Attempting to guess age

[bella]

I'm wondering if you guys could give me any input on how old my baby might be.

I got him (I say him, but I really don't know if he's a boy or a girl) in May as a gift. At his widest girth he's maybe the size of a quarter, a little smaller. When I weighed him last week he weighed 91 grams. He's eating like a champ (2 hoppers weighed as close to 15% of his weight as I can get) on a 6-7 day schedule, and had his very first poo in his cage today!

I don't know if there are only specific times that breeding occurs, but I'm curious to know his age approximately so I know what month to make his birthday. For some reason, it bothers me to not have a month in which to celebrate pet birthdays. I know all my animal birth months...well minus the cat that we rescued as an adult from the jaws to two angry dogs...but you get the idea.

Thanks!

[mrshawt]

Since size depends on size of prey and how often it's fed, I'd say it's really difficult to judge a bp's age. You could choose May since that's when you got him.

[bella]

Yea, good point.

I have a feeling he didn't eat much at the petshop he was at. They told me they were feeding him fuzzies (WTF?) and from what I can tell, NONE of their snakes feed on a regular basis. I go in there a lot on the day after they feed and all of their balls and even the corns are all roaming their enclosures and exhibiting serious hunting behavior.

I tried to get more information form them regarding the breeder they bought him from, but they don't keep records on individual snakes.

So yea, my lesson here is that when I buy any snakes in the future, to not let someone else buy it for me, and to actually talk to a breeder. LOL

Thanks for the reply though, I appreciate the perspective!

[mrshawt]

Yea, good point.

I have a feeling he didn't eat much at the petshop he was at. They told me they were feeding him fuzzies (WTF?) and from what I can tell, NONE of their snakes feed on a regular basis. I go in there a lot on the day after they feed and all of their balls and even the corns are all roaming their enclosures and exhibiting serious hunting behavior.

The hunting behavior could have also been stress if the husbandry wasn't correct. Which, if this store is anything like Petco or Petsmart, is very likely.

What exactly do you mean by their behavior? Roaming? Tracking movement?

[bella]

They roam the entire enclosure and will track movement outside the glass...They also have a metal hook type thing at the top of their cage that they will climb up to and hang on...Which soooo needs to be removed as it's rusty and likely could injure them.

Their husbandry is by NO means correct (they have NO where to hide. All of their 'hides' are actually fully open to the front of the cage.), but I've never once seen a snake that looked like it had eaten in the last month. They are all so thin. And yes, it's a Petco. That's where my sister bought mine, but thankfully, he's adjusted wonderfully. He even had his first venture out to the back patio today (mainly to escape the interest of my other pets).

[mrshawt]

I also got my bp at a Petco so I don't know her age. She came with her very own set of mites (Oh boy!). But I haven't had any other problems with her directly caused by the store.

Here's the way I see it. A lot of people say not to buy from Petco/Petsmart because a lot of their animals aren't in the best shape. Instead, they recommend buying from a breeder. I like to think that I rescued her. Every time I go to Petco I always want another one just so I can save them from the horrible conditions. If I could, I would. I think that buying from an evil pet store is ok as long as you don't have a bunch of other snakes you are going to intriduce a sickness to (yes I know you have to QT, but there's always a chance). And as long as you know what to look for when it comes to sickness, you can treat just about anything short of major neurological problems.

[bella]

That's a wonderful perspective. I feel sort of the same way. I attempted to originally adopt a snake from the humane society I volunteer for but they don't accept reptiles so they never have any. I hadn't yet progressed to local rescues for reptiles before my sister got Simon for me.

Thankfully, he's totally healthy, and now that I've got his husbandry under control, I can't STOP him from eating so I'm happy.