Sexing yellow labs

[brendanh]

How large/old do yellow labs have to be to sex them? How might I tell the males and females apart in a group of 3?

Some pics are on my website (below), but may or may not be helpful.

 

[valerie]

There really isn't a reliable way to sex them jsut by looking at them. Some poeple say that the males have more black or blacker fins but i have seen females that look just like males.The only 100% way is to vent them or wait untill you witness them actually breeding.

 

[JSchmidt]

I agree. You gotta vent them to be even reasonably sure of gender.

Jim

 

[brendanh]

I'd rather not. My curiosity doesn't trump my having to remove them from the water and play with their ovipositors. They may never forgive me.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[scholar]

The female's mouth is much lower than the male. I can tell the sex by looking at the head after they are one inch long.

If you post clear side pics, i will be happy to sex them for you.


The balck on the lower fins is the sign of dominance. As such it is not 100%. He who chases is male. She who is chased is female.

 

[brendanh]

I've got one superchaser, one chaser, and one chasee. I think the superchaser chases everything because he's the biggest. So my guess is 2 males and a female. I'll take some more pics tomorrow.

 

[valerie]

He who chases is male. She who is chased is female.

This isn't always the case. I my tanks it seems that most of the chasing is between the dominate male and the other sub-dominate males. He does at times chase the females but i woudl say the majority of the time he's chasing other males.

 

[JSchmidt]

Originally posted by scholar
The female's mouth is much lower than the male. I can tell the sex by looking at the head after they are one inch long.

I've not heard of this before. Do you have any sources that support this? Everything I've read always says venting is the only way. I'm always open to learning new things...

Jim

 

[scholar]

So far it has been 100% accurate. My buddy said that his LFS owner can tell by looking at them too.

If you keep looking at them, then slowly the difference in the shape ofthe face become clear.