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pythons age2007-11-24 2:01:57

I wanted to know if some one could tell me how to understand a pythons age, i understand that a hatchling is just that a hatchling but at what age does it graduate to a yearling then a juvinile and so forth?

Answers:

There are many kinds of pythons, so without knowing which species you are talking about, it is difficult to answer.

In basic terms, a juvenile python is one that has not reached sexual maturity. Sexual maturity for, say, a reticulated python is when they are about 14 feet long. They can reach this length in about 4 or 5 years, depending on the frequency of feeding and enclosure size. Mostly, the term "juvenile" is used for a snake that is still far short of sexual maturity, however it could be considered technically correct for one that is close.

A snake that is very close to sexual maturity, but not quite there, is considered to be adolescent.

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A yearling is just that, a year old. A juvenile is an animal that has not reached sexual maturity yet. That varies from species to species.

The best way to tell another person an animals age is to use it's pysical age. "My python is two months old." That way there is no confusion! If someone is giving you random terms, just ask how old the snake is flat out. Easy as pie =)

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Hatchlings/neonates are newborns. Yearlings are a year old. Juvenile is just a term for any non-adult animal. Sub-adult (or Juvenile works too) is a term for a snake that is not yet up to breeding age/weight (varies from species to species, as well as how often the animal is fed and how quick they grow). There's not really any hard and fast rule as to when they graduate from Juvie to sub adult, etc. Basically they are adults when they are large enough to breed. If you know when the python was born, most people just refer to them that way. For example, I have an `05 rainbow boa and an `06 spotted python.