Hatchling Size

[Vasiliki]

Good morning, everyone,

I tried searching for this topic, but wasn't exactly sure how to phrase my search. Everything that came up was kind of jumbled or didn't have the exact information I was curious about.

Right now I am waiting (as patiently as I can) for my baby Pied. He hatched out in May and has been with my good friend who bred him. She is holding onto him to get him firmly established on F/T for me. Him and his brother hatched out smaller than their female siblings, so the females are ready to go, but the two boys are requiring another meal or two.

Obviously I'm very happy with the pride my breeder takes in making sure her babies are eating well, putting on weight, taking F/T and generally looking good. I really am trying to be patient, haha. But each week seems like such a drag.

She said my hatchling is currently hovering around 89g. But she wants to wait until he's around 100g before he comes to my place, which I said I'm fine with. Mainly because she's making sure he's taking his F/T rats like a good boy so I have less problems down the road.

So I suppose I'm curious:

When do you guys feel comfortable either selling or buying a hatchling? Are there certain criteria that you hold that each hatchling has to pass before you send them off? A few meals? A certain weight? Number of sheds? Or just a gut feeling?

I see people that are picking up hatchlings smaller than the one I'm purchasing. So I'm just curious as to what the general concensus seems to be on the topic.

When do you feel comfortable with a hatchling being sold?

[Mike41793]

Once the snake is eating well so probably at least 3 meals. If the snake is an overly aggressive eater then maybe after 2 meals. People usually offer food after the snake has had its first shed. They dont usually eat before that bc they are still absorbing their yolks. I recently brought home two females from an expo. Their weights on arrival were 56grams and 78grams. They had taken a few meals fromthe breeder already and he said he was confident that theyd be fine since they were aggressive eaters. He was feeding them live. I brought them home and offered them both a f/t mouse, they both took them right away. As long as the snakes are eating fine i dont think it matters how big they are so much. Plus the breeder is a local who ive bought from before so if i had amy problems we knew i could call or bring them back up to him if they werent eating for me.

[Rickys_Reptiles]

For me a snake needs to have eaten at least 5 meals, must poo at least 1 time, must shed 1 time.

If I'm selling a snake to someone who I know is a reliable breeder, I'll sell it pre shed - but this is only to people who I actually know. Not just anyone who calls themselves a "breeder"

[jbean7916]

I just had my first clutch and I'm keeping all until they have eaten 3 times with the exception of one baby that went to a trusted keeper, he took her before her first meal but she took right away!

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[Stewart_Reptiles]

I do not let go of any hatchling until they eat 3 to 5 times consecutively!