i need help with my snake?

Question

hi I have a ball python and I need to kno how to tell if its a male or female also y does it stick out its toung and stuff like that please just tell me as much at u kno I wanna take good care of it

Answer 1

First, what is his name. Do you talk to your snake? Does he sleep with you? (I know that is a little personal, but therapy is therapy as they say)
What do you feel about the snake that you have not admitted to anyone else? Does the snake remind you of anyone? When did you get attached to the snake.
So snakes make you laugh? Think about all of that, and then give the snake to someone else. Snakes are bad for business.

Answer 2

The only way to sex a snake is to have it popped or probed. If you don't know how to do that don't try it. A vet would be able to help you with that. If you don't know what you're doing you can injure the snake. A snake flicks its forked tongue to pick up scents. The forks on its tongue help the snake tell the direction the smell came from. If you want to take really good care of your new friend you should do as much research on them as you can. There are lots of books about caring for Ball Pythons. Also you can check out these care sheets.

http://www.kingsnake.com/ballpythonguide/index.html
http://www.anapsid.org/ball.html

They are both very good. Make sure you follow them closely. Reptiles have special needs. Everything has to be perfect for them to live in captivity. Good luck with your pet.

Answer 3

I have been told by a ball python owner and daughter of a vet that a good way to tell the sex of a ball python is to look at their tails. Males have tail that get steadily thinner as they progress further but females with have a kind of bulge of fat and then suddenly get thinner and end. In other words if the tail of your snake looks perfectly normal (no bulges) it will be a male. If you do see a bulge you can count on it being a female. I've also noticed both her snakes have spurs on their back ends, however they are also both males so i would have nothing to compare that to.

Answer 4

I don't know how to sex a ball python. I do know that they only get to a maximum length of about 5 1/2 feet when fully grown. They don't hurt people. They stick out their tongues as a way to sense their surroundings like smelling and tasting and feeling vibrations. They sense body heat and when something is too big for them to digest they will not strike at it unless it's self defense. Ball pythons are like puppies. You have to hold them and caress them and help them digest their food. It's always best to handle them after they have been fed. A fully grown python will eat 1 small or medium sized rat a week. They may go for weeks or even months at a time without eating. I feed my snakes live prey. It's entertaining and more natural for them. If the rat is too big the snake will not eat it. Rats get expensive when your snake is eating one a week.

Answer 5

Finding out the gender is harder than just looking at the snake. A qualified reptile vet will be able to help. Yes, males will have larger spurs near the cloaca (the place where the poo comes out), but females have them as well (though they are smaller). Females will also have shorter tails than the males. However, neither of these methods is entirely fool-proof.

The tongue thing -- That's how they smell. They have an organ in their necks called the Jacobson's organ that they use for recognizing scents.

Answer 6

Spurs are not an accurate way to sex ball pythons and both sexes have them, both with varying sizes. The only way to know for sure is to have it probed by someone more experienced than yourself. As far as the other stuff goes, read some books, do some research, you arent going inconsistant answers here so better go to reliable sources.

Answer 7

Take the snake to someone who knows what they are doing and have them either pop or probe your snake.
Both male and females can have spurs so that isn't an accurate way to tell.

They flick their tongue just to sense what is going on.

And whatever you do... Please don't ever handle your snake right after they eat. Chaz is wrong. You do not have to help them digest food. In fact you are supposed to leave them alone for a day or 2 after eating to give them a chance to properly digest or else it can cause them to regurge.(vomit).

Answer 8

you have to take your snake to someone that knows what they are doing to tell the sex they use a probe and depending apon how much it goes in at least thats what I read. You should either buy a book from the pet store or go to your library to check out a reptile book I think it will explain all you need to know.

Answer 9

I believe male pythons have spurs ( little spikey things) near their "rear" opening. These are used to hold on to the female.
When they flick their tongue they are tasting the air it's how they smell. They pick up particles out of the air. Their nostrils are actually what they use to detect heat.

Answer 10

to find out if it's male or female it needs to be probed and if you do it you could injure the snake. bring it to a vet. it sticks it's tongue out to smell feed it plenty of mice