Quote Originally Posted by Roswell
I picked up my new baby on Sunday and set him up at home. He seemed to settle in rather well so last night i decided to give him his first meal with me.

I offered him a f/t pinkie rat and he definitely showed interest. He struck at it 9 times, hitting it every time but not holding on or wrapping the pinkie up!

I thought maybe the prey was too small so I offered him a fuzzie rat and got the same results!!

Do boa moms teach their babies how to hunt and he didn't catch on or is something else going on? Anyone have any ideas for a way i can get him to hold on?
As you are finiding out, Dumerils can be very finicky eaters.

Some things that might help:

(1) If you haven't already done so, make sure that you are providing a fairly deep substrate. Dumerils are primarily ambush predators and like to bury themselves in the substrate for a strike.

(2) Dumerils tend to have weird eating idiosyncracies - for example, I had one that would only eat if the lights were out and no one was watching. If there was ambient light in the room and I tried to watch him eat, he would strike, coil and lose interest.

(3) What was he being fed from the breeder? I had a heck of a time getting ours onto f/t rodents. I had to resort to pre-scenting with anoles and then leaving them in with the snake over night.

(4) Even though he may seem to be adapting well, leave him alone for a week. Keep him out of a high traffic area and resist the urge to check on him too often. Make sure you are offering him a nice deep substrate and try again when the week is up.