Best way to sex baby Gartersnakes.

[Chad M. Lane]

My female Puget Sound Gartersnake had 12 babys.
They are all eating well, and look good.

Can you prob them just like other snake species this young? What's the best method of sexing them this young?




Thanks,
Chad

[mustang]

dunno i need to know too

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

They are far too tiny to probe, you would probably severely damage them. Baby garters are very, very easy to sex by popping. In fact, I am at the point now where even before I pop them, I can visually tell the males from the females by looking at the tails. The males have very prominent "parts" and they pop very readily and with little pressure. This is of course, assuming that you know how to pop them and you are able to do it safely!

[Chad M. Lane]

Yes I know how to pop (even though I'm not really good at it), even if you know how, and do it 'safely' you can still injure them. Esp in males, so I'd rather not pop them.

I've never bred anything this small before, and had to sex the baby's.

The 'for sure males' have much longer tails then the 'most likely female' guess That's how I'll have to go about it.

Cheers,
Chad

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Well, good luck! if you get good enough at it you can sex them pretty accurately just by looking and no popping. In fact I sexed my red striped babies first by looking and then afterwards popping to be sure and it turned out I was right just by visual sexing! But there's always that one "male" that's actually just a female with a thick tail... and vice versa! what I like about popping my babies is it requires very, very little pressure to do, and I absolutely hate not being sure about sexes!!! (perfectionist...) I own probes, but I would never probe a thamnophis... as adults there is simply no need to as they are easily sexied visually, and as babies they are just far too tiny and tender!

[ssssnakeluvr]

nearly all adults can be sexed visually....I get a questionable once ina while I need to probe. don't probe baby garters if you aren't experienced....VERY easy to damage baby garters because they are so small and fragile. popping is the best method

[mustang]

Thanks i hope i get it right(visually)

[DrKate]

What features let you visually identify the sex of a baby? What views would be most diagnostic in a photo? I ask because I had no idea that visually sexing juvenile garters was as reliable as folks here suggest. My babies were probed at a month old or so (by someone experienced at probing, with a very tiny probe) and both seemed to be males (there were females in the clutch so we did have a comparison). I've never popped any baby snake so I'm not going to try that. But if visual sexing is actually feasible, I'd certainly make a stab at taking some photos and submit them here for a second opinion...

[guidofatherof5]

What features let you visually identify the sex of a baby? What views would be most diagnostic in a photo? I ask because I had no idea that visually sexing juvenile garters was as reliable as folks here suggest. My babies were probed at a month old or so (by someone experienced at probing, with a very tiny probe) and both seemed to be males (there were females in the clutch so we did have a comparison). I've never popped any baby snake so I'm not going to try that. But if visual sexing is actually feasible, I'd certainly make a stab at taking some photos and submit them here for a second opinion...

Here's a link http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/bree...xing-pics.html Hope it helps.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Visual sexing only gets easy once you have seen enough garters. I have seen hundreds and hundreds between captivity and the wild, and I have sorted many a newborn litter, and it gets easier every time! After a while, it's just an automatic thing! At least, for me it is!