| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Slink |
Posted - 06/03/2013 : 21:34:08
Hi, would anyone be able to give me a rough estimate of the age of my corn snake from the picture below, I know it won't be exact but I didn't think to ask when I bought him/her (I bought Slink about 6 months ago). Also what's the best way to tell the sex of the snake, I have read that the tail is a give away and think that Slink is a female as the tail is fairly long but any more information would be appreciated.
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| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Razee |
Posted - 08/03/2013 : 14:38:25
Sorry, forgot to say - you count the pairs of scales on the underneath of the tail... :-) |
| Razee |
Posted - 08/03/2013 : 14:36:50
I think you count the pairs of scales, from vent, to the tail tip. Females have 59 - 70 pairs, males 70 - 80. Best way to count them is on a shed ( really fiddly, though, I had to use the tip of a pen, and point them out ). Don't rely on it much, though, my Bazilishka's got 70 pairs of scales, Twiddler 71 , so very similar. Some books say, that over 68 pair of scales, it's a male, and she's very much a female...
The thickness of the tail is only obvious, when the get bigger and older, I can't tell the difference on hatchlings, but I can now, on my two. |
| Slink |
Posted - 08/03/2013 : 14:05:15
Thank you all for the info, one other thing though how does the scale counting work (how many scales should males/females have)? |
| Moppet |
Posted - 07/03/2013 : 18:07:10
I don't think it is really possible to tell how old a cornsnake is just by size alone as they all grow at different rates.
Apollo was only 17g at one year old (very very small for that age) whereas Aphrodite was bigger than that by 3 months old!
Sexing by the tail isn't a very accurate way of doing it. However if you just want an educated guess and aren't intending to breed then I would recommend scale counting.
All 6 of my snakes have been sexed by probing or popping and their scale counts match up perfectly.
It is based on the theory that males have longer tails than females to house the hemipenes. If you are interested in trying this, I suggest you wait for an intact shed and use that for the count as it is very tricky (nearly impossible but quite funny) to count them on the actual snake.  |
| lupi lou |
Posted - 07/03/2013 : 16:44:44
sexing by tail is not very accurate the theory is that a males tail is usually longer with it remaininng quick thick after the vent before gradually tapering off, the female tail is shorter and tapers off straight after the vent. Probing is more accurate although still not 100 % and it needs to be done by some one who knows what they are doing. |
| lotabob |
Posted - 07/03/2013 : 00:20:58
I would have said about 6 months to a year, but its a rough guess at best not quite a hatchling anymore and not adult yet either |
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