Im wondering how old my ball python is

I purchased a normal ball python back in may of this year the lady at the reptile store said at the time my snake was 2.5 months old and im wondering how long he/she should be? He/she has shed twice since i bought him/her. I measured the last shed and it was around 33-35 inches long it was about 8-9 inches longer than the last one im wondering if its truely the age and size that it should be?

Measuring the shed isn't reliable because it is so flexible. Do you have a gram scale around? That's what we tend to use here.
Posting a picture may also be helpful because then we can see the general shape of the snake. That might help determine the difference between a slow grower and an malnourished snake.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-K...all+python.jpg this how big he is

I would say, judging from the picture only, 400-600 grams. I could be completely wrong, but if he is then he is more than 2,5 months old. I don't really rely on the length of the snake, but rather the weigh (most of us ball python people tend to use grams and not inches to tell how big, and sometimes old, the snake is). He is pretty though :D

how old would he be if he was 400-600 grams??

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Originally Posted by DPBallPythons

I would say, judging from the picture only, 400-600 grams. I could be completely wrong, but if he is then he is more than 2,5 months old. I don't really rely on the length of the snake, but rather the weigh (most of us ball python people tend to use grams and not inches to tell how big, and sometimes old, the snake is). He is pretty though :D

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He said 2.5 months old when purchased back in may, which would make the ball 6 months old...supposedly

does that seem about right????? they sold it to me as a male but i cant seem to find the hemipenes when i pop Him/Her:confusd:

For starters - that's a nice fatty you have there. :) To find the actual age of the snake you will need to do the following:

1. Count the scales (on the top) from the bottom of the vent to the tip of the tail.
2. Count the number of teeth from the top jaw only.
3. Divide the teeth number into the scale number.
4. And you should come up with a great looking BP, because that's what I see. :D

You can go to a local Herp vet (if one is available) and find out what they would charge to identify the sex for you? At that point, ask a bunch of questions :).

its a normal ball python right? its alot nicer looking than any others ive seen so far! :confusd:

For a 6 month ball python he seem to be well fed and cared for. He looks fine to me :)

As ARamos8 said: go to a local herp vet and get him/her checked up if you want to know the sex of the snake.

It looks like a normal to me. The picture is pretty blurry which makes it hard to decide. There's many morphs similar to normal. But I would count him as a normal until proven otherwise. :)

What a chub! He's got some good weight to him, that's for sure. =] My boy's a year and pushing 350g, so your big boy dwarfs him at half the age! Lol.

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

What a chub! He's got some good weight to him, that's for sure. =] My boy's a year and pushing 350g, so your big boy dwarfs him at half the age! Lol.

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I have 4 2012's (so all are nearly/are a year old) and none are over 5-600g. But I do have a 2013 that is larger than 3 of those 2012's....really goes to show the different growth rates some can have!

Thick snake. Doesn't look malnourished. It also looks closer to a year old from the picture. (500-700 grams?) But, snakes grow at different rates. If you track his weight, you can see how much weight he gains over like 4 months or so and see if he's just a fast grower. He looks good and that is the most important part. Ball pythons live for 20-30 years, so 6 months off or so doesn't really impact how much time you will have with him.

how would i go about counting the snakes teeth????:confusd:

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Originally Posted by dillymann

how would i go about counting the snakes teeth????:confusd:

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im pretty sure that ARamos8 was joking BUT if you still really wanted to count his teeth , you could always ask him to smile for you! :)

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Originally Posted by dillymann

how would i go about counting the snakes teeth????:confusd:

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It was meant as a joke to point out that you have a really good, healthy looking BP regardless of age. :D