I thought it would be a great idea to start a thread that we can all refer back to when it comes to shipping standard and expectations.
Now and again MorphMarket Support has to expire ads where the animal is clearly too small to even be considered for shipping, but even though we are constantly educating ourselves on every species possible, it can be hard sometimes to determine whether or not our judgment is correct.
This is where you guys come in!
We would like to know what size/weight/consecutive meals/etc… you would consider both Recommended and the absolute Minimum before a animal should be shipped.
For now we will dedicate this to baby/juvenile animals.
I personally will not ship ball pythons under 100 grams. I will preface to say I don’t ship without 5 consecutive meals either but that’s not a filter you have.
I’m a Crested Gecko breeder and in the UK but I’ll add to this for other UK people if that’s ok!
So for me personally,
I don’t Courier Cresties or rehome them until they are 10g/15g+.
They’ll be eating both Pangea (multiple flavours so not fussy) and Crickets/other insects before going and will be sexed and hand ‘tame’. So it’s not about the age of them for me, it’s the weight, so if they take 4 months, or 7 months getting to 15g then that’s when they’re ready for their new homes. And I also go by how well they get on with their eating of a mixture of foods and ‘taming’ them ready for new homes.
I sell snakes and turtles. I do not have a minimum shipping weight for either. For the snakes, I go by how many meals they have had. For the turtles, I ship them once they are feeding consistently and have gain a noticeable amount of weight since hatchling.
For hognoses I usually aim for 10-15+ grams, I think most others do the same.
I also typically don’t like shipping babies unless they’re eating consistently, regardless of species.
With boas I like the see them eating frozen thawed regularly before they are sold. Some that only takes a few feedings, others stick to live for a few months but eventually they all switch over and that’s when I consider them good to go. After two months is when I’ll generally start posting them all for sale.
Bump!
Anyone else want to add to this? Would be helpful with more people joining us here
I’ll give another example!
Fat tails- I have them together so touch wood breeding now (so this will be when I have my first babies)
But atleast 2 months of age before I’d rehome them, I’ve spoken to many breeders and they don’t sell before that which I think is ideal as I know they can be fussy eaters! So best to get them on a variety of foods before leaving, they’ll stay longer if they have too. No one likes a fussy monkey!
And when I breed royals (next year hopefully), 10/15 consecutive feeds it will be for me! I like to make sure all my babies are well feed and growing well before leaving and these will be no different.
I forgot about this thread but I agree. 15g minimum for leopard geckos and personally I’d wait until 20g (seeing for now space isn’t an issue for me, I’ll likely wait longer).
Would that be around 2 months old too like fat tails then? Or older would you say?
Only one younger I’ve seen for sale myself, was when I used to own them a few years ago, we got a male (brought into a shop where my other half used to work) who was around 5/6 weeks old. But he was quite tiny, I actually felt bad for him…
I’m the same, our baby ball pythons are still here.
They are good eaters, but I need to know they are great eaters before I let any go (any excuse to keep them) most of the keepers are exceptional eaters lol
I will not release any snakes until they have hit at least 100g and taken 4-5 unassisted meals (live, pre-killed, or f/t) consecutively in terms of balls.
I don’t breed geckos, but I do have a crestie who was shipped out to me at roughly 8g and honestly that size seems pretty solid to me! He’s been growing like crazy and isn’t so small that I genuinely worry about him being fragile or escaping.
I have received snakes at various sizes, from a few weeks old and 70g to nearly 6 months and over 200g. I honestly find the most confident in sending babies off once they’re established eaters and I can make sure they are growing and functioning well, plus such a window also gives me time to set up any vet visits if need be! Overall I feel as though the focus of producing hatchlings should shift from selling as fast as possible to marketing healthy animals for breeders and keepers throughout the industry overall, because many of my non-reptile keeping friends have been rather surprised at how small some species are shipped at.
Building a solid foundation for a reptile is much like building a solid foundation for a house. Something weak may work for a short amount of time and be “cheaper” but it won’t last in the long run, nor will it show up well on the seller in the future. Setting animals up for success no matter where they go offers a healther, longer life and reduces stress overall in my opinion.
I’m not sure, as I think it would vary based on morph and subspecies/species. For example, E. angramainyu (probably misspelled- another species, closely related to E. macularius, that is often listed alongside common leopard geckos) and Giant/Super Giant morphs are enormous, whereas Albey Snows (a morph I happen to know well) run on the smaller side. It also is going to vary based on what they’re being fed & if they are good little eaters or picky little babies, hehe. I think that a baby leo certainly could be 15g at 8 weeks, but I don’t have enough experience weighing babies (yet…) to know the average growth curve. I feel like AFTs are just a bit smaller, on average, than leos, but I haven’t bred AFTs.
Yall this is also excellent information for those purchasing reptiles, to get an idea of what a good weight to purchase that little snake or gecko and know it’s going to be established and healthy when it arrives.
My practice: 150-200g for shipping ball pythons. Especially when they go overseas.
I also ask sellers to wait with shipping until they reach that weight.
Just don‘t see the need to let them go earlier. Safety and health first!
