Advice needed: Should I buy one of these Dumerils?

[KWenger]

I presently have two BPs (one adult normal and one yearling BEL) and an adult corn snake. I want to add a boa to my collection.....I owned a red tail years ago that grew to be too big & I had to find her a new home......After several weeks of careful research I have decided a male Dumerils would best meet my criteria of good temperament, moderate adult size and generally easy husbandry requirements. I've been looking on kingsnake.com and other sites and have found a number of male Dumerils for sale. The past couple of days I have been communicating with a very nice guy named James at Prehistoric Pets in California. They presently have several Dumerils hatchlings available as well as one male juvenile (about 18 mos old and 550 grams weight) and a young adult male (exact age unknown) described as being about 6 feet long and 2150 grams. I've seen photographs of both and they look good. The younger one is lighter in color and better looking, but that isn't important to me as I am only looking for a pet. I think I would prefer to not get a baby, so I'm now trying to decide between the juvenile and the adult. Maybe. James assures me that both are tame and in good health, although he did say the larger one was a "little jumpy" but had never attempted to bite anyone. Prices are reasonable and I've checked out Prehistoric Pets on the BOI. Generally positive reviews. I feel comfortable dealing with them. My biggest concern is that all the Dumerils at Prehistoric Pets are being fed live prey and always have been. I absolutely DO NOT want to feed live food to any of my snakes. Not now, not ever. Period. That's a big deal to me. I explained this to James and he said he was "positive" I wouldn't have any difficulty transitioning one of their Dumerils from live to f/t because they have strong feeding responses. What do you think? I did switch my corn from live to f/t when I got him and it was easy. Then again, my corn snake will eat just about anything you put in front of him. I have no experience with Dumerils and have read that they can be more finicky eaters than other boas. Should I accept James' assurance that I'll easily be able to switch one of their snakes to f/t? Also, I want to have the enclosure well regulated before I get the snake, regardless of what I end of getting. I was about to order a model 422D from Boaphile (size 4 feet long, 2 feet wide, 17" high) but now I'm concerned that would be too big if I got the juvenile. Opinion? I am very aware that a too large enclosure can cause severe stress for a BP...but what about a Dumerils? I would prefer to simply house the snake in his "forever" cage from the get go.......but perhaps that is a bad idea? If you think the 422D is too big for the juvenile now, what size would you suggest for a temporary enclosure. Last question: Does anyone think I would be better off getting the adult? Size sounds OK and the price is the same. I hope to make my decision this week and would value the advice of those of you who are experienced with Dumerils. Thanks!

[Annarose15]

I can't answer on the cage requirements, but you could ask James to offer each of them F/T or pre-killed at the next feeding, which could indicate whether they will take dead prey.

[KWenger]

I can't answer on the cage requirements, but you could ask James to offer each of them F/T or pre-killed at the next feeding, which could indicate whether they will take dead prey.

That's an excellent idea! I'll definitely ask James to try feeding them f/t before I commit to buy either snake.

[Evenstar]

I would do that too. Dumerils can occasionally be difficult feeders until they become established. I would want to KNOW the snake will accept f/t before I bought it. My baby female didn't eat for a month after we got her. She never misses a meal now, but it was a rocky start. Thankfully, she does take f/t.

I would suggest the juvenile. I can understand being somewhat leery of a baby, especially in light of what I just mentioned, but I wouldn't want to work with a "jumpy" adult if this is your first boa.

Dumerils are a little shy in comparison to Colombian red tailed boas (BCI) and the smaller ones do like to feel more secure. However, you can fix that with the larger enclosure by filling it with a deep layer of aspen for substrate. Dumerils like to burrow so you should do this anyhow. Provide several hides and a nice water bowl, and the juvie should do alright in a 4x2.

[KWenger]

I decided to buy the juvenile Dumerils from Prehistoric pets after James agreed to keep the snake for a few weeks to transition him to f/t from live food. James is confident this wont be a problem, but if he is unable to get him to eat f/t prey the deal is off and my money will be refunded in full. They are charging me nothing to keep the snake and work on switching him to f/t which I think is fair. Also, after researching Boaphile and checking them out on the BOI, I decided to order a T-10 cage from Animal Plastics. Ali at Animal Plastics was terrific......extremely nice and helpful and did a great job helping me chose the cage that best fit my needs. Boaphile never responded to my emails or telephone messages, so I gave up.

[Evenstar]

Very good. That sound exceptionally reasonable. I hope it works out alright - boas generally don't have too much trouble switching to f/t, but it's good that they are doing it for you so the snake can make the switch in a place where he's currently comfortable.