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Male? Female? Overweight???? *pics*

jennrosefx

jennrosefx

*Insert Witty Title Here*
I took a bunch of pics of Pumpkin's vent area today. I've been noticing that she's gotten rather "thick" around that area over the past 6 months or so. It's not so noticeable from above or below, but in profile, she looks quite chunky. Also, I only say she, because that is what the petstore told me...however, she was never probed. They just glanced at her tail. So, what do you guys think? Male? Female? Fat? If so, what would you recomend?

As far as the specs-

She's guessed to be a late '04 (I'm guessing she's maybe a year and a half to two years old).

At her last measurement and weight she was 35" long and 240 grams (about a few weeks ago).

She currently gets one small mouse every 7-8 days. She defecates on average 3-4 days after she eats like clockwork, and is faily active nightly by day 4 or 5 after eating. I take her out around 4 days a week as well, so she gets exercise then as well.

Anyways, here are pics from ALL angles. Please ignore my HIDEOUS nails...I was making molds all day today and it destroyed my hands. Yuck!

tail1.jpg


tail2.jpg


tail3.jpg


The thickness is extra noticable in this pic. It varries depending on how she (he?) holds her tail. In the following pic it's barely noticable. The norm with her seems to be somewhere in between the two.

tail4.jpg


tail5.jpg


What do ya think?

Thanks!!
 
Well I am the absolute worst at determining gender by tail, but it looks female to me.

The area just past the vent tapers down pretty quick, and in most males I've seen they carry the same thickness at the vent down for another half inch or so. Which is where they carry their hemipenes all tucked away, just past the vent. So my inexperienced vote would be female.

About overweight issues, taking pictures of the vent doesn't really help much in that regard. Just because I have a big butt doesn't mean the rest of me is fat too. ;)

A picture of the whole snake would be more helpful in determining that. Although from her age and the amount that she's eating, I highly doubt that she's overweight yet.

If you're never going to breed her, I'd say once she gets to adulthood (300-400g) I'd cut her feeding back to every 10 days or so. My breeding females get fed every 7 days most of the year. My males, regardless of breeding, are fed on every 10-14 days, otherwise they get pudgy from the extra food. A female who doesn't reproduce doesn't need that many calories, I'd say. The eggs take quite a bit of fat off of them, but if they're not producing any, they shouldn't need as much food.

But I guess time will tell and each snake is an individual. ;)
 
"Just because I have a big butt, doesn't mean the rest of me is fat too!"

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Well, here is a recent full body shot:

body1.jpg


As for breeding, I really don't have any intention of breeding her. It interests me, but I don't think I'd have the time or space to start diving into that. So yeah, moving to every 10 days might not be a bad idea when she hits "Adult Weight"....which, up until right now, I wasn't even sure what "Adult Weight" was! :)
 
Actually, I probably should have cropped that photo. I guess I'm going to have to become a contributing member so I can edit all my mistakes...hehehehe...

body2.jpg
 
Well she does look well-fed to me, whether that constituted overweight or not I don't know.

She definitely looks bigger in girth than some of my 03's on the same every 7 days schedule. All snakes are individuals, so that may have something to do with it. Could also be the source of your feeders. Some people I'm convinced are buying steroid laced feeders. =P

Usually if they're overweight at that age, they exhibit what Joejr14 calls 'TAH', Tiny-Ass Head. ;)

And you can't go wrong with being a Contributor, not only can you edit posts, but you get this incurable fuzzy feeling all over for doing a "good deed". :)
 
Nooooo! Not TAH!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Poor Pumpkin...she has a big butt and a tiny head....she'll get teased at school...I just know it!!!

So, maybe I should put her on every 8 or 9 days now??

And yes...contributed. Good deed done. Now I can sleep tonight. Hahahaha!
 
I would say female by those pictures of her tail. This is not a 100% accurate of sexing a snake, however. I suggest finding someone that is experienced in probing.
 
Jenn, how far away are you from me? I could probe her for you if you want to be sure. I'm in Santa Clarita.
 
Really? I'm not toooo far. I'm in Burbank. That's what...20 miles or so? I know I worked out that way for a film once. There's a place in Stanton who said they could probe my snakes for me...but Santa Clarita is definatly closer than that. I'm actually curious about Pumpkin and Worm (the leucy texas rat)...I purchased Worm online as a "male"...but a couple people have looked at him thinking female. Again, it's all really for pure curiosities sake, as I really have no intent to breed either of them.

Worm is only around 21" long at the moment...do you think I should wait until he gets a bit larger before trying to have him probed?
 
You could probe him if you want. I have smaller probes. E-mail me and we can get together.
 
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