Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Alright i've had my dumeril for over two years now. The thing about her is that she has become the worse feeder. When i first got her it took me awhile but once she started eating she was ravenous. Now she regularly goes off feeds. I try to feed her about once every 1.5 weeks. I can't remember the last time she's ate two weeks in a row. She's gonna either eat or she's not. if she's gonna eat she takes the thawed rat instantly. I used to think it was because i was switching her over from mice, but now i don't because she's taken rats a number of times. She looks kinda thin and definetly isn't heavey. She doesn't seem to have any type of sickness and her set has worked well for the past two years. I was wondering if anyone has experienced this type of behavior?
thanks

she may be in that "live mice" phase again. you could also try a prekilled gerbil. if that doesnt work then it could just be a winter thing.
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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons
1.0 Black Blood Python
1.0 Dumeril's Boa
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python

I have some Dumerils that eat basically on an "every other feeding" schedule. By that I mean, when I feed the others, they will skip about every other feeding. Provided everything else is good, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I still have 15 05' babies left and of those 15, there are 3 that are like this, but at this point the growth rates have been nearly identical across the board. Hope this helps ease your mind a little bit. Take care

Paul

also, I swear that Dum's must be related to anacondas because they grow so freakin fast! i can get maybe 2 meals into mine before he is shedding again. Ive had mine for a little over a year and he's already at 4 feet.

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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons
1.0 Black Blood Python
1.0 Dumeril's Boa
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python

>Alright i've had my dumeril for over two years now.

>She looks kinda thin and definetly isn't heavey. She doesn't
>seem to have any type of sickness and her set has worked well
>for the past two years.

How big or how old was she when you got her, and how long is she now, and do you have a current weight, since you are worried about her being thin?

Lots of snakes will just be fussy feeders for no apparent reason. That's nothing to worry about. But if she is actually underweight, then you should worry a little.

If she actually is thin and underweight (and not just growing slow because of her fussy feeding habits) you should consider taking her to a vet and have her examined for internal parasites. I say this knowing full well that she wasn't wild caught, but parasites can come from food too, as pythonis pointed out in an earlier thread. Ideally people who breed rodents for snake food are somewhat ethical and ensure that their rodents aren't exposed to anything that could harbor parasites, but if you aren't the one breeding them, you don't know for sure.

Also, do you only feed one prey item at a time? (I don't exactly blame you with only wanting to thaw out one at a time if she eats less than 50% of the time that you do that) You might want to consider feeding two prey items at a time to maximize her weight gain when she does actually want to eat... but only if the prey items are short enough that she can handle swallowing both and not regurgitating them.

Just some ideas here... I realize I'm a little late on the scene. I hope this helps.

~Rebecca

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1.1 Ball Pythons (1.0 '05 Ghost, 0.1 '03 Normal)
0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40 lb darling lap dogs)