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I have a female Dum (about 8 months old) that refuses to eat for 3 and 4 weeks at a time. She seems to feed best on freshly killed small rats (I purchased 2 live at a pet store a while back and she ate them, one one week and the other the next). I try frozen thawed every week, but she normally refuses to feed on them. My questions are (1) have you experienced this before from a Dum, (2) what did you do to get the snake on a fairly regular feeding schedule and (3) are Dums normally picky eaters? Thanks in advance for your response.

Regards,
Maurice

>>I have a female Dum (about 8 months old) that refuses to eat for 3 and 4 weeks at a time. She seems to feed best on freshly killed small rats (I purchased 2 live at a pet store a while back and she ate them, one one week and the other the next). I try frozen thawed every week, but she normally refuses to feed on them. My questions are (1) have you experienced this before from a Dum, (2) what did you do to get the snake on a fairly regular feeding schedule and (3) are Dums normally picky eaters? Thanks in advance for your response.
>>
>>Regards,
>>Maurice

Well I don't think it's just A Dum question...lol. It is sometimes common with other boas as well. How are you feeding? Have you tried leaving the killed rat in over nite so she is not disturbed? Most Boas in my experience are not really picky eaters. I do have one that does about the same thing, she eats about every 3rd meal. She will wrap it up and knaw on it and then she will quit. If yours will eat freshly killed I would stay with that and every so often when she does eat I would have a thawed one ready just to offer one more. Try to trick her. It may take sometime to get her to eat on a regular schedule, or this just maybe her schedule??? Is she thin? Is she growing ok? The littermate to my picky eater is 4 1/2ft while the picky eater is 5 1/2ft????? Makes since huh. Got somemore info?
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Voices in the darkness... scream away my mental health. Can I.. ask a question.. to help save me from myself? Enemies fill up the pages, are they me?... Monday till Sunday in stages, set me free!!! " Diary of a Madman " Ozzy Osbourne

Hi Bah, and thanks up front for the info. Yeah, I have tried leaving the meal overnight. After the second night I just throw it out. I've tried different sizes or food item as well. I've tried adult mice and small rats, but as far as I can tell she really prefers the rats. Currently it's been 4 weeks now without a feeding.

As for her cage setup, I recently went from indoor/outdoor carpet (or marine carpet - the green stuff) to a pine bedding. I know, the change is not good at a time like this but I thought maybe I could get a better feeding responce from her if the cage was a little more "nature-like". Is pine OK, or do you think aspen or cyprus would be better?

My only concern is that she may just quit eating all together and die in my care.

Regards,
Maurice

I have a yearling that I bought about three months ago. Same thing....she refuses frozen/thawed. Won't even "sniff" them. I have not tried fresh killed....sorry, I just cannot do that. She eats live weanling rats immediately. I stand over them like a hawk to make sure rat does not try to bite her but I think they are too young. I know something is going to have to change as she moves up to adult rats as they might do serious damage. How many of you out there are exclusively using live rats to feed your boas? Any problems? I also have tried numerous ways to get her to eat frozen/thawed and she literally acts as if they are not even there.

Good luck to you, Tracy.

Tracy, I know you have said you have tried numerous ways. But let me ask you, have you tried rubbing a live rat on the f/t rat before offering it to your boa? This worked for me with one of my snakes that was not to thrilled about f/t. After a couple of times she now accepts f/t with no problems. I hope this helps.
Good luck

No that I have not tried, but I will. I don't want to have some rat gnawing on my baby. Thanks for the advice.

from meal one on f/t with no problems. once in a while you will get one that is picky. This just blows me away. I feed newborn babies after their first shed f/t with no problems. Then BAM a picky one. &*@# happens.
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Voices in the darkness... scream away my mental health. Can I.. ask a question.. to help save me from myself? Enemies fill up the pages, are they me?... Monday till Sunday in stages, set me free!!! " Diary of a Madman " Ozzy Osbourne

Cool no problem.and the name is James. Changing bedding wont hurt crap. You have a picky eater. Is she thin? No it's not gonna die. Mine is like this too. I think the change in bedding might help. Try feeding every 2 weeks and let the snake hunker down and hide. You might get a better feeding responce if it is comfy. Food for thought.
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Voices in the darkness... scream away my mental health. Can I.. ask a question.. to help save me from myself? Enemies fill up the pages, are they me?... Monday till Sunday in stages, set me free!!! " Diary of a Madman " Ozzy Osbourne

Thanks for the input, James. I was actually thinking about the once every two week feedings myself this afternoon, and I think that's the route I'm gonna take. I'm also going to stick exclusively with fresh killed small rats. As to the gals figure :-D, she's not what could be considered thin yet I don't think, but I wanna make sure I don't get to that point. Again, Thanks!

