Determining age by length?

[marley&me]

We have three new BP, two that are a little over a foot long and then one that is about three and a half feet long. We are unsure of their ages as we got the two smaller ones from a PETCO in town and the bigger one off of Craig's List. Does anyone know how to tell at least somewhat closely as to what age these guys are?

[ballpythonluvr]

You can't really determine age by the size of a snake because they all grow at different rates.

[marley&me]

You can't really determine age by the size of a snake because they all grow at different rates.

Yeah that makes sense. We're kind of new to owning the snakes. We also have a really gorgeous red tailed boa.

But do you by any chance know of any way to tell how old they are?

[decensored]

the ones about a foot are probably 2011 babies. most likely hatched in the spring. 3 1/2 footer could be anywhere from 2+ years. It depends on a lot of factors, mostly feeding. I have a one year old who's over 2 feet and a 3 year old who's the same size (both were adopted) - hope this helped.

Here's a picture of one of our guys who was hatched in summer 2011, he's a lot smaller than his brothers and sisters, but you can get an idea of how big they get within the first year.




cheers

[marley&me]

the ones about a foot are probably 2011 babies. most likely hatched in the spring. 3 1/2 footer could be anywhere from 2+ years. It depends on a lot of factors, mostly feeding. I have a one year old who's over 2 feet and a 3 year old who's the same size (both were adopted) - hope this helped.

Here's a picture of one of our guys who was hatched in summer 2011, he's a lot smaller than his brothers and sisters, but you can get an idea of how big they get within the first year.




cheers

Thank you, this helped a lot!

[WifeOfSlasher]

And to show more on being based on the individual... Our 2010 spring baby is approximately 36" at this time. Our little piggie has grown a ton on his weekly mousy treats.

[snakesRkewl]

Aging snakes by length is like guessing a humans age by height, it doesn't work.
I have seen mid 2009 snakes smaller than early 2011's.

[meowmeowkazoo]

Aging snakes by length is like guessing a humans age by height, it doesn't work.
I have seen mid 2009 snakes smaller than early 2011's.

Agree completely. I recently rescued a ball python that was over a year old, and weighed a whopping 91 grams. It's not an accurate way to measure at all.

[KatStoverReptiles]

Aging snakes by length is like guessing a humans age by height, it doesn't work.
I have seen mid 2009 snakes smaller than early 2011's.

x2 or 3...or whatever # we're on now