Sexing question

[JoePat]

I have a little bci that I believe to be a male because when I got him at the pet store i "poped his hemipenes out".  I have never seen this done before and have no reference to the correct size they should be but if i remember right you should know it is a male because the females do not pop out. Correct?  I saw the picture of the still born posted a few days(weeks? cant remember) ago and its hemipenes were much longer than my snakes were.  My snakes hemipenes were about 3-4 mm and the snake was about 18-19 inches.  I did not put a lot of pressure on it and stopped as soon as i saw them pop for fear of harming him. any way sorry for beeing long winded i just wanted to be sure and give you all the info i had make sure i know the sex of this little guy.

[ratman]

Yes, if you saw 3-4mm it is a male. A female does not have hemipenes and will only "pucker". I believe you can be certain that it is a male.

[JoePat]

Thanks ratman. Now if I i could just learn to probe i could sex my Ball Python.

Probing isn't very difficult. You just have to be careful.
Here's some articles that might help..
They are all good.

http://www.pythons.com/probing.html

http://www.corn-utopia.com/Corn%20Utopia%20on%20the%20Web/Sexing%20Snakes%20With%20Probes.htm

http://www.vpi.com/9VPITipsAndTechs/DeterminingTheSexOfSnakes/DeterminingTheSexOfSnakes.htm

[JoePat]

Thanks Djinn, I ll take a look at those and probably find a vet when i am ready to do it just to watch it done first. I stil have trouble getting the little guys to let me check there mouths and heads for mites and any mouth problems. But they are getting better since we had that little mite problem which is hopefully resolved (knock on wood).