BP stages of life?

[kneepoles]

I've been wondering about this for some time now. I've googled, I've searched here, and kingsnake's forums but have turned up no answers. I guess I should've taken better notes when doing my pre-pet research.

ANYWAY... How are the stages of a ball's life gauged? What makes a juvie a juvie, a sub-adult a sub-adult, etc? I understand the chronological order of the stages of life, but the criteria for each stage is fuzzy. well.....except hatchlings, those are a no brainer!

So what is it? time, weight, size? or some combo of the three? Gimme some insight, please!

[Jamik]

Great questions. I hope someone answers as I have been wondering myself.

[SnM_Man]

seriously ??.. no one knows??... somebody has gotta be able to add some incite on this topic !!!

[jretton1]

Just a stab because I don't know a definite answer. But I would guess that age would classify them into these stages of life. Such as a human is a "teenager", young adult, etc. Although, even for humans these classifications are somewhat shady also--such as when is a person considered an adult (when they turn 18, or when they are financially independent). Sorry to ramble on but you get the point.

[Kaorte]

Well obviously age would be a factor but ball pythons don't take nearly as long to mature as humans. It is kind of hard to compare them.

I am also really interested in this topic. Like, when is a hatchling not a hatchling anymore? haha

[JamieLynn]

I am also new to this, and don't have any definite answer.
But I will try, every BP grows at a different rate, this makes it hard to use age as a marker. After reading the age vs. weight thread it is obvious that there are some who have the weight to be considered an adult while others have the age but do not have the weight.
Most breeders consider both weight and age when breeding, as an example a lot who have posted on here say not to breed a female BP until she reaches 1,500grams, and/or in her 3rd winter.
So the best idea would be to divide up what we do know:
Hatchling------Adult
What comes in the middle is just guessing
I'll give it a try
1. Hatchling - to 300g or 1yr
2. Yearling - to 600g or 2yr
3. Sub Adult - to 1,200 or 3yr
4. Adult - above 1,200g over 3yr

I hope this helps, it was the best I could do. If there are any breeders who have a better scale please post it so all us newbies know.