# Sexing By Behaviour



## Jules (Apr 18, 2017)

I have a Darwin python. I have never had it sexed. It is about 12 years old. I have had it since 3 months old. 
I have just read that python males generally chase the female for breeding during the winter months. Mine does move a lot during winter and develops a red belly that fells quite warm. Can I assume it is probably male?

P.S. It will not make any difference as I do not intend to breed, but out of interest would like to call it, him or her. "It" sounds like you do not care about your pet. "It" is an inanimate object and snakey is far from that.


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## alex.snaith (Apr 18, 2017)

Buy a probe, 12 bucks - very easy to use!


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## Pauls_Pythons (Apr 18, 2017)

Sexing by behaviour would be a good 50/50 shot. 
Ahhh, so would any other sexing method. 

Try a gold ring, more likely to be accurate than behaviour


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## GBWhite (Apr 18, 2017)

Don't use a probe unless you're very experienced, I've seen too many snakes permanently damaged by both inexperienced and experienced keepers when trying to sex a snake using probes. As PP alludes above you're not guaranteed to get a positive id anyway.

I'd suggest to just be content that you have a healthy snake and don't worry about its sex.

If you must know check the cloaca area of it's shed, you'll see 2 little pieces attached on either side of the vent. If they're long it's a male...if they're short it's a female. This was discussed on another thread a little while ago and someone put up a picture of exactly what I am talking about. I can't recall the title of the thread, maybe someone else could help out here.

George.


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## Nero Egernia (Apr 18, 2017)

Perhaps this can help? The snake that shed this skin was sold to me as male. I could have sworn that they were longer when freshly shed. Since then it has dried out. Still, a fascinating behaviour to observe.


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## nick_75 (Apr 20, 2017)

There are differences between the breeding behavior of males and females. In order to see this behavior you would need a male and a female together in an enclosure during the breeding season and have cooled them in the months before to simulate natural conditions, which triggers breeding behavior. A single python in an enclosure is not going to display any breeding behavior.


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## pinefamily (Apr 20, 2017)

Although, adult pythons will roam more in breeding season. Ours do, perhaps smelling the opposite sex in the room.


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## kittycat17 (Apr 21, 2017)

Sexing by behaviour was my first indicator my 18mth old 'Ophelia' was actually a male.... he has gone off his food every year since he hatched (yes he stopped feeding over his first winter at just a few months old) 
Then at the end of last winter his shed had sperm plugs on it lol 
Got him re probed and yup defs a boy sooo now he's called 'Oberon'


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## pythoninfinite (Apr 21, 2017)

With sub-adult and adult snakes (Carpets), I usually do it visually - the base of the tail in males usually doesn't taper as sharply from the vent as that of a female, and sometimes males will even show a bit of a bulge after the vent, where the hemipenes are located. You may need to see both to have an understanding of what you're looking for, but I reckon this method is even more reliable than probing. Overall size of very mature Carpets is usually a fair indication of sex too - in most cases males tend to be a bit smaller, sometimes quite bit smaller.

Jamie


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