What kind of Python did I just pickup? (DUW)

Kid on Craigslist had this for re-homing. He told me on the phone it was a normal ball python. I show up and this is what I'm confronted with.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/...49f117bd_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/...2df5ab51_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/...deccbb32_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/...8c4cb150_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4143/...1ca875c5_b.jpg
I talked him down to taking it for free because he didn't want to have to deal with it and his two dogs. He says it's a year old, and if it is, it has been underfed. She's small, so I look forward to getting her size up.

I know ignorance is no excuse, but I couldn't let her sit in the tank with a huge heat rock with no thermometer or anything like that. No hides. It was a damn shame. She's really sweet, and really tame. I plan on keeping her no matter what.

P.S. I love the eyes.

Someone else that's more into boas will chime in I'm sure, but it looks like a Dumeril's boa to me.

Yea its a Dumeril's boa. I see alot of craigs list ads that people dont know what they have.

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Originally Posted by Mr. Constrictor

Yea its a Dumeril's boa. I see alot of craigs list ads that people dont know what they have.

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Ok cool. Guess I'm in the wrong section lol. I'm keeping her. She's gorgeous and very tame. Will be a nice second pet along with Eva.

No python there! I agree it is a dumerils boa. Nice animals very pretty. I would look up a good care sheet to get specifics on their care.

Nice boa :gj:

I'd be careful using CL, I've seen people selling all kinds of stuff, someone had a Retic listed as a Boa claiming it would reach only about 6 - 8 feet :rolleyes:

Yeah, definitely a Dum's, and very undersized if it is actually a year old. If it has spurs it's a male, if not then it's a female. That might give you some help if you're looking for a name. ;)

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Originally Posted by Russ Lawson

Yeah, definitely a Dum's, and very undersized if it is actually a year old. If it has spurs it's a male, if not then it's a female. That might give you some help if you're looking for a name. ;)

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Awesome, thank you! I'm not sure on the size, but I assume feeding goes along with most other snakes. I'll start with an adult mouse as it is as big as my ball python eva.

You've picked up a very nice addition so congrats. Dum's are hands down one of my favorite snakes. I love mine. They tend to be pretty laid back and are one of the most beautiful non morphs in the snake world if you ask me.

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Originally Posted by Hypnotic Exotic

You've picked up a very nice addition so congrats. Dum's are hands down one of my favorite snakes. I love mine. They tend to be pretty laid back and are one of the most beautiful non morphs in the snake world if you ask me.

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I don't think I was ever able to appreciate this species until I saw it tonight in person. The pattern is WILD, and the eyes are INCREDIBLE! She's getting settled now in her tank.

The kid had a huge heat rock, no thermometer, and dirt from OUTSIDE. I cleaned out the tank, got rid of the heat rock, and started from there. I followed the same guide lines as BPs with 2 hides (Which she had none in the old tank setup) and using aspen substrate. I saw on the care sheets that the temps are a little lower like high 80s for them on the hot side and high 70's on the cool side. So I'm working from there.

We adopted a Dumeril's from our local Petco, someone dropped her off, ours is also a year old and tiny! Petco had her for 8 months and couldn't get her to eat, so they force fed her mice three times, so now she is horrified of mice. I got into a fight with the lady because I said we would try rats and she jumped down my throat saying I would kill the snake because rats are too big, I was like..umm..not baby rats, and she almost didn't let me leave with the snake!! The first rap pup we put in there she gobbled right up, even ate f/t the first try! And has had about 4 great meals! They grow suppppeerrr fast to catch up when eating a normal amount. She gets a small rat every 1-1 1/2 weeks and has shed like 4 times in the past couple months.

This Dumerils is also incredibly nice! And they are soooo pretty!!

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Originally Posted by AkHerps

We adopted a Dumeril's from our local Petco, someone dropped her off, ours is also a year old and tiny! Petco had her for 8 months and couldn't get her to eat, so they force fed her mice three times, so now she is horrified of mice. I got into a fight with the lady because I said we would try rats and she jumped down my throat saying I would kill the snake because rats are too big, I was like..umm..not baby rats, and she almost didn't let me leave with the snake!! The first rap pup we put in there she gobbled right up, even ate f/t the first try! And has had about 4 great meals! They grow suppppeerrr fast to catch up when eating a normal amount. She gets a small rat every 1-1 1/2 weeks and has shed like 4 times in the past couple months.

This Dumerils is also incredibly nice! And they are soooo pretty!!

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I'm going to try with an adult mouse and if she refuses I'll try a smaller rat. Any tips for the husbandry? I have two hides setup, of which she seems to have no interest in. She's content apparently chilling in the corner. The kid who had her before me just didn't take care of her. No hides, no temp control, and dirt from outside that probably had bugs. I did a good cleaning of the tank and put in new aspen substrate. Anything else I should know?

That snake is beautiful =)
Nice pickup indeed.

That's weird, ours chills in the corner too! I set up the housing in an extra 20 long we had.

I set it up with aspen, hot hide, cool hide, a random tunnel hide in the middle, water dish, and a humid hide. She chills usually in the cool side in the corner. But does go in the hot hide after eating a lot of the time.

I use a red bulb to keep the ambient temps up, but this is Alaska so its starting to get colllddd.

She keeps having bed sheds since they were horrible at the store, so I tinfoiled the top of her tank, and always keep the paper towels in the humid hide moist so hopefully the next time she sheds it will go well.

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Originally Posted by AkHerps

That's weird, ours chills in the corner too! I set up the housing in an extra 20 long we had.

I set it up with aspen, hot hide, cool hide, a random tunnel hide in the middle, water dish, and a humid hide. She chills usually in the cool side in the corner. But does go in the hot hide after eating a lot of the time.

