Dumeril's Boa Feeding Help

So I have a 4 month old Dumeril's which I've had for about a week, tonight I tried to feed him (I did it in a separate container) with a mouse hopper (what he had been eating for the breeder), he struck at the F/T mouse many times, at first I thought he was just missing the mouse, but a few times he made contact with it but did not coil around it, just snapped backwards.

Do you think this was defensive strikes vs him missing his feeding strikes? I'm really anxious now thinking that maybe I was just traumatizing him and now it will be that much harder to feed in the future?

Any thoughts or suggestions. I know many boa people feed in the enclosure, but I don't understand that when people have to use a snake hook just to tell their snake it's not feeding time. Might as well feed in a separate container so opening of the cage doesn't = feeding response without snake hook conditioning.

Background: Temps: Cool Side is 73, Hot side is always between 89-91 He has 2 hides on both sides, on paper towel substrate with UTH.

thank you for any advice.

I have a 4 month old Dum as well that I picked up about a week ago. My understanding is that they are ambush predators who wait until there is an opertinity then strike. Also it helps if it is at night. I have aspen because they like burrowing and she just pokes her nose out like so:

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...t/35894b8d.jpg

When I feed her she springs out of the aspen and constructs the rat pup.

Yours simply may feel to exposed to eat.

Do you think putting aspen in the separate container will help? Or would that be too distracting for feeding time, will he just burrow and hide in the new strange place?

I'm not sure, it certainly is worth a shot

while on the subject of dumeril's I know their humidity requirements aren't as high as ball pythons, but what should I bump the humidity to during shed?

I was under the impression that they needed at least the same amount of humidity as BP's, but I could be misinformed. My cages stay at 60% humidity naturally (I live in tropical Florida and my PVC cages hold humidity in almost too well lol) I will probably bump the humidity up a bit during shed

I would just feed him in his enclosure so he can ambush from his favorite hiding spot. Especially once he gets bigger. Dumerils may be fairly docile snakes, but once they smell food and go into hunt/feed mode, they can become quite aggressive, and trying to move an adult Dumerils in feed mode is not going to be a pleasant experience.

I know that many people like to move their snakes to different enclosures to feed. I prefer not to. I have had much better success feeding my collection in their enclosures. I do hook train the larger snakes in my collection, but have found that most of them I can still just reach in and pull out without a problem.

Indeed, feed in the enclosure. As already stated, they are ambush predators. Give him something to burrow in and then feed. They are nocturnal so feed at night. Good luck.

I would also recommend feeding in the enclosure and providing a substrate to burrow in. The strike you were describing sounds like "Get that thing away. I don't want to eat!" My Dumerils tells me when she's hungry by defecating and then burrowing for a few days with out moving.

Humidity should be around 40% - 50% except during a shed cycle. If you bump it up to 60% you'll have a clean shed every time.

Alright thank you everyone, I'm going to switch to aspen substrate today and try feeding in the enclosure next week. I know Dumeril's urate more frequently.. but will they only do this on the surface of the substrate? Or will they do this while burrowing.. The reason I didn't use aspen to begin with is because I wasn't sure I would be able to keep it clean if I can't find the soiled areas.

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Originally Posted by drezden

Alright thank you everyone, I'm going to switch to aspen substrate today and try feeding in the enclosure next week. I know Dumeril's urate more frequently.. but will they only do this on the surface of the substrate? Or will they do this while burrowing.. The reason I didn't use aspen to begin with is because I wasn't sure I would be able to keep it clean if I can't find the soiled areas.

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It will be pretty noticable where the soiled areas are. Also, sometimes Duymerils may be a little shy at eating until they settle in. Keep offering F/T and next time you may have to leave it in overnight.

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Originally Posted by drezden

I know Dumeril's urate more frequently.. but will they only do this on the surface of the substrate? Or will they do this while burrowing..

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You can expect both. Spot clean what you can see and then I do a thorough cleaning every 2-3 weeks for what I don't see.

