How old are most hatchling BPs when sold?

Sorry if the wording in the title is a bit confusing, not quite sure how to do it without using waaay too many words lol. Anyways, back to my question. How old is standard in the industry for ball pythons to be sold? Only asking because I've been seeing a lot of posts on here about people's new hatchlings and such and they seem a lot larger than my new guy. I thought when I got him he seemed a bit young but I thought maybe that was just normal
Sorry if this is a bit jumbled, again, I'm not exactly sure how to put my thoughts into words right now haha

How much did your little guy weight upon arrival? I believe the standard is 3-5 meals before shipping.

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Originally Posted by Knowell

How much did your little guy weight upon arrival? I believe the standard is 3-5 meals before shipping.

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I didn't get his weight (I wasn't sure if I would need a scale before I got him, I now know that I need one and will be getting one very soon), but I got him on August 4th and he was hatched on July 21st

Usually after 5 successful consecutive meals so it depends on how fast the animal start to eat and the feeding frequency.

The average hatchling will take it's first meal after it's first shed which happens 10 to 14 days after they pip

On average you are looking at 7 weeks of age, however some animals can take up to 6 or even 8 weeks before they start to feed on their own some even more as they need to be assisted.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Usually after 5 successful consecutive meals so it depends on how fast the animal start to eat and the feeding frequency.

The average hatchling will take it's first meal after it's first shed which happens 10 to 14 days after they pip

On average you are looking at 7 weeks of age, however some animals can take up to 6 or even 8 weeks before they start to feed on their own some even more as they need to be assisted.

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Oh dang, so mine is younger than average? I guess he was only about two weeks out of the egg when I got him :(

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Originally Posted by Ditto

Oh dang, so mine is younger than average? I guess he was only about two weeks out of the egg when I got him :(

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It sounds like the breeder sold him after only one meal (or no meals), which sucks :S

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

It sounds like the breeder sold him after only one meal (or no meals), which sucks :S

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Aw man, I feel really bad about buying from them now, if they were willing to do that they must not care much about their animals :(

At only two weeks old there was a good chance he hadn't even eaten yet. Usually they've just had their first shed and then breeders wait a few more days before offering a first meal.

Is yours eating and doing ok?

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Originally Posted by bcr229

At only two weeks old there was a good chance he hadn't even eaten yet. Usually they've just had their first shed and then breeders wait a few more days before offering a first meal.

Is yours eating and doing ok?

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He wouldn't eat for the first week or so but he's eating great now and doing fine as of right now

Cool. It's not unheard of to sell snakes that young or even younger, but it's usually done between breeders where the seller knows the buyer has experience with starting babies.

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Originally Posted by Ditto

Oh dang, so mine is younger than average? I guess he was only about two weeks out of the egg when I got him :(

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You can't determine age by size there is a lot more to this, size out of the egg you can have a 32 grams hatchling like you can have a 90 grams hatchling out of the egg (obviously they don't get started with the same prey size), it also depends how fast the animal is started some start eating food right after shed some will take 6 to 8 weeks, after that it depends if they skip meals, fast, are fed every 5 days or every 7 days, what prey size they are getting (sometime it's insufficient)

Bottom line your snake is the age you were told granted you bought it from a reputable breeder for the rest it's just a guess, I have seen 1 year old at 250 grams and I have seen 1 year old at 1200 grams.

Just like I have 2 hatchling right now that have barely reach 65 grams and yet have had 6 meals already.

The important is that your snake is eating and growing in your care the rest is a number.

As already mentioned. Its a weight not age thing for most breeders. I won't list any under 100g. If they arw good eater that can happen quick. I have a couple picky eaters that I decided to keep that are coming up on 3 years and still less than 400g.