# how do you sex a cali kingsnake?



## Lemo

when i bought it it was only very small, therefore they didnt know the sex in the shop as it was very young, now im wondering how to sex it as they are a lovely snake and id love to know so i dont have to say 'it'


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## Jake Cullen

hello, there are a couple of ways in which you can sex a snake you have got probing, popping or you can go by a couple of visual clues. I would only recommend doing the first 2 ways of sexing if you know what your doing if not you can always take the snake to someone who knows how to do this however you can also go by a few visual clues as i mentioned.

Male: tail thicker and longer than in females, and also tapers less evenly to the tip (thicker for a bit then suddenly thinning).

Females: tail thinner and shorter than in males, and tapers smoothly, evenly and more quickly.

hope this helped


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## Lemo

yeah it did thanks, think i own a male then


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## karlh

popping is only suitable for very young snakes, (under 6 months). 

The other reliable method is probing which involves the use of a stainless steel probe, which is lubed with a pretolium jelly and inserted into the cloaca. 

I won't go into too much detail on how to do this as it's something which should be carried out by the more experienced keeper. :2thumb:


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## grannykins

:welcome: Visual clues are not reliable at all. The length of tail thing is supposed to be the same in corns, but one of my breeding females has the longest tail out of all mine. Where do you live? If you have a GOOD reptile shop near you, they will probably probe your snake for you. Or if you live local to someone experienced on here they would do it for you. Perhaps start a thread in the snake section, asking if anyone in your area will do this for you. (Even probing isnt necessarily 100%, as a male can 'clench' and probe female.)


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## Lemo

i think ill go with that idea actually yeah, im up in west yorkshire and just need to look about really


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## yardy

Male: tail thicker and longer than in females, and also tapers less evenly to the tip (thicker for a bit then suddenly thinning).

Females: tail thinner and shorter than in males, and tapers smoothly, evenly and more quickly.

hope this helped [/QUOTE]

I always found that visual works pretty well with calis, even if not with all kinds of snakes.


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## Paul B

if you dont intend to breed them take a good look and make your own mind up. he/she will not mind if you dont guess correctly. All intrusive sexing methods carry a degree of risk so if its not necessary dont do it.

P


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## Bigjim

Place a handbag in front of it. If it starts dancing around the bag its clearly a female. If it ignores it then I suggest its male.

HTH

Jim


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## Deano

Bigjim said:


> Place a handbag in front of it. If it starts dancing around the bag its clearly a female. If it ignores it then I suggest its male.
> 
> HTH
> 
> Jim


You need to play some music for this method to work :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## cazcolecarter

Ask it to explain the offside rule. If it can't it's probably female


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