Dumeril Boa

[DragonBalls]

Tomorrow we're trading our 1 year old B&W Arg. Tegu for a 4.5 ft Dum (+$100). I've read they like to burrow, which will be hard to heat. Others say treat them the same as any other common Boa. Do they HAVE to burrow?? I've read some use aspen; newspaper (yuck!); coconut husk; cypress, etc.

She'll be going into the 75G tank the Tegu was in, with cypress mulch, maybe only a couple of inches (instead of 6-8", I don't really want her to burrow). I'm reluctant to use an UTH with a burrowing snake so she doesn't get burned. That leaves heating from above. I'm using a 75W halogen bulb for the Tegu and will probable use it for the snake. The screen top will have to be mostly covered with aluminum foil & black duct tape to keep in the humidity. I'll put the light mostly over the water bowl to evaporate it for humidity. I'll probably have to use a red or blue bulb for additional heat and leave it on at night.

Any other suggestions???

[Ophiuchus]

Well, we got two baby Dums kept on aspen with nothing but UTHs. Personally, I've been using UTHs for over a decade with no issues. And only recently I've had to use a rheostat for one large UTH that gets a little too hot.

However, a good bulb, as long as it reaches the proper temps during the day, should work fine.

According to most of the literature Ive dug up on Dums, yeah, they're almost strictly terrestrial/fossorial and they rarely climb. So likewise, they do enjoy burrowing, but a couple good hides should be sufficient to make them feel comfortable.

[DragonBalls]

Well, we got two baby Dums kept on aspen with nothing but UTHs. Personally, I've been using UTHs for over a decade with no issues. And only recently I've had to use a rheostat for one large UTH that gets a little too hot.

However, a good bulb, as long as it reaches the proper temps during the day, should work fine.

According to most of the literature Ive dug up on Dums, yeah, they're almost strictly terrestrial/fossorial and they rarely climb. So likewise, they do enjoy burrowing, but a couple good hides should be sufficient to make them feel comfortable.

I was thinking of using a rheostat on a UTH to limit the max possible temp. I may get a piece of FlexWatt and tape it under there instead of the ZooMed's we normally use.

We did the trade today. When we finally got home my wife took the snake out (unnamed so far) and wore her for the next 3 hours while I cleaned out & disinfected the 75G tank, sifted half a huge bag of cypress (taking out all of the sticks and med/large pieces), made the dog bowl hide (maybe she'll use it?! - I'm add another if she does.) and semi set it up. I still need to cover most of the top with aluminum foil and back duct tape to hold in the humidity. The snake seemed very content. The temp of the warm end was 75 when I took the pic 3 hours ago, I think it's over 79 now (just outside of the halogen's beam) and slowly rising as the mulch heats up. I'm going to leave the 75W halogen bulb on overnight (normally on timer) along with the 75W night time bulb over the water bowl (to add humidity).

When I put the snake in she just stretched out a little and hasn't moved since. Sleeping?? In her old enclosure (36" x 18") he couldn't burrow (not even an inch of substrate) and the hide was broken and not big enough to hide under so maybe she spent most of her time out in the open.

She's about 4.5 ft long and much stronger than my 3.5 ft BP. But she seems to have the same mellow personality.

[Ophiuchus]

Wow...thats a pretty Dums for being a 4+ footer! They usually dull out by that size. Very beautiful animal.