What temps do you guys keep your dumeril's at? Online it seems the general hot side temp should be in the mid 80's, but the breeder said the UTH should be between 90-95, and the cool side 70-75.

To compromise I have it around 90, but my dumeril's spends the majority of his time on the cool side which I have around 71-73 generally, so I'm wondering if I have it too hot, unless they really are okay with being at room temperature?

Unless I'm confusing hot side ambient temperature with hot spot, but it's not specified on the care sheet.

If you're gonna feed in a separate container (I do with my Dum), put a thick layer of aspen down. Just make sure to put the feeder on a paper towel or something so he doesn't accidentally swallow the aspen. I use an opaque tub that I close and lock and feed at night. I leave her alone for about 30 minutes and by the time I come back it's gone. :P Doing all of that made a world of difference in getting my girl to eat when I first got her home.

Also, they definitely urate while burrowed. When I spot clean and do full cleanings, I always find a bunch in her favorite burrowing spots.

Good luck! :)

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Originally Posted by drezden

What temps do you guys keep your dumeril's at? Online it seems the general hot side temp should be in the mid 80's, but the breeder said the UTH should be between 90-95, and the cool side 70-75.

To compromise I have it around 90, but my dumeril's spends the majority of his time on the cool side which I have around 71-73 generally, so I'm wondering if I have it too hot, unless they really are okay with being at room temperature?

Unless I'm confusing hot side ambient temperature with hot spot, but it's not specified on the care sheet.

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Personally, I wouldn't go higher then 90F. Mine prefers the hot spot at 88F, cool side at 73F, and the ambient is around 78F - 80F.

My Dum stresses easily and attempting to move her when she is laying in wait for a meal, can sometimes ruin dinner for her. I like to feed her inside her enclosure, I havnt had any issues with aggresive behavior unless I am holding a mouse or have handled one recently.. if you make sure to wash your hands (which is a good practice before handling anyway) then youll probly be fine..

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Originally Posted by sissysnakes

My Dum stresses easily and attempting to move her when she is laying in wait for a meal, can sometimes ruin dinner for her. I like to feed her inside her enclosure, I havnt had any issues with aggresive behavior unless I am holding a mouse or have handled one recently.. if you make sure to wash your hands (which is a good practice before handling anyway) then youll probly be fine..

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Do you dangle the mouse in front of where she is burrowed, or do you just drop it in there.

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Originally Posted by drezden

Do you dangle the mouse in front of where she is burrowed, or do you just drop it in there.

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Are you going to offer live or F/T?

I'm doing f/t

I think someone should do an official Dumeril's care sheet for BPnet.

Then I would do the zombie dance.

if its f/t try wiggling it for a bit if it gets a hold of the mouse so the snake thinks its resisting

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Originally Posted by fortoday634

Personally, I wouldn't go higher then 90F. Mine prefers the hot spot at 88F, cool side at 73F, and the ambient is around 78F - 80F.

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How do you measure ambient air separate from cool side?

I measure it two different ways:

1) An Acu-Rite Digital Indoor/Outdoor Thermometer. You can find them at Wal-Mart for $20. They also measure humidity.

2) An Infrared Temperature Gun. I use a PE1 from Pro Exotics. They cost around $30 and everyone who keeps reptiles needs to have a good temp gun.

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Originally Posted by drezden

How do you measure ambient air separate from cool side?

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Usually, unless you are using heat lamps, radiant heat panels, or a dual UTH set-up, the cool side temperature will be the same as the ambient temperature.

Today is the first time I've seen him be buried under the substrate with just his head sticking out of the hide and above the substrate.. I'm thinking this means he's waiting for food. It's 9 AM though... should I wait until night time to feed him? I'm just worried he won't be in his waiting for food position in 12 hours. Maybe he'll eat right now?

Try it and see.

It didn't work, he just buried his head further. I'll try again before bed, but I have a feeling he's not going to strike. It's almost been a month since I've had him and he hasn't eaten, and he's only 4-5 months old. Will this stunt his growth?

Try leaving it in the cage overnight.

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Originally Posted by fortoday634

Try leaving it in the cage overnight.

