Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just purchased a nice female Dumeril's Boa at a show in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I'm impressed with her color and her temperment. The seller told me she was feeding on live rat pups.

Well, there weren't any rat pups at the show, so I thought I would try with a fuzzie mouse, figuring prey is prey, after all. She didn't take it "right away", so I left it in her pen, and next morning, it was gone.

Realizing it probably wasn't enough "meat", I dropped another one in her pen, and by the next morning, it too was gone. I'll give her a few days to a week, and drop in a hopper next to see if she'll eat that, and if it's gone as readily, I will try her on a fresh-killed full-grown mouse...simply because I'm not really sure exactly how big a "rat pup" is--and how they equate to mice in size..and I'm a little concerned that she won't eat a fresh-killed, because it seems she likes to feed in the dark hours/during the night, and I would be concerned about the mouse biting her (of course).

What can anybody tell me about little quirks--can they be converted to frozen/thawed?

0.1 Tangerine Honduran Milksnake
1.1 California black & white King Snakes
0.1 Dumeril's Boa Constrictor

Tenna

Yes, they can definitely be converted to frozen/thawed prey. My own Dum is a bit runty because in her first year she apparently didn't eat... then was fed only live mice before I got her. She's slowly but surely catching up on the growth that she missed.

I've been keeping snakes for many years (though I have only ever kept one Dumeril's Boa), and while many argue against this (it really makes a difference how many snakes you keep), I prefer to use plastic tupperware totes with "locking" lids as feeding bins for my snakes (I have a 19qt and a 50qt for my different sized snakes). First, my snakes do not associate my reaching into their cage with the presentation of food (no accidental bites). Second, when I put them in their feeding bins, they recognize that food is on the way, and they respond! Third, since the feeding bin is not the cage, and has no hiding spots, the snake can't just ignore the prey, or never end up realizing that it's being presented.

For my Dum, I place the f/t prey in the bin before I put her in. Once she's in and the lid is locked, I cover the bin with a towel or blanket, and leave her alone for about 20 minutes. Lately she has been taking longer to swallow the larger meals, but if I lift a corner of the blanket to peek in on her, she doesn't get stressed. She definitely prefers eating in the dark, and without distractions. I never had to do anything other than this to get her to switch from live to f/t. I consider myself lucky.

Good Luck!
~Rebecca
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0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04 (Courtney)
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)
1.2 Ball Pythons
[1.0 '05 Orange Hypo (Specter)]
[0.1 '05 Het Hypo (Sylvia)]
[0.1 '03 Normal (Sue)]