daughter next after that. Then there's a male, some more females, the remainder of the males and my smallest is a female that is only 3'5" long at 9 years old.
I figured size had little to do with gender. It is rather neat that you can DNA test the shed!!!

It's more that I'm curious and not that it would matter much either way so I'm not entirely sure I'd pay for a DNA test but thank you for the info!

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Old 07-26-2021, 06:26 PM   #5
nikkirnoto
Quote:
Originally Posted by hypnoctopus View Post
Since she's still little and a light morph, you can try candling her tail by holding a bright light behind it to check for hemipenes. You could also possibly have a local breeder, reptile store, or reptile vet pop her for you. Another option you might be able to try is counting the scales on the tail. Looks like the very tip is missing, so you might have to wait for the next shed. Size is primarily determined by feeding schedule and genetics - sex doesn't seem to have a part in determining size for corn snakes. But since you have no breeding plans for her, she won't mind if you call her by the wrong gender.
We will try candling if she will let us

We had a Dove named Charlie that we thought was a boy for years until she laid an egg I'm sure Roxie won't mind!

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Old 07-26-2021, 06:34 PM   #6
hypnoctopus
Yeah, that can happen with snakes too! Sometimes someone will have a 'male' snake for years only for it to lay eggs randomly. They can lay eggs without having been bred, so if your snake is actually female, that is a possibility.
 
Old 07-26-2021, 07:02 PM   #7
nikkirnoto
Oh well that's good to know! I'm assuming that won't happen if it doesn't for a few years though

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Old 07-27-2021, 12:07 AM   #8
Shiari
Some females have only started producing dud clutches in their late teens. That happened with a coworker when her snake, who she thought was male, laid her first clutch at 18 years old. And also became eggbound, which sucked. The DNA testing is less than twenty dollars. Candling can work if you know what you're looking for, otherwise waiting until the snake is a couple years old and getting it probed will be the second most accurate. Even probing and popping can be wrong, however.
 
Old 07-27-2021, 12:09 AM   #9
LyraFamily
Rare Genetics did DNA testing on two of our snakes. The results were available in about 10 days and it wasn’t costly.
 
Old 07-27-2021, 08:21 AM   #10
nikkirnoto
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiari View Post
Some females have only started producing dud clutches in their late teens. That happened with a coworker when her snake, who she thought was male, laid her first clutch at 18 years old. And also became eggbound, which sucked. The DNA testing is less than twenty dollars. Candling can work if you know what you're looking for, otherwise waiting until the snake is a couple years old and getting it probed will be the second most accurate. Even probing and popping can be wrong, however.
Oh wow, less than $20! That's not a bad price for DNA testing.

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