I'm trying to find a female Salandit in Scarlet and Violet but I haven't seen any yet...I know the small female-male ratio, but are there any ways to identify salandit genders without initiating battle every time? Like a smaller neck tie-thing?
Generation VII is the only generation that did not introduce any Pokémon that have gender differences. However, it did introduce a Pokémon that can only evolve if it is a specific gender (only female Salandit can evolve into Salazzle) and a new gender difference for Eevee that was exclusive to the player's partner Eevee.
Short answer:
In Scarlet and Violet (as the comment above suggested), you can lock onto a mon by pressing the ZL button on your Switch. Also, it'll show you the gender of the mon if it has one.
As you already know, Salandit has a gender ratio of 7 males to 1 female. Just keep at it and you'll eventually find your female Salandit.