Sexing boas ?

[reinhard]

Hi,

I'm having trouble sexing my pets again. I just recently started sexing my mice accurately, so please be patient with me, I'll get it right some time soon. I was having trouble sexing my boas. I need to sell 2 of the 5 and don't want to end up with 2 males. I've taken my boas to 3 different people to sex them, all 3 had different answers. Can you please help me? I've read a lot about this, and can't seem to make up my mind about it. Here's a pic of my favourite one.I would surely like to keep him.


Fixed - Pinky

[Bushbaby]

You defenitly can't sex Boas by just looking at them. Adults are a bit easier to sex by eye, but the ideal would be to have it either popped, or even better probed by someone who knows what they are doing.

Where are you from? Possibly you could pop round and BV or I can probe them for you. How old are they?

[reinhard]

I'm from Bloemhof North West. I had them probed, but I'm not so sure about the females. I'm almost sure the one in the picture is a male, but he probed the one "male"(according to the pet shop owner I bought it from) as being a female.
They are 6 months old and 70cm+. That picture is an old one. The problem is, that I can't pop them anymore, otherwise I would've known. I think I'll just take the chance and keep the 2 that I like. I understand you can check the sex by looking at the spurs. How does that work?

Pinky, thanks for fixing the pic.

[Bushbaby]

Males Spurs are supposed to be larger than a females, but I've seen some butch females, so it's not a sure way to tell.

I have no idea where Bloemhof is, but I know there's a guy in Lichtenburg who has a good idea about what he is doing, and possibly you could get the snake to him.

Best is to keep the two you like the most. Even if they are the same sex, you will still have some nice snakes.

[reinhard]

I think I'll just go with the last guys probe. He's supposed to know what he's talking about, but he says he doesn't have a lot of exp with boas. 30 years exp however with indiginous cobras, mambas, vipers and stuff. I guess I'm just being paranoid, cause I don't want to sell someone a snake of unknown sex.