Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I have read a lot of the forum archives, but I did not see an answer to my questions...I hate to keep asking questions over and over, but:
1. How often should you feed an adult Dumeril?

2. I bought a pair of adults and the female eats aggressively, the male however, is very laid back and crawls over his prey, but is not interested in eating it. When I got them the seller said they were both eating very strong...the male is very heavy bodied, so he can afford to miss a few meals. The man had both in the same enclosure at the show and the female grabbed the male and threw her coils around him...they were seperated. I was wondering if the trauma of trying to be killed and moving into a new home has put him off his food...I have only had him for a week. I guess I should give him time to settle in. Sometimes I loose track of my time and think I have been doing something longer then I really have.

Thanks
Nancy
-----
Some of my best friends are Snakes and Dragons
Reptiles Rule

Dumerils can be finicky for sure. I doubt the attempted murder has much to do with it though-lol! Give the male some time to settle in, and then offer food at weekly intervals. That's if he doesn't eat one day, wait a week...try again. I bought an adult male years ago that was obviously well fed, and it took me months to get him feeding. For some reason he only wanted rabbits from me at first, and then over time he went back to rats, which he was said to be feeding on to begin with. After that, I'd suggest feeding an adult male approximately every two weeks on average and not feeding such large prey that it looks like he's about to explode. I've seen a ton of overweight Dumerils and from the info the owners tell me, they have little luck actually getting these obese animals to breed successfully. Best of luck, and congrats on the new Dumerils. Take care

Paul

Well Paul, thanks for the advice. George ate yesterday. I shampood the rat and rinsed and fluff dried it. I placed it on a paper plate in George's cage. He used it for a pillow for awhile. Then when I checked in the morning, viola' he had a small lump and the weanling rat was gone. I guess George does NOT like smelly old rats for dinner.LOL He is such a laid back wonderful guy.
Oh BTW did you see the "20lb" male that was in the classifieds for sale...isn't that a little large? All the other ads I read say approx 1.5-2.0 lbs.
Thanks again
Nancy
-----
Some of my best friends are Snakes and Dragons
Reptiles Rule