dumerils feeding

Redtailboa1 · #1 (**permalink**) 12-14-2002, 11:21 PM

The snake that was born in august i bought on saturday(at the irba reptile show in CA). She has a hide and a lot of aspen to hide in(and she does). The weird thing is she will keep her head stuck out of the aspen just a little like she is wanting something to come by but then when i put in the mouse she doesn't want it. Thanks for all your replies
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nomadbean · #2 (**permalink**) 12-14-2002, 11:28 PM

She is hiding from you ...shhhh..you don't see her. That is her way of coping right now with the new home. I would take her out of her cage to get her to eat, so she does not eat any of the substrate. She may also be hiding from her littler mate, I saw your other post...watch those two and separate them asap, so they do not turn on each other for food. Also, baby dums are sometimes picky eater, be prepared to do the mouse dance for them with tongs (you know, wiggle it like it is walking around so they will eat it). Just my .02 cents and be patient that was stressful to be at a show with all those people and then in a new home and you are trying to feed them. When they get hungry they will eat. Just try and if no go wait 4-5 days and try again,repeat until they eat.....Good luck ,and welcome to RTB. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
Trina
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Ed_r · #3 (**permalink**) 12-15-2002, 03:31 AM

As with all Boas they are ambush predators. And like i stated in the other post when young they are lizard and snake eaters. This may mean you'll have to scent the prey with lizard. Take a thawed mouse or rat pup of appropriate size and buy a feeder anole. Take the anole and just rub it all over the thawed mouse. You dont need to kill the anole just rub it on the mouse to give the mouse the lizards scent. Dums are awesome snakes but a pain when young.
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Redtailboa1 · #4 (**permalink**) 12-15-2002, 04:07 AM

i'm sorry if i gave you the wrong idea. I dont HAVE two dums in there right now. I was thinking of getting one
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PythonTamer · #5 (**permalink**) 01-03-2003, 06:40 PM

Here's my Dumeril's Boa (Zena) having dinner:

Dumerils.com · #6 (**permalink**) 04-19-2003, 01:51 PM

sticking there head out is common and the animal will do it for the rest of there life if they have something to burrow in, my adults will wad up there news paper and hide under it doing the same, I wouldt horse around with feeding out side the cage its to stressful on them, till it eats a couple time just leave it alone no handling, then after it eat a few times you can start to handle it, as far as scenting I have never bothered with that either most dumerils new borns if you give them a meal make it a little larger then you would a columbians, like hopper mouse size, for some reason they prefer pre items a little larger then most of boids of the same size, also keeping them on aspen can help stimulate a feed responce something about the smell of it, if the animal doesnt eat wait a week in between atempts to feed, the number one problem I come across is people get them want to play with them right away dont give them time ti aclimate to the new enviro and then start atempting to feed every 2 or 3 days, when the baby snakes doit feed and every two or 3 days have some person standing in front of them waving a mouse they become stressed and then start to associate mice with stress, so be patient, they are born with large yok sacs(larger then a columbian) I have had babies take 4 months to eat their first meal, most will eat within a week but its not uncommon for them to wait 3 and then some as far as 4 and I had one take 6, for what ever reason I have had some hole litters start eating within a week or 10 days but more commonly maybe 1/3 a litter will eat that fast and the rest are scattered over the next 3 months as lonbg as a the animal isnt loosing weight dont worry about it, ive had yearling up and stop eating for a year and one adult male did it to me for 2yrs, take a look at the care info on my site and see if that helps ya any, another common problem with people is claimingt to keep them like common boas, coomon boas come from trpical warm humid enviros, Dums dont, they come from desert dry climates where is 100 degress in the day and 40 at night, anyway sorry for the rant hopes this ehlps Jason
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JuliusSqueezer · #7 (**permalink**) 04-19-2003, 06:00 PM

Good stuff Jason.
Dumerils do not follow the same rules as columbians or other boas. This point must be stressed. And while feeding frozen thawed is always prefered, you will likely never get a newborn dum to take f/t or prekilled at first. Nor will they likely take their first meals out of the cage. Burrowing and leaving just the head up is how they hunt and they insist on following this instinct at least for the first few meals. They are also very picky in most cases, if a newborn won't take a pink rat, try a stunned but live hopper mouse...sorry but live is almost always all they will take at first. Preferably a pink rat as they are less likely to bite back...and usually they seem to prefer rats over mice anyway. They must also usually be left alone to eat. turn out the lights and leave them be. If you are feeding stunned hoppers though, you will need to peek in and keep an eye....just don't make your presence an issue.
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Dumerils.com · #8 (**permalink**) 04-23-2003, 04:31 AM

I am about 50/50 on eating f/t as first meals, mine have always been more willing to take f/t rat pinks over mice but normally those are the first to start eating in the first week or so, another thing I forgot to point out above is its not uncommon at all for them to eat one meal within a week of birth and wait another 4 months before eating again I have had this happen on serveral occassions, Dums have been called the ball pythons of the boa species and in some cases thats true, more so though I think patients could go along way, anyway hope this helps Jason
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Ravnos · #9 (**permalink**) 04-23-2003, 05:49 PM

My dumerils came to me as a non-feeding baby, skinny little guy. First time I tried to feed him, I set him up in aspen and let him do his hide thing and then fed him a live rat pink. He took it without a problem. After some closer inspection, I realized he has a deformed jaw - his bottom jawbone is set back and he has a severe overbite. So much of an overbite that he is unable to tongue properly. He's still eating well, not growing as fast as I would have thought, but I don't even know exactly how old he is either.

Rav
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Sunn · #10 (**permalink**) 04-23-2003, 07:10 PM

Hi folks.....

I have a few dums and I would suggest they have covering over the glass and be in a low traffic area.....these snakes are not easy to get going but as pointed out.....
once they are eating well they are great snakes.

My gravid female just started eating again and she literally came to the glass and sat there waiting for a meal. I don't look forward to possible problem children but I believe these are one of the most beautiful in the snake world. My male is shy but feeds easily in a feeding tub when the tub lid is put on and he is left alone. When the female isn't gravid she is a voracious feeder and needs NO prompting whatsoever!

MY daughter's b/f brought his 6 month old baby to me since he couldn't get it to feed. He had been having the local feed store stuff her now and then.

I moved her to a low traffic area and left her totally alone. I had newspaper as substrate and made sure she had extra for hiding and then just kept trying once week with no handling of the snake. She finally decided to eat but will watch to see if you are hovering around....
she must be alone or think she is to feed. She ate rat pups for me.

Good luck.

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