I use a red bulb to keep the ambient temps up, but this is Alaska so its starting to get colllddd.

She keeps having bed sheds since they were horrible at the store, so I tinfoiled the top of her tank, and always keep the paper towels in the humid hide moist so hopefully the next time she sheds it will go well.

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That's about my setup. 20 long with 2 hides, water dish in the middle, and a random rock she likes. I'm getting my table lamp dimmer tomorrow to control the temp on the hot side. It's unplugged right now but the temp is only at 78 degrees in my house, not too worried.

I would assume that just like BPs they need the heat to digest so that makes since that she would go in the hot hide. I'm figure she'll do what she wants when she wants. LOL

Yeah it doesn't seem they need the high temps as much, ours can digest just fine sitting over in the cold side without moving into the heat.

Hi,

Nice looking dumerils. :)

I've been tempted by them a few times myself.

Now, before I start beating my head on the desk, what quarantine measures have you taken and did you read the info about IBD then change your trousers? :P


dr del

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

Nice looking dumerils. :)

I've been tempted by them a few times myself.

Now, before I start beating my head on the desk, what quarantine measures have you taken and did you read the info about IBD then change your trousers? :P


dr del

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I don't know what IBD is, but she is quarantined from Eva. The first thing I did when I got the setup home was completely clean out the tank with a 5% bleach solution and let dry. Then put all new aspen shavings in, then the 2 hides, and the water bowl. Along with the heat pad I bought connected to the thermostat. Then put that tank in my bed room away from the living room where Eva is. The snake was put in the tank and has been there since last night.

I know they aren't supposed to be close to each other for 6 months or so. Anything else I should know?

Moved to right section

Hi,

Good start to the quarantine. Just remember to always do any maintenance/ feeding etc of quarantined animals after you are finished with the other animals in the collection. ( I know you only have one at the moment :cool: )

IBD is Inclusion Body Disease.

It's a problem as not a lot is yet known for certain about how it is transmitted, how long it can lie dormant in boas etc. And nobody knows for certain how common or rare it really is in collections.

The last two are the problems really as the boa could be completely without symptoms for years and then, when you think everything is fine and relax, your ball python dies after a very short illness. :(

The only relaible test for IBD is performed at the necropsy as well so you cannot be certain if a particular animal is infected through testing.

The very idea of IBD scares the bejeebus out of me to be honest. I have heard a lot of boa breeders actually keep a BP in their quarantine room as a test - if it lives longer than 6 weeks the boa probably doesn't have IBD. :weirdface


dr del

Hi,

Managed to find the thread I remembered. It has lots of good info but the main thing is to read the links provided by Jimisnakes in post 17. :gj:


dr del

Ok, now I know what you're talking about. Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it!

I keep mine at the same temps as a BP. 80F on the cool side and UTH at 92F. I keep the humidity at 50-60% and all the sheds have been good. Mine also spends most of his time in the cool hide, even after eating. I feed all of my snakes every 10 days. It's good that you are using aspen. Dumerils seem to pee alot more often, so being able to spot clean will make it easier. Just make sure you check inside the hides at least every other day if not every day for urates.

You are going to notice that they have alot more stregnth than BP's do. It may be a timid feeder for a while. For the first month or so I had to just lay the F/T in the tub and leave the room for mine to eat. They are generally laid back and pretty docile but once they get settled in you can expect the feeding response of a demon...:D Oh, and they have a longer, harder strike than BP's so I definitely advise using feed tongs. Here is a link to a Dumerils website where you can find basic info and care. Hope it helps.

http://www.dumerilboa.com/dumeril_boa_dumeril_boa.html

Welcome to the boaddiction...:gj:

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

I keep mine at the same temps as a BP. 80F on the cool side and UTH at 92F. I keep the humidity at 50-60% and all the sheds have been good. Mine also spends most of his time in the cool hide, even after eating. I feed all of my snakes every 10 days. It's good that you are using aspen. Dumerils seem to pee alot more often, so being able to spot clean will make it easier. Just make sure you check inside the hides at least every other day if not every day for urates.

You are going to notice that they have alot more stregnth than BP's do. It may be a timid feeder for a while. For the first month or so I had to just lay the F/T in the tub and leave the room for mine to eat. They are generally laid back and pretty docile but once they get settled in you can expect the feeding response of a demon...:D Oh, and they have a longer, harder strike than BP's so I definitely advise using feed tongs. Here is a link to a Dumerils website where you can find basic info and care. Hope it helps.

http://www.dumerilboa.com/dumeril_boa_dumeril_boa.html

Welcome to the boaddiction...:gj:

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I noticed last night when I was trying to put her back in her tank, she used her tail to hold my hand, and boy oh boy does she squeeze hard, even for a small snake. Much harder than Eva. I looked and she peed already last night, so you aren't kidding about going every day. She has a water bowl big enough for her to comfortably fit in.

I also noticed that she doesn't use her hides, but she remains on the warm side in the corner. I put a rock in there that I had for her to have some "Shelter" in the corner, she seems to like it.

She didn't want food last night (Even though it's been about a week for her) so I'll be patient and try leaving the mouse in the tank for a little while. She did seem interested though. I use tongs anyway for feeding, so no worries there. I've seen videos of them striking and it's pretty awesome how long they can reach and how fast they coil.

Oh, and thanks for the Welcome!

Mine spends more time out of his hides when he's hungry. If she seems interested try leaving the prey in with her, either turn out the lights or cover the tank with a dark towel and leave her alone for about an hour or so. Mine will strike and constrict but he won't eat if I'm in the room, so I feed him last so I can leave the room. For about the first 5-6 weeks I had him he wouldn't strike so I just left it in with him. But once he got fully settled in he goes into super hunting mode once he smells the rats warming up...