Mangrove Snake

[ToddBecker]

Hello Everyone, Quick question, Is there any sexual dimorphism in Boiga dendraphila's. I have a wild caught "male" that I purchased at a show a month or so ago. I have never probed it but had a friend look it over and he tried to manipulate"pop" it and is pretty sure it is a female. From strictly physical appearances I am also inclined to thinking it is female. This is my first boiga and if it is similiar to most snakes then what makes me think it is a female is the fact that it has what appears to be a very long slender tail. Is this somewhat accurate with boigas. And if probing is necassary what should the scale count be for males and females. Thanks in advance for any assistance, Todd

[gonesnakee]

Popping is only good for sexing neonates (babies). Probing it will be the only accurrate way to sex it. As far as Colubrids in general go its the males that have the longer tails. Males tails are longer & will taper gradually past the vent toward the tail, a females tail will be shorter & will taper quite abruptly right after the vent usually. As for scale counts I can't say, but it should be pretty much the same as most all Colubrids & probe deep if its male & shallow if its a female. A female likely wouldn't probe more than 3-4 scales deep & a male would probe considerably deeper. Mark