Reptile & Amphibian Forums

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!

No need to rush. Many cb high quality animals are available from established breeders.

Spend a bit of time on the KS Dumerils forum and you will find exactly what you want.

http://forums.kingsnake.com/forum.php?catid=139

Bill

I wouldnt buy from anyone that feeds live to snakes that will eat f/t. If they are lazy in how they offer food, are they lazy in how they care for the animal or clean it's cages??? (just my opinion).

Dums are great snakes and will eat basically anything offered to them (mice, rats, chicks, quail, snakes, chicken legs, whatever)... i'd stick to rats though.

Mine have never bit and are really calm/chill snakes. they do squirm a lot when first picked up, but settle in a matter of seconds.

you really can't go wrong with a dum and i'm sure you'll have no regrets once you get one.
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1.1 Argentine Boas
1.1 Dumerils Boas
1.1 Black Milk Snakes
2.3 California King Snakes
1.1 Nelsons Milk Snakes
2.2 Corn Snakes

Thanks for the advice Aaron. Where did you buy your Dumerils? Is there a breeder you can recommend?

I got mine from Justin Tierney on the kingsnake classifieds... don't know if he's got any up right now. They were cheap compared to other breeders, looked fantastic, and he was super helpful with my questions and even checked in after the sale to make sure they were doing well.
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1.1 Argentine Boas
1.1 Dumerils Boas
1.1 Black Milk Snakes
2.3 California King Snakes
1.1 Nelsons Milk Snakes
2.2 Corn Snakes

That adult male sounds pretty underweight. At 6', he should be nearly twice that weight.

I decided to buy the juvenile Dumerils from Prehistoric pets after James agreed to keep the snake for a few weeks to transition him to f/t from live food. James is confident this wont be a problem, but if he is unable to get him to eat f/t prey the deal is off and my money will be refunded in full. They are charging me nothing to keep the snake and work on switching him to f/t which I think is fair. I believe the other Dumerils at Prehistoric Pets that is described as a "young adult" is actually shorter than 6 feet. Those who advised me that a 6 foot snake should weigh much more than I was told this one weighed were of course absolutely correct. I think the snake is actually closer to 4 feet or so. Looks like a healthy size in photographs. Also, after researching Boaphile and checking them out on the BOI, I decided to order a T-10 cage from Animal Plastics. Ali at Animal Plastics was terrific......extremely nice and helpful and did a great job helping me select the cage that best fit my needs. Boaphile never responded to my emails or telephone messages, so I gave up.

Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Hopefully the transition goes smoothly and you have a new snake in a few weeks. I personally would have gone with a T8 instead of a T10 for a Dumeril's though. They're ground dwelling snakes, and the extra height is unnecessary...unless you just want the extra height for ease of access, that is. Regardless, you're getting a great cage that will fit a male Dum for his entire life. Oh, and just for referrence, my male Dum is about 4 years old, 64" long, and weighs 3600g.

The only reason I decided to go with a T10 instead of a T8 is because I thought perhaps when the snake was an adult the larger doors on the T10 would make it easier to get the snake in/out of the cage. I do realize the additional height is a waste as far as the snake's comfort is concerned. Your Dum sounds like an excellent size for a 4 year old. What feeding schedule would recommend for my juvenile male? What size prey? How often would you suggest I feed him? I currently have a freezer full (slight exaggeration) of mice for corn snakes (ave about 25 grams), weaned rats for my young BEL BP (ave weight apx 50 grams) and lots of medium rats for my adult BP. Those are 125-150 grams on average. Do any of those sound appropriate for a 550 gram juvenile male Dumerils? I would appreciate your advice.

Yeah, the taller doors will make access a bit easier. And yes, I think my boy is a pretty good size for his age. He has pretty much doubled in weight since this time last year!! He's currently eating a jumbo (approx 400g) rat about every 3 weeks. My little female is 185g right now, and she eats a crawler rat (30-40g) every week. So, your boy should be able to eat a weaned or small rat no problem. Definitely stick to rats, though. I keep my boas on a weekly schedule until they're about 2 years old, then every 2 weeks for the next year or two depending on their size. Once they're on jumbo rats, its every 3 weeks unless they act like they're starving lol.

You are correct, a taller cage, meaning taller doors, makes it easier to service the cage, especially if the cage is on the floor. Just make sure you have some hides in there - Dums like to cram themselves into low-height hides, or under newspaper.

I had a Dumerils, what a great pet. Very nice temperament. Super mellow. I fed him dead food - only choice he had. Previous owner fed him live. He refused dead food for about 2 weeks, then gave in and never looked back. A little hunger is great incentive.