Regards,
Maurice

I have a pair of dummies and neither one has eaten since I got them. I saw them eat for the prior keeper so I know they can. I tried seperating them, using live, using f/t, using fresh-killed, everything. I even thought maybe the f/t ones weren't as warm as live ones so I boiled one till it almost fell apart and they still wouldn't eat. I think they're just picky period so I'm leaving them alone until I notice them hunting around the cage then I'll try again. Best of luck,
Sera
S and M Reptiles

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3.7 ball pythons (5 normal, 2 het axanthic, lemon, blush, reduced)
1.2 king snakes (1 chocolate, 2 albino)
1.1 colombian red tail boas
1.1 pueblan milksnakes
2.2 african house snakes
2.1 striped albino gophers
1.2 burmese pythons (1 albino, 2 hets)
1.1 southern copperheads
1.1 dumeril's boas
3.3 corns (miami, okatee, snow, caramel, 2 creamsicle)
1.1 jungle corns
0.2 ferrets
0.2 degus
0.1 salcotta tortoise
1.1 rats
1.0 lab/beagle puppy
1.0 parakeet
0.0.1 human on the way

I don't have a lot of experience with Dums but I will say that, if anything, they have a reputation for feeding well, especially as they get older. My Dum is a sub-adult but he's an aggressive feeder (but a really docile snake to handle).

As far as I know, f/t shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure the body is warm.

You didn't mention anything about your husbandry practices. Your Dum might just be a picky eater but you should check with some Dum experts to make sure your husbandry is good. BTW, I would keep the snake on aspen rather than pine... softer, less dusty, safer overall.

Thanks for your tips Blackpine! I will look into the Aspen and pull the Pine out. I was actually even thinking of going back to paper towel, which is what I house all my other snakes on. It seems works very well for the others (1.1 Corn, 0.0.1 Ball Python).

My Dum is definitely the touchiest of them all. I actually think she's ready to eat again now. I went in today to mist the 20L that I have her in. I lifted her hide and she was burried under the bedding, so I nuged her so I could see her head and to get her to move to the other end of the tank. That went well enough, but when I went to actually pick her up and show her the way to her hide she swung around to let me know she didn't like what I was trying to do. She doesn't clamp down, just kind of a warning to let me know she's unhappy. I love the little gal, but that's like getting poked with 10 or 12 needles at one time. And oddly enough, she only shows this behavior just before she eats. At least that's the way it was the last time.

Well, thanks again to all that responded to my post. I'll update in 2 to 4 weeks and let you know how things are going.

Regards,
Maurice

Hi all! Well, I just wanted to update that another weekend went by and my female Dumerils Boa hasn't eaten. But at the same time I feel a little stupid, because instead of the small rat missing out of the feeder box she was left in the last two nights, I woke up this morning to find that she had left me a full shed. I never got a chance to see her in her pre-shed stage as was the case the last time this happened, so I guess I really had no way of knowing.

Anyway, I wanted to get your opinions as to if my girl Daphne looks skinny. IMO, she looks a little slimmed down is all. I realize that the pictures aren't the best angle but after what she's been through recently, coupled with the fact that I just put her back in her enclosure, I thought it best to just let her do her own thing. I hope you are able to cast your opinion from what I was able to provide. Thanks to everyone in advance!

Regards,
Maurice

Unfortunately the code I entered to the photos didn't work. They can be found in the Kingsnake.com photo gallery under "Snakes - Boas". If you just want to search on my username, its "ink_scorpion". Sorry for the hastle.

Regards,
Maurice