Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got a dumeril boa 5 weeks ago and she still hasn't eaten. Not sure on age but young. She is 1.5-2 ft. long. I have her in a rack system. She is in a sterilite sweater box with a hide and water dish. I have flexwat belly heat. The hot side is 90-91 degrees and the cool side is 81-83 degrees. I'm using newspaper as a substrate.

I've tried feeding her four times now (once a week). I'm feeding f/t rat fuzzies. I've tried wiggling it in front of her nose (she just stares at it) and leaving it in her cage overnight. Any help would be appreciated.

I also just got a new dumeril and notice that he likes to stay on the cooler side of the cage (hot 85, cool 81). So maybe 90-91 is too hot.

He wouldnt eat a f/t fuzzy mouse for me (snaps at it but then ignores it), and then wouldnt eat a live hopper mouse either (tries to bite it but cannot quite catch it). So I tried a live pinky rat, in her cage at night, I just placed it near her head that was poking out of the aspen bedding and then left the dark room, 10 minutes later the rat was gone.

For the second feeding, I left a fuzzy rat in a box then took him out and placed him in the box. He gobbled it up quickly. So I'm hoping to transistion him over to F/T soon.

I think its important to get them to start eating first, after that it gets easier to transition to feed tubs and frozen thawed food.

i agree. dums are quite happy with temps in the mid to low 80's.
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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas (normals)
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons (normals)
1.0 Dumeril's Boa (normal)
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python (normal)
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python (normal)
1.1 Surinam Redtail Boa (normal)
1.1 Short Tailed Python (Black Blood) (awaiting delivery)
0.1 Roommate (sigh...okay, she has a corn snake)

I have had a Dumerils Boa also and it was at least that long before she ate anything. I tried all kinds of things and nothing worked. She was just not interested. I at last put in a live feeder and whamo it was down the hatch in seconds flat. Im trying again tonight to see what happends. I wouldnt worry to much but if it goes longer then you might start to worry a bit.

I tried a frozen thawed, not interested. I tried a fresh killed, No intrest. i tried a live one and smakdown no problem other than she ate it butt fisrt. All my other snakes are eating FT but I think the Dumerils might be a little picky. She is an awesome snake though.

well here is something you can do. for one, stop trying to get her to eat each day! if she doesnt want it then dont offer anymore food for a week. then try again a week later. if no luck try again a week later. if its been more than say 3 or 4 weeks and it isnt in shed then hers a little somethin somethin i learned. dumerils like to stalk their prey. they love the hunt. which is why (imo) youre always hearing about dums that only eat live. so what i do is when mine wont eat (after 5 or 6 weeks in his case) is i take a medium or small rat and put it in the tank with the dum. and i sit there and i watch ready to pull the rat out with a pair of hemostats just in case. had to do this the other day. mine hadnt eaten since 6/20. did the above mentioned and about 25-30 minutes later, WHAM!!!he had been stalking the rat so slowly i hadnt even noticed. hell i thought he wasnt even interested in it. of course when i did this i never took my eyes off of the tank, the snake, or the rat and i never left the room. so if you can stand to sit in one spot for awhile then you might want to try this. but if it doesnt work today dont try it again tomorrow. wait a week. then try again.
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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas (normals)
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons (normals)
1.0 Dumeril's Boa (normal)
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python (normal)
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python (normal)
1.1 Surinam Redtail Boa (normal)
1.1 Short Tailed Python (Black Blood) (awaiting delivery)
0.1 Roommate (sigh...okay, she has a corn snake)

Mine has no problems eating live, but I hope I will be able to switch to f/t as i just bought a pack from mouse factory.

lol good luck on that one. so far ive only known of 2 dum owners that have success in that area. thats not to say that it isnt possible. i just havent seen it.
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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas (normals)
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons (normals)
1.0 Dumeril's Boa (normal)
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python (normal)
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python (normal)
1.1 Surinam Redtail Boa (normal)
1.1 Short Tailed Python (Black Blood) (awaiting delivery)
0.1 Roommate (sigh...okay, she has a corn snake)

My Dumerils gets fed once a week right now. Just prefers live over anything else. Not doing any stalking, just nails it right away.

ok so you have a snake that eats. whats the problem?
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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas (normals)
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons (normals)
1.0 Dumeril's Boa (normal)
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python (normal)
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python (normal)
1.1 Surinam Redtail Boa (normal)
1.1 Short Tailed Python (Black Blood) (awaiting delivery)
0.1 Roommate (sigh...okay, she has a corn snake)

nevermind. thought i was talking to the thread starter.
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1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas (normals)
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons (normals)
1.0 Dumeril's Boa (normal)
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python (normal)
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python (normal)
1.1 Surinam Redtail Boa (normal)
1.1 Short Tailed Python (Black Blood) (awaiting delivery)
0.1 Roommate (sigh...okay, she has a corn snake)

Just an update. I put a live rat fuzzy and she ate it. She really checked it out, went all around it, and them WHAM got it. Thanks for the tips. Looks like I'm gonna have to feed live.

My two large girls eat f/t. In fact, both of them will take f/t rats right off the ground (they strike crazy time...I don't have long enough tongs to hold a rat above their heads). I open the cage, put the thawed rat on the hidebox, and with in minutes they come out and start to swallow them. Out of 30 snakes of various species, none of them eat f/t as well as my dums. I have never heard that dums had a problem eating f/t...I have heard that they should be switched to f/t early due to their "sometimes" crazy feeding behavior.
Moral of the story, snakes are snakes; they have their own personalities! It is hard to make predictions based on a species in regards to whether they will eat f/t. Continue to offer f/t...I'm sure you will eventually become more successful.

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8.15 Normal ball pythons
2.0 Pastel ball pythons
1.0 Plains Garter
0.1 Normal Kenyan Sand Boa
1.1 Anery Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Mid-Baja Rosy Boa
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat
1.2 Dumeril's Boa
-----My list is too long, so I'll stop here!
*Amy*

Thats good to know thanks for the post.

The trick with frozen is to warm in water, change the water about three times over a two hour time span. Just before you feed warn the rodent with warm water again. Use paper towels to dry the warm rodent. I use extra long cooking chop sticks and snake tongs to wave the rodent around the snakes. Once the snake gets it I poke the rodent to mimic the death of the rodent and tap as if the heart is stopping. Then do not disturb the snake as it repositions to eat.

Keep away as it eats. This sets up the feeding responce. If you are lucky ypu will not need to go through this song and dance much. I find with many snakes if you do not do this the may coil but then not eat. Faking the rodents death sets the feeding responce and the snake eats.

Each time you feed spend less and less time faking the rodents death and the snake will learn to eat without much fan-fair. This will work for many snakes that strike but do not eat.