how to estimate the age ofmy ball python

Petsmart and Petco are leaders in the field of mass animal abuse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGKufop-HuA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwfRbpgkY0Q&feature=related

Their staff are not trained enough for all the different kinds of animals they care for, or to give proper instructions for each. They don't care enough to get their animals from ethical breeders.

These corporations view animals as inanimate commodities, and their only priority is getting as much income as possible regardless of the animals health.

To answer your question though I read somewhere that BP hatchlings are between 10 and 17 inches, so you can make a vague estimate from there. A few months old probably.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BAfdkayfEU&feature=related

Sorry I don't mean to go off on a tangent on your thread.

I too got my bp at petsmart and they told me the same thing feed1pinky a week. The book i bought said even new hatchlings won't eat pinks because it's not enough food smell to trigger their hunger instinct. That said, offer food once a week but expect it to reject the food from time to time that's normal. By the way mine didn't eat for 3wks when i first brought her home and will only eat mice. She is about 4 months old and eats 1f/t adult mouse once a week.

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Originally Posted by Slim

The vast majority of Petsmart/PETCO ball pythons are Captive Hatched vice Captive Bred. They have a pretty good turnover rate on snakes at those stores, so I would guess your snake is less than 6 months old if you live in a large urban area, and maybe a little more than 6 months if you live off the beaten path.

LGray is right, most Petsmarts don't know how to feed a BP (or any snake for that matter) so they tend to be small and dehydrated when you get them. Get your snake on a regular feeding schedule and make sure it's humidity is right, and you'll be suprised how quickly it'll make weight gains.

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Iggy came from PetCo Sept. 26 weighing a whopping 139 g.
She's now over 600.

Amazing what properly feeding them will do.

[I'm still amazed every time I see her slither out of her hide and display her full, glorious, mongrel self]

:D

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Originally Posted by drezden

Petsmart and Petco are leaders in the field of mass animal abuse.
.

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OMG.

I'm going out right now and feed my new pet rats a special treat and huggy Iggy.

I hate to think they went through any of that.

:tears:

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Originally Posted by raiexel

thanks for the help and i was excited when i got her and forgot to ask how old she was. I was just curious how old she was. I know by looking at all the pics on here I think she's called a ghost by the markings on her. The other problem im having is she dont want to eat im feeding her once a week a f/t fuzzy and i say she smells it but wont take it and she actually put her head on it like a prop. i tried wiggling it and she moves away from it. she did this the last two feedings. Is there any tricks or tips i can try to get her to eat.

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I can not tell from the pic that well but you may have a reg. BP and some BP's will not eat F/T so you may want to try live if she is not eatting also if she is going through a shed she may not eat.

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Originally Posted by jnoh

They told me the same thing.. 1 pinky a week.. her first feeding was a 18 gram mice and she loved it. Someone should educate petsmart or sign a petition. So unfair to all the snakes there...:colbert: the other pets are probably under fed as well..

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I bet anything they sre

*they are

Petco/smart doesn't sell the ghost morph unless you paid ghost morph price (which to Petco standards would probably be about $400). Normals vary widely.

Can you describe your set up in full detail please, not eating is a common response to stress. Could be from the move, or could be from improper husbandry (most likely anything the store employee told you, is wrong).

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Originally Posted by LGray23

Petco/smart doesn't sell the ghost morph unless you paid ghost morph price (which to Petco standards would probably be about $400). Normals vary widely.

Can you describe your set up in full detail please, not eating is a common response to stress. Could be from the move, or could be from improper husbandry (most likely anything the store employee told you, is wrong).

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I'm thinking that this is the case as well. what color are the eyes? you might have a snake going into shed and not a ghost.

Try buying a fuzzy at the least, just to stimulate feeding place the fuzzy on top of the cage to let it defrost, put it on a paper towel. After it defrost use a blowdryer to heat the mouse. I put mine inn a sandwich bag when heating, heat the head a lil more use tweezers and walkk it past the hide. If that doesn't wrk take a small dish and leave it in the cage overnight.