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!

[ Show Entire Thread ]