Sexing with a flashlight?

[Rushthezeppelin]

Saw on a facebook post somebody sexing bearded dragons with a flashlight on their tails....the sex organs have very distinct silhouettes. Anyone know if this is possible to do with garters as well?

[muggy2419]

The light will not shine through the snakes, I just tried it on a large adult female to no success, and tried it on my 1 year old (male I think) and even on the baby, the light will not shine through, so you can't see anything. I was hoping this would work as it could've made things a lot easier.

[guidofatherof5]

It may work on an albino.

[Albert Clark]

I know there is a special tool that some people use. It's a type of magnifying tool and the name escapes me. It is not a probe. Flashlight is a new one on me though.

[Rushthezeppelin]

It may work on an albino.

That's what I'm thinking. Also perhaps you guys just aren't using a bright enough flashlight as people are doing this on full grown BDs with tails easily as thick as a male adult garter at least. And they have nice dark scaling.

[joeysgreen]

The trick to trans-illumination is you want a bright, focal light. The new cell phones actually have a really good one, but a strong pen light will often work. With all this said, it doesn't work all the time. I can trans-illuminate the jugular vein of a leopard gecko and a crested gecko, but try it on a gargoyle gecko and nothing shines through.
The magnifying tool mentioned above is probably a jeweler's loop; it's just a small magnifying glass. More than useless if you're trying to sex a garter snake.

In all honestly, garters are easy enough to sex visually, and confirm with probing as necessary, that alternative methods aren't really in need.

Ian