Hemipenis bulges in male T. gigas species as a sexing method

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Hemipenis bulges in male T. gigas species as a sexing method

Postby Katrina » Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:49 am

Brad and I were having an interesting discussion regarding bulges in male gigas BTS and using that as a method for sexing... I've found that some have very, very obvious bulges but others don't really have noticeable bulges but are still male. I grabbed some pictures of my males or presumed males, hopefully others can add pics / insight. I was also trying to determine 'squishyness', but I think that is too subjective to use. I'm missing Nevada pics, I'll try to get some up later.

From what I've seen, obvious bulges (see the last set of pics, Roswell) are definitely male. Some, like Rollie, don't have obvious bulges but are confirmed males and look 100% male.

Based on bulges alone, I'd sex Roswell, Kira and Nevada as male. Visually, Kira and Roswell are very male - so the bulges aren't really necessary. Riff-Raff and Simon are not good subjects for visual sexing and the bulges (or lack thereof) aren't helping at all. Rollie is obviously male, but has no bulges.

From what you have seen, how useful a tool for sexing is this? Have you seen this in Australian species, or just Gigas species?

Rollie - confirmed male. Not much of a bulge.
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Phoenix - unknown sex.
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Kira - confirmed male. Pretty obvious bulge.
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Simon - unconfirmed, 80-90% sure male.
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Riff-Raff - confirmed male.
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Roswell - confirmed male.
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Re: Hemipenis bulges in male T. gigas species as a sexing me

Postby xxmonitorlizardxx » Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:51 pm

Bill Schwinn says he sees enlarged hemipenal bulges after brumation.
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Re: Hemipenis bulges in male T. gigas species as a sexing me

Postby Jeff » Sat Feb 18, 2012 3:22 pm

Personally I see these bulges the same way I see a skink having an enormous triangular head. If a skink's head is so much larger and angular than average that it is obvious to anyone who looks at it, then there is a very good chance that the skink is a male. It's the same way with hemipenile bulges. If they are blatanly obvious, they are useful for sexing.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of male BTS don't have heads large enough to be considered obviously male. I think many "bulges" are less than extreme as well. Sometimes you see one that gives a clear indication, but most are a bit ambiguous.

Another thing I believe is that both boof heads and hemi bulges become more obvious as a skink ages.
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Re: Hemipenis bulges in male T. gigas species as a sexing me

Postby Nae » Sat Feb 18, 2012 9:46 pm

Ive seen this in shingles also.

Id say that it could very well go down as just an additional factor in improving the chance of sexing guesses to be correct~
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Re: Hemipenis bulges in male T. gigas species as a sexing me

Postby Richard.C » Mon Feb 20, 2012 4:08 pm

bloody hell,roswell is well endowed,lol

some males with a bit of fat reserve hide there bulges well,never seen gigas in the flesh though,but like sexing most tiliqua,theres always some that wont play by the book and be easily visually sexed,but as variety of different things to look at it all ways helps,the squishyness of it i cant see in any i have,i wouldnt be comfy going off squishyness,thats why i like to go off multiple areas with trying to sex them,eg head size,over all build,hemipene bulges,tail thickness,nose width compared to back of head width and so on and so forth,there are always the odd one or 2 that could go either way,i have one blotch ,nsw alpine i swear is female,but i keep having my doubts,and these guys are normally pretty easy to sex,its got the girliest head,but its tail isnt overly solid,its not super long,so more maley looking there
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Re: Hemipenis bulges in male T. gigas species as a sexing me

Postby KateBeer » Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:59 am

I have to say I have used this as a factor myself before
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Re: Hemipenis bulges in male T. gigas species as a sexing me

Postby Katrina » Wed Feb 29, 2012 10:33 am

KateBeer wrote:I have to say I have used this as a factor myself before


With what species? I have only seen this in Meraukes, but I only have Meraukes and Northerns.

Interesting that Bill Schwinn noticed it increased after brumation. I'll watch to see how it changes over the year.

Richard.C wrote:bloody hell,roswell is well endowed,lol


:hehe: Too bad all he wants to do is cuddle with girls.
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Re: Hemipenis bulges in male T. gigas species as a sexing me

Postby Richard.C » Thu Mar 01, 2012 12:58 am

the girls are probably saying it wont fit,lol,cuddles only mister

ive noticed the buldges in westerns,but saying that the female has them to,but not as big looking,but her tail is alot solider,the males is reasonably solid to and westerns are tricky to sex reliably.ill try and get a pic of them close up to show what i mean
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Re: Hemipenis bulges in male T. gigas species as a sexing me

Postby KateBeer » Thu Mar 08, 2012 8:17 am

I've noticed it in Meraukes (T.G.Evenescens), and Irian Jaya Tiliqua Sp. I guess its easier in Meraukes as their tails are longer and slimmer than other species? And my male is a skinny bean! It would be hard not to notice it. I appreciate it is super hard to take photographs of it, I kind of 'bird's eye view' look over the back legs/base of tail. I've just used it as a large factor in sexing my pink tongue skinks, though I'm not sure if that is a common occurence..?
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Re: Hemipenis bulges in male T. gigas species as a sexing me

Postby Spindown » Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:31 pm

oh man Jeff...I've got to take pics of my male Northerns head. His head is HUGE compared to my other 3, and he is confirmed male. He also has very obvious hemi bulges, but he is quite a bit older than my others at 8-10 yo.
My indo just looks like...and indo, but i know hes a boy :D

WOW at Roswell, thats how my Northerns are!
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