Age Estimate?

[sirenique]

Okay, so I've had Bones for almost 4 months now. He was this big when I got him (sorry for the crappy pic quality...)

I got him at a Petsmart where the employees could barely tell a snake from a hamster, so they didn't really have an estimated date of birth for my little guy. He is currently about 14-16 inches long from nose to tip of tail. Getting a good idea on his age will hopefully help me get some other questions answered by the community here, such as an appropriate feeding schedule (I suspect he's getting kind of fat haha), expected brumation/behavioral changes, etc. This is approximately how big he is now...

Any help on this subject will immensely help me out. Also, I'm looking for suggestions on a reliable brand/type of temp probe for Bones' viv, as I'm currently using an old temp probe from like the early 90s that my mom had laying around the house and is bordering on dysfunctional.

Thank you all so much! =)

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Well, congratulations on Bones' growth. He looks very good. I love the normal morphs, too.
If I had to guestimate his age, I would say at least 6-8 months old, if he is 14 inches in length. He was a baby when you first got him, & probably around 2-3 months old. So, a pretty safe assumption would be 6-8 months.
Do you see any femoral pores developing yet? If you are sure that he is male, it may be too early to see them as they do develop slowly.

Since he is still growing you can keep his protein levels up while maintaining the greens & veggies daily. You can feed insects/feeders daily, & 1-2 times per day if you would like to. Otherwise, one good feeding of insects/feeders daily is good along with greens & veggies too.
No, he definitely is not getting too fat, not at all. The base of his tail looks great, & he is well rounded too.
He most likely will not try for brumation until next year. Sometimes youngsters of under 1 year will go into brumation but not very often. You may find that he will slow down a little bit & slow down on his eating but that is normal for this time of year.

If you have a more specific question on feeding, lighting, etc, feel free to post a more specific thread in the Health or Feeding section as well for more exposure & feedback for you.

Tracie

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

I agree with Tracie... 6-8 months old would be a good guestimate on age. He is very cute and not at all fat.
As far as a good thermometer goes, Walmart and Lowes carry a great little digital thermometer with wire and probe end. It is called AcuRite and can be found in the indoor/outdoor home thermometer section(not the pet section). It usually runs around $12. With this thermometer you can get the basking temp, coolside temp and humidity reading all in one.

 

[sirenique]

Do you see any femoral pores developing yet? If you are sure that he is male, it may be too early to see them as they do develop slowly.

He DEFINITELY has femoral pores, and is a male. The first thing I was determined to do was sex my beardie, because I thought Bones was a girl and my boyfriend thought Bones was a boy =) The pores became very, very prominent about a month ago, but I could sex him with confidence about 2 months ago. I definitely will be asking more in Health/Feeding, but I knew the first thing everyone would ask aside from viv specs would be how old he is :lol: He gave me a brumation scare about a week ago, but the only thing I've noticed with the changing months is that he's trying to eat a lot more, and he's sleeping or just kind of looking around during times where he would normally be adventurous and climbing/licking EVERYTHING in sight.

It is called AcuRite and can be found in the indoor/outdoor home thermometer section(not the pet section). It usually runs around $12. With this thermometer you can get the basking temp, coolside temp and humidity reading all in one.

That is a great price! I'm going to head over there today and see what I can find =)

Thank you both Tracie and Dawn so much for your help with his age and probe recs! I started getting paranoid about him getting fat like a month ago, but I figured as long as his belly's not dragging he's probably fine =D I also assumed better to overfeed than underfeed when they're still developing! Happy herps!

 

[florida]

sirenique-is your question re age about you or your BD? Where in Ohio do you live?

 

[Jess]

sirenique-is your question re age about you or your BD? Where in Ohio do you live?

Im pretty sure she knows how old she is...?
Bones is a cutie! I agree, he looks 6-ish months to me.