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It can be challenging to determine if a reptile is a male or female, as often there can be a lack of external differences between the sexes (sexual dimorphism). This is in contrast to most mammals where gender determination is generally straight forward.
Birds, for example, are becoming increasingly easier to sex as we now have access to incredible DNA technology where we can tell the sex of your bird from one drop of blood. Unfortunately, this technology is not yet available for reptiles.
For reptile owners, the need to know their reptiles’ gender is critical for understanding many behaviours, as well as alerting them to possible reproductive related diseases. Some conditions can be life-threatening, making gender determination a vital part of owning reptiles.
Examples of some medical conditions that are sex-specific are males developing issues with hemipenes (the organ used to deposit sperm into the female) and various testicular conditions. In contrast, females can have dystocia (difficulty giving birth), egg retention, preovulatory follicular stasis, ovarian torsion, infections and cancers.
This article looks at the different methods of reptile sexing that is commonly offered by The Unusual Pet Vets.
Some reptiles have obvious sexual dimorphism where the males look quite different from the females. Many geckos are an excellent example of this, as the males develop a much larger bulge just caudal (towards the tail) to their cloaca.
Several dragon and monitor species also have external differences, with the males often having larger heads, more obvious femoral pores, growing to a larger size, and in some cases having larger spurs at their tail base. Some species of turtles also have external differences in shell shape and tail length with the males tail generally being longer.
In many species, you can also look for a ‘hemipenal bulges’. In some male lizards, tubular bulges exist on either side of the cloaca running towards the tail tip for a short distance on both sides. This bulge shows where the hemipenes (the reptile equivalent of a penis) are located.
Probing is the most common method of snake sex determination. It involves placing a smooth and round-ended metallic probe into the cloaca then directing it towards the tail where the hemipenes would sit in a male. If the probe advances only a short way, then the snake is a female as there is no hemipene for the probe to advance into.
Probing should only be performed by someone with an appropriate level of experience and training, as there is potential to cause damage if this technique is performed incorrectly.
Some species can be sexed by placing a bright light source up against the tail base (while in a dark room) and looking for the blood vessels that run inside a male’s hemipenes.
This works well in species that are lighter in colour with a relatively thin tail. It is, however, challenging in other species.
Popping involves placing a small amount of pressure at the tail base to evert the hemipenes (if the animal is a male). This technique also has the potential to damage the reptile and should only be attempted by an experienced reptile vet.
Radiography can help to determine the sex of some lizard species (and any species if they have eggs present).
One method that is often used in large monitors involves plain radiography where we are looking for the ossification of the end of a males hemipene. This technique has its limitations as if this is not present; it doesn’t guarantee that the animal is a female as many males do not have hemipenal ossification.
A second technique commonly used involves inserting a small amount of specialised dye into the reptile’s cloaca in a caudal (towards the tail tip) direction. The distribution of the dye looks different in males and females, which allows us to determine the gender. This technique is particularly handy for bluetongue species.
An ultrasound can easily determine a reptile’s gender and can also help to tell if the reptile is reproductively active. It is not painful and can be performed in most species that are large enough (some really small species are just too small to get accurate results).
Many reptiles can also have their gender determined by inserting a small (generally 1.9 mm or 2.7 mm) endoscope into their body cavity to be able to identify whether they have ovaries or testicles visually. This technique requires general anaesthesia, so other methods are often preferred where possible.
As you can see, there are lots of different techniques for determining the sex of a reptile. Every reptile is different, so if you would like to know any more about what the best way would be for your animal, then please get in touch with us.
Very nice and informative service. Lovely vet practice, will definitely recommend to others.
Wonderful and knowledgable vet. Took time to thoroughly check over my rabbit and answer all the questions I had. Would recommend to other rabbit owners.
Highly recommend, caring and compassionate no matter how small your pet. Thank you to the unusual pet vets for treating our very sick little mouse Moon, she came back to full health and is now enjoying life in a new home with new cage mates.
Cannot speak highly enough of the caring and lovely staff at UPV Osborne Park. Particularly to Dr Kelly for the wonderful treatment and compassion she displayed caring for my much loved
Bugz. Definitely recommend this practice. Simply the Best.
It’s a great vet for exotic pets, we would like to thank Dr Kiara and the nurses for all the help they have done for the bunnies especially when they have been unwell.
Gretel – Thankyou for all the tips and advice on what and what not to do with the bunnies.
We will definitely be recommending to all our exotic animal friends.
Fantastic vets! Staff are so helpful and friendly. Vet’s are brilliant, they show so much love and compassion to our animals. 5 stars all the way!!
I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to the gang at Murdoch who helped my family and stimmy Cindy. It was a very stressful time and they assisted us with ease! Pricing was also more than reasonable which we were very grateful for. Thank you guys again, my noodle is now on the mend all to you guys.
Excellent service, caring and professional advice, and very good handling for our pet bird, on our first visit today at The Unusual Pet Vets, Jindalee. Very helpful, and they also provided further reading for us via email after our appointment regarding a few things we asked about. All staff were lovely and friendly – from the initial phone booking (you can do internet bookings too) to and including the consult. Thank you very much – we’ll definitely be back! Highly recommend.
Received the best service from Dr Sasha at the Sunshine Coast clinic. She taught me so much in such a kind manner and was very gentle to my Guinea pig. She then followed up by emailing further information on Guinea pig general care. Highly recommend!
Amazing and caring staff at the Ferntree Gully Clinic. Our baby rat was not well, and they always made time to help and support her. Very knowledgeable and compassionate. Would highly recommend and absolutely will use again. Thank you to everyone at Ferntree Gully for being there for us and Tabby.