I bought him as a pet, not to breed, so it's enough for me that he's pretty. If the seller doesn't know the hatch date, the breeder might. The seller names the breeder in the ad and the date he bought it. That may be enough to get the date from the breeder. I'm in the frozen Northeast too, so delivery will be weather dependent. The seller's only 3 1/2 hours from me, so I might even go pick it up myself.