dumeril's

first off, sorry if i spelt it wrong..

and i read online that when you have them in an enclosure, that you should have a substrate for them to burrow in, so im guessing like repti-bark, or something similar, but then i was reading that you should place the food in front of it on the substrate and let it eat, and i thought if u did that then there was a potential impaction case? and the site also said to start feeding live and not frozen thawed, untill the snake is bigger. what are your thoguhts on this?

and do they NEED to have burrowing substrate, just wondering, because its no problem to go buy some, but i have like cage carpet all ready at my house.

thanks

-john


p.s. i dont have one yet (just letting you know so it doesnt seem like im one of the people that buy somehting with no clue about it), but i would maybe want one sometime soon, like a couple months


with that being said, AVERAGLY, how much do they cost?



thank you so much

[JLC]

I know nothing about Dumeril's, but just a quick search of various care sheets answers much. They do like to burrow, so if you want to provide your snake with as natural an environment as possible, then a burrowing substrate is good. But they can live happily on newspaper or carpet as well. (I would provide good hides and maybe some plastic foliage for them to "hide" in.)

The arguments about feeding in or out of the cage apply here as well as anywhere else. IF an animal is too shy or skittish, it may not adjust to the move into a feeding box. If you feed in the cage, on top of a substrate, you can either make sure your substrate is of the kind that can safely be ingested...or place some paper down on top of it and put your prey item on top of the paper.

I see no reason why you should start off feeding live. The only one would be if you have a picky eater who will ONLY eat live...but that holds true with any species. If you can get it to eat f/t, then go for it.

A quick search of prices showed anything from $125 to $200.

As I said, I know nothing of these animals, but a simple search brought many answers. Just keep reading! I'm sure you'll find conflicting advice on any species, and in that case, you have to do your best to judge by common sense and personal experience.

[iceman25]

David?