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New tank for Dumerils (New Owner)

Snakemother Jan 17, 2005 06:32 AM

Okay, after reading here I realized I might be stressing my male Dumerils by having him in a 40 long tank, and switched him with my ball python. I now have him in a 20 high, on aspen. The new tank has a painted back wall and a curved bark overhang glued hangway up on one side, both of which will help give him a sense of security. He has a hide on the cool end, and bark to burrow under on the warm end, and a water bowl. Should I not handle him till he eats? I'm loath to do that, as he needs to gain trust with us, as he wasn't handled much before I got him. He stopped eating in October, but doesn't seem to have lost any discernable weight. Both my ball pythons and one of my kings are in the winter off-food stage as well. Could this just be a winter thing for him as well?
It seems strange to me to have a 3 foot boa in a 20 high, but I was told they stress in bigger tanks (my ball python is enjoying this switch, though).
Any advice or suggestions are very appreciated!
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0.1.0 Boa, Elsa
1.0.0 Dumeril's Boa, Bruce
1.0.0 Mexican Kingsnake, Vincent
1.0.0 Graybanded Kingsnak, Boris
1.1.0 Ball Pythons, Pete & Sweetie-Darling
2.3.0 Bearded Dragons, Bela, Sally, Marigold, Phoenix & Spook
1.2.0 Fattailed Geckos, Sahein, Beltaine & Soltice
2.4.0 Leopard Geckos, Ian, Wicca, Rune, Ursla, Ostara & Pagan
2.0.0 Rats, Captian Howdy & Despero
0.0.1 Hermit Crab, Kraken
0.0.1 Pom-pom Goldfish, Jester
1.0.0 Pushy Lovebird Baxter

Replies (2)

PBM Jan 22, 2005 12:04 AM

Well, if he's not feeding, I'd just make sure his temps. are good, and leave him be...no starring into the cage, no handling, cage in a low traffic area...atleast until he's feeding again. My dumerils don't generally go off feed just because it's winter time, but it's possible that is what's going on. Continue keeping an eye on his weight as your doing, and continue to offer food on a weekly to bi-weekly basis, just be sure not to stress him out by offering food everyday. I'd also try a mouse over a rat as mice seem to get a better feed response than rats from hesitant dumerils. Don't worry too much about not handling him as Dumerils tend to be calm animals without much handling. I have a couple nasty dumerils, but they are the acception. Snakeman97 who posted above and below stated he had to use Quail before to get a dumerils to feed. I haven't had to do that yet, but if nothing else is working, I wouldn't hesitate to try it. Good luck, take care

Paul

phflame Jan 22, 2005 09:56 AM

it was suggested that you put quite a deep layer of aspen for them to feel safe in. Not bark, but shredded aspen. You might want to run a search on dums to try to find those threads.
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phflame

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