Ball pythons are amazing common pets loved for their docile nature and size. They are West Africa natives and are popularly known as shy and easy to care for snake pets. Ball python average size makes them perfect pets for beginners and people who don’t like large snakes.
In this article, we will tell you how big you should expect your ball python to get, and at what age you can start breeding them.
Keep reading to learn more about your ball python.
Contents
How Big Is a Year Old Ball Python?
If you would like to acquire a more grown adult python, it is essential to understand how to tell their age by looking at their size.
Weight and length are the primary factors you may need to observe to know the age of a ball python.
It is important to combine the two factors as the length of a ball python may not give you accurate age.
Let’s see how you can use the two fundamental factors to determine the ball python’s age.
Length
Length is a key age indicator for ball pythons. And, even so, weight is also an important factor, especially when determining sexual maturity.
The length of a ball python differs from male to female. Females get longer compared to their male counterparts.
It would help if you also were aware that ball python’s length could differ from one python to another.
However, the general length of a one year ball python is 2 feet for both male and female.
Weight
Weight is quite essential when determining the ball python’s age. It is because ball python’s sexual maturity is based on weight, and not age.
Thus, females cannot get pregnant until they attain a certain weight. The average weight of a one-year ball python is 400-600grams for male and females.
Ball Python Average Size
The average size of an adult ball python is 3-5 feet for a female, and 2-3 feet for males. As for the ball python hatchlings, they are only 10 inches long. It can take 4-5 years for a ball python to mature in the wild, and three years in captivity.
The average size of a ball python is one of the reasons why they are mostly kept as snake pets.
Female ball pythons tend to get larger compared to males. The average size of a male is 2-3 feet, while the average length of a female is 3-5 feet.
However, some grow to a maximum length of 6 feet. Ball pythons are the smallest snakes in the python family.
As for the snake’s weight, ball pythons of the same age can have different weights depending on what they feed on.
However, stress and environmental factors can affect the average weight of a ball python.
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The Complete List of a Ball Python Sizes by Ages
It’s impossible to provide a precise chart for ball python’s growth rate. It is because the growth rate of one ball python can differ from one to another.
The different size per age can be due to how often a ball python feed, the size of the egg during hatching, the size of their prey, among other factors.
Even so, we came up with this chart to give you the average size per age.
| Ball Python Age (Months) | Length (Inches) | Weight (Grams |
| 1-3 months (baby ball python) | 10-17 | 78-200.5 |
| 3-6 months (Juvenile ball python) | 17-23 | 146.47-346.40 |
| 7-18 months (juvenile ball python) | 22-30 | 377.87-780.87 |
| >20 months (Adult) | 30-72 | 794.80-1129.70 |
At What Age Ball Pythons Can Breed?
Breeding ball pythons can be an exciting experience. However, for successful breeding, it is critical to understand ball pythons breeding requirements.
For instance, it is logical to assume that age matters a lot when breeding ball pythons. However, the primary factor for breeding ball pythons is the weight.
It is necessary to ensure that the python has attained a minimum weight of 1200 grams to breed a ball python successfully.
Most ball pythons attain this weight when they are 2-3 years of age.
As for the males, they tend to be a bit smaller, and thus, their required weight to breed is approximately 700 grams.
The males can attain the required weight at eight months.
Ensuring that your ball pythons reach these weights before breeding them is significant.
Females fail to pass the egg if they are under the required weight. As for the males, they can significantly lose weight as they can stop eating when they start breeding.
How Heavy Is A Full Grown Ball Python?
Ball pythons don’t grow beyond 6feet on average. However, they are thick and weigh more compared to their competitor “corn snakes”.
When the ball pythons are healthy, and in good condition, they can weigh approximately four to five pounds.
The ball pythons have triangular-shaped heads. Their thickness increases from head to mid-body and then reduces towards the tip of the tail.
At their thickest point, ball pythons have a diameter of between 4-6 inches. They are, therefore, considered stocky when compared to the popular corn snakes.
Even so, the weight of a ball python can be affected by the type of prey you feed them, and also how often you feed them.
For instance, ball pythons that are fed on rats are heavy compared to those fed on mice.
How Big Is The Biggest Ball Python?
The average size of a ball python is 3-5 feet. However, some grow to an average length of 6 feet.
However, breeders have experienced much larger ball pythons, but it’s hard to get the information on the same as most breeders to hold them in stock to reproduce them.
Even so, a Sub-Saharan ball python was once recorded to weigh 8100grams which was twice as the standard ball python.
The average weight of a typical ball python is 4000 grams. As for the length, breeders barely measure their snake’s length. Thus it isn’t easy to prove if ball pythons exceeding 6 feet do exist.
What Affects the Size of A Ball Python?
Several factors can affect the size of ball pythons. They include:
- Genetics
- Environmental conditions
- Nutrition
Genetic
The genetic factor can be explained by the fact that even in humans, every person is different when it comes to the growth rate.
For instance, two babies born the same day, one can be heavier than the other. They can be fed the same food, but one still gets heavier than the other.
Even for the ball pythons, genetics can affect the size of one python to the other.
Environmental Conditions /Tank Size
Environmental conditions affect the size of a ball python as they can contribute to ball python stress.
For instance, failing to provide adequate temperature in the ball python’s enclosure can make it refuse to eat and thus affect the growth rate.
Additionally, the enclosure’s size can also be an underlying reason for a ball python to get stressed.
When the ball python’s enclosure is too big or too small, it can affect the ball python’s growth rate as it causes stress to them.
Therefore, it is critical to provide an average tank for ball pythons. The ideal tank for an adult ball python is 36*18*12”.
Anything bigger or smaller than this can add stress to ball pythons.
Diet
Nutrition refers to the type of prey you are feeding your ball python as well as how often you feed it.
Ball pythons require the same diet in captivity as they feed in the wild. They are not vegetarians and only feed on meat.
Some of the most popular food for ball pythons include mice, rats, chicks, and gerbils.
When most pet snake stores provide those prey, you can consider breeding your mice and rats to feed your ball python.
Wild-caught prey can be dangerous as they can transmit pests or diseases to your ball python.
Even so, ball pythons fed on rats get bigger compared to those fed on mice. The size of the prey can also affect your ball python’s growth rate.
Species
There are approximately 26 species of pythons. Ball pythons are the smallest species in their family.
Their small size of 3-5 feet makes them better snake pets. However, other larger pythons are kept as pets.
Burmese is one of the largest python pet snakes. It can grow for up to 18 feet.
They are, therefore, not suitable for beginners.
Burmese can pose a threat to humans as they are large enough to constrict. It is, therefore, inadvisable to keep this species unless you are a qualified snake breeder.
Wrapping Up
If you are a beginner pet snake owner, it would be best to start with a medium-size snake such as ball pythons.
Ball pythons have been considered as the best snake pet for beginners for their friendly and docile nature.
Additionally, they are loved for their average size of 3-5 feet for females, and 2-3 feet for males.
They also have a long life span, and they pose no threat to humans. Thus, if you have been considering owning a snake pet, ball python makes great pets.