Age Estimate Please..

[Pazzoman]

Hey Everybody,

Well on Jan.23 I got my baby corn snake who at the moent is 18 inches, 13 grams and as thick as a pencil at the widest point. I'm curious on how old you think he is....I'm not sure if the guy said he was a month old...I think he did. Do you guys think at 2 months this is a normal length and weight of a corn snake?

Thanks, also he sheded for the first time in his new home!

[tspuckler]

You cannot judge a snake's age based on size/weight. Corn Snakes hatch out at different sizes and have different growth rates - even those from the same clutch of eggs. It is highly unlikely that your snake was hatched in December. Most Corn Snakes hatch in the Summer.

[Pazzoman]

Ok then so maybe I did here "7 months old" instead of one month old....even in captive breeding they stay in season.....even if conditions are simialr? Just curious

[HeavenHell]

I think a 7 month old would more likely weigh in the 40-60 gram range if it was fed regularly.

[Naagas]

It could be 1 month old. Sometimes snakes hatch in December, even though it isn't the 'normal' breeding season. It could also be a smaller 7 month old. Who knows?

[Pazzoman]

Oh ok then well according to this breeder he fed it a 3 gram pinky evey thursday....so maybe it was a month old at the time and now is almost 3 months? I have no idea...because this is my first corn. I'm making a chart to further record my corn's data, would like to have an estimate age, but seems to difficult to tell....

[bitsy]

I think your best bet is to contact the breeder and ask.

December isn't a natural time for hatchlings, but Corns can be managed so that they breed at any time of the year. I once had a rescue lay a full fertile clutch in November, a month after arriving with me.

[Em Wright]

I think a 7 month old would more likely weigh in the 40-60 gram range if it was fed regularly.

Not necessarily. My biggest hatchling weighs in a little over 30grams and he was hatched in May 2010 and has been fed at the same time as all my other hatchlings, some of which don't even weigh in at 20grams.

It's really hard to tell based on size and weight. I usually judge age based on the year they were born and leave it at that. :)

Good luck with your new snake!

[HeavenHell]

My biggest hatchling weighs in a little over 30grams and he was hatched in May 2010
Oh, interesting. Perhaps Okeetees grow faster than other morphs. I have two June '10 Okeetees from different breeders. Each was fed on the more aggressive side of the munson plan (pinkies every 4 days , fuzzies every 5 days). I weighed them this week. One is at 50 grams and the other 48.

[Em Wright]

I feed mine every 5-7 days on pinkies. My 30 gram Snow is on fuzzies.

[HeavenHell]

I feed mine every 5-7 days on pinkies
OH, well our different feeding schedules would certainly account for some of the weight difference.