Is my boa a true red tail boa...and how can i find out if my snake is male or female?

Question

i asked this question before and the guy said if you bought it from petco its probably a colombian or common boa but i went and asked petco whether my snake is a common boa (boa constrictor imperator) or a red tail boa (boa constrictor constrictor) ...and they said that its a red tail boa ....but im still not sure if there correct ......soo is there a way to tell by looking at it or is there somewhere i can take it to ask an expert or something.....and also i would like to find out if my boas or female or male i was wondering how to find that out to

Answer 1

Petco=Colombian Red =Tail

The term true red tails is saved for Boas from Suriname or Guyana, etc.  "True-red tails are more expensive and better looking snakes.  As far as male or female, an experienced herpetologist would be able to tell by sight (females shorter thicker tail from cloaca to tip, males longer thinner from cloaca to tip).  A vet may be able to tell by site or may want to probe.  If possible get an experienced reptile breeder of herpetologist to do it by site.  Good luck.

Answer 2

The people at Petco call it what it is labeled. They don't know the scientific differences. They call them red tail boas, but that doesn't mean they are. Just because a boa has a red tail doesn't make it a true red tail. Most people are unaware of the differences and to them, if it has a red tail, it's a red tail boa, even if this is not true. Petco calls them red tail boas because that is a popular name. People would rather buy something called a "red tail boa" than something called a "Colombian boa" or "common boa". I've seen many things mislabeled at Petco, such as albino desert kingsnakes being called "lavendar kingsnakes", even though they give the same name to albino California kingsnakes as well. I assure you that yours is almost certainly a BCI. I've been doing this a long time and I breed BCI's. And I hate to say it, but most people here on Yahoo answers won't know the difference between BCC and BCI. The best thing you can do is go to the following link, set up an account, and ask your question there. The people on the forum for which I've provided the link are far more knowledgable than you could ever hope to find here on Yahoo and they will probably tell you the same thing I have.

http://redtailboa.net/

As for sexing, I personally find baby boas to be the easiest snake there is to s*x. Normally, popping and probing are the only ways to s*x a snake and both can be harmful to the snake if done incorrectly. But with boas, there is a third method which is safe for you to do without hurting the snake. Place your index finger directly on the snake's vent (where it poops) and your thumb on the backbone directly above the vent. Applying light pressure, slide your finger and thumb down towards the tip of the tail. If you feel a pop, like a rubber band popping, about 12 or so scales past the vent, you have a male. The popping is you reaching the end of the snake's hemipenes, causing it to pop. No pop, female. This method is not the same as pop sexing, or popping, which is where you pop the sexual organs out of the vent. I don't now the name for this method, but it is very effective on boas because males have pretty large sexual organs, if you know what I'm saying. If this doesn't make sense or you're unsure, e-mail me and I'll try to explain it better and maybe even take pictures of me doing it with a baby boa. This third method is very accurate, very easy once you get the hang of it, and safe for beginners to do.

Answer 3

you can probe snakes you can "pop" them and all kinds of stuff to s*x them but you can usually tell if they are male or female by the shape of their tail.  if its a long and skinny tail then its probably a female if there is a bulge in the tail its probably male...i havent been wrong yet in telling if snakes are male or feamle.

Answer 4

The patterns/saddles down it's back. Are they more like ( ) or  { } ?

As far as s*x goes you can either have it probed or popped by someone who knows what they are doing. If you've never done either before I don't recommend it as you can hurt or even kill the animal.

http://www.vpi.com/publications/determin...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cEIEdh-L_EU