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I've done that a few times, sometimes the mouse will be moved in the morning, but never eaten. I keep my frozen mice with rats in the same bag, maybe he doesn't like the smell of rat on them?

i have found mine to be very shy the only thing that has worked more than once for me is to get a live mouse kill it and place it in the cage then i leave the house

Sadly needing to leave the house seems perfectly reasonable to me at this point. It's frustrating because according to the feeding chart the breeder gave me, he was eating every 7 days no problem, sometimes 2 f/t mice at a time.

I think I'm going to call the breeder and ask him how he did his feeding, and double check my setup..etc..

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Originally Posted by drezden

I think I'm going to call the breeder and ask him how he did his feeding, and double check my setup..etc..

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this is what i would do :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by drezden

So I have a 4 month old Dumeril's which I've had for about a week, tonight I tried to feed him (I did it in a separate container) with a mouse hopper (what he had been eating for the breeder), he struck at the F/T mouse many times, at first I thought he was just missing the mouse, but a few times he made contact with it but did not coil around it, just snapped backwards.

Do you think this was defensive strikes vs him missing his feeding strikes? I'm really anxious now thinking that maybe I was just traumatizing him and now it will be that much harder to feed in the future?

Any thoughts or suggestions. I know many boa people feed in the enclosure, but I don't understand that when people have to use a snake hook just to tell their snake it's not feeding time. Might as well feed in a separate container so opening of the cage doesn't = feeding response without snake hook conditioning.

Background: Temps: Cool Side is 73, Hot side is always between 89-91 He has 2 hides on both sides, on paper towel substrate with UTH.

thank you for any advice.

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I have a 4 month old dum. She is pretty picky i couldnt get her to eat f/t at all so now i feed her live large mice. they are ambush preds and opportunistic feeders so it may take them a few minutes. I observe when she feeds its a good policy when feeding live rodents. She sneaks up moving real slow. I dont remover her from her cage and i usually stand back so she doesnt feel like i might do something tricky. She has never fed from my hand and usually strikes from her hide spot. I hope this helps...:gj:

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Originally Posted by Andybill

I have a 4 month old dum. She is pretty picky i couldnt get her to eat f/t at all so now i feed her live large mice. they are ambush preds and opportunistic feeders so it may take them a few minutes. I observe when she feeds its a good policy when feeding live rodents. She sneaks up moving real slow. I dont remover her from her cage and i usually stand back so she doesnt feel like i might do something tricky. She has never fed from my hand and usually strikes from her hide spot. I hope this helps...:gj:

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I think I may have to resort to using live. But according to the feeding chart he's been taking f/t no problem. Maybe I'm not being patient enough dangling the f/t.. I guess I could wait longer before giving up. I'm just so used to my BP striking within seconds. The dumeril doesn't even move around when he smells it.

Does anyone else have a boa that rests part of their body and head on their hide or something raised up on an incline at night?

....... do you have a pic of it occurring ? mine likes to "creep" alot just leaving a bit of his head exposed .... sometimings even using the tail bait trap

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Originally Posted by drezden

Does anyone else have a boa that rests part of their body and head on their hide or something raised up on an incline at night?

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my dum does that too. usually on her water bowl or on the side of her hide.

My male dumeril became picky for awhile too. Then I found out that if he's in his hide he'll eat live or f/t without any problems. He likes the surprise attack,while my female, will eat no matter what.

You guys!!! He ATE!!! I'm so happy.. I feel like a 10 year old on Christmas morning.

I offered him 1 size bigger f/t mouse and dropped it in and covered the tub with a blanket.. now it's gone. :D

Congrats, it's always a great feeling.

My little Dum seems to only want to eat every 8-12 days so that may have been playing a role as well.

He hasn't been using his hotside while digesting. Can his body digest the meal with ambient temp of 73?

Mine has been doing that as well, she spends her time 50%, 50% hot side cool side. Normally but seems to just sit wherever she ate. So far I haven't had any issues, but I have only had a Dum for as long as you have so I can't say anything for sure.