Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is my first post on kingsnake! I am a very excited new snake owner, and I have one female (we think) Dumeril's boa. I have done endless research, and am fairly content with my knowledge of snakes so far. The only thing I haven't been able to locate are the exact steps of shedding. My dum was born somewhere around November 04 (get her from a friend of a friend), but I'm not exactly sure. Anyway, she ate one hopper 3 weeks and 5 days ago. I attempted to feed her every 7 days since then, but with no luck. Then over last weekend her eyes started to get milky, so I decided to wait until the entire shed process was over until I tried to feed her again. Now her eyes are starting to go back to normal, but she has not shed yet. I was wondering if the eyes get milky, then they shed and everything goes back to normal, OR do the eyes get milky and then the eyes go back to normal and THEN they shed. Sorry about all the specifics, but I'm madly in love with her and I want everything to go well for her. Thanks for the help, and I'll get some pics up of her when I get home tonight. Thanks again!
Dane

Yeah Mine does the same thing, She will go off feeding, Go into the blue, and then her eyes clear up, after they clear up, its only a matter of days mine shed within a day of clearing up, after she sheds I offer food, and Never had a problem. You might want to raise the humidity, by spraying her down, that will make sure she sheds ok. Thats completely normal, or at least thats what all of mine do. Hope that helps.

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"Life is a Safari"

yes mine does the same and it usally with in 48 hours after the eyes clear up and i try to soak right after the eyes clear and i have never had a problum good luck with your baby

melissa

Look at each side of your dumerils vent/cloaca region. Check for the presence of spurs. If you find spurs, it's a male, if you can't find any spurs(and your looking in the right place) it's a female. And of course like the others said, the eyes clearing up prior to shed is a normal part of the shed cycle. Best of luck with your new Dumerils! Take care!

Paul

I really appreciate the help everyone, I'd be entirely in the dark without you guys. And Paul, I was wondering what exactly the spurs look like. If they are black and shiny, then I think I found them. Also, I would like to know about feeding in the cage. Everyone that I have talked to so far has said that if you feed a snake in it's cage, they will get used to having their food dropped in, so when you go to pick them up they easily mistake you for food. I fed her in a grocery size paper bag the first time, and she didn't mind. Now I am worried that she may be getting pickier on where she eats since I she hasn't eaten since that first time. Any suggestions? Thanks again,
Dan

Mine eat mice as babies, and I have had a few take to rat pups right away. You might want to try rat pups. I feed mine outside the cage, I have a plastic sweater box I feed them in. And then spray them down and put them back in there cages. Good luck.
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"Life is a Safari"

Yeah, the spurs are black, little "hooks" with pointed tips. I don't use "feeding cages". The practice has never made sense to me at all. The "theory" of them being aggressive if fed in their cage is unfounded, and my dumerils do NOT go ballistic everytime I open the cage expecting food. They do what they do anytime I open the cage....sit there! If I open the cage and have a rat hanging from tongs, then they get pretty excited, but then there's the scent of prey in the air so it makes sense. Generally the dumerils question of choice is WHY won't my dumerils eat. So, to expect a non-feeder to respond well by being pulled out of their "home", placed into a "strange" cage and then have a potential predator(food item) thrown in the mix doesn't seem to make any sense. Yes, some will feed this way, but they'd also feed in their cage if given the chance. These are NOT problem feeders. Usually the problem is putting a baby in a large cage. Generally speaking, smaller is better with babies. I use a rack system that holds the .98 cent rubbermaid/sterilite type tubs, newspaper or papertowel for substrate, a water bowl, and heat at the back end of the tub. I don't mess with them much at all. I feed them and clean them, and they remain "tame" on their own. If the feeding in the tub theory was correct, I'd have baby dumerils attached to my hand every day. For those that do it, there's nothing wrong with it, but it's not really a solution for anything, just a preferred method. Well, congrats again on your new dumerils! Take care

Paul

Well now my question is should I just plop the mouse in the cage at night and let it live in there till my dum gets hungry, or during the day, or what? Right now I have a deep red incandescent heat bulb in there for a night lamp, but it produces almost no light. So can she see the mouse to eat it or do I have to put in my UV day bulb. I just put the mouse in there to see if she'd take it about 15 min. ago, and no luck yet...but any suggestions?
Thanks, Dan
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Danny P

Don't leave the mouse in there alive overnight!!! Actually, don't even leave it in unattended at all if it's alive. How big is your cage, and what's the general setup and temps? The red night bulb is fine, but not necessary. I use back heat on my baby racks, and belly heat on everything else, no lights at all. A good place for general info is Dumerils.com Jason has alot of the general info right there in one place for people to read. If you haven't read it, I recommend it for anyone new to keeping dumerils. Generally my babies take food almost immediately if they're going to eat. If your dumerils is in too big of a cage, the mouse may just need to move into the right position to be tagged ambush style...once you start reaching in and moving the mouse into position though, the snake will usually become more scared than interested in food. This is another reason a smaller cage helps with baby dumerils. There's no where for the mouse to go but in front of the snake. You said she had eaten for you when you first got her a couple weeks ago right? If so, don't even begin to worry yet, sometimes you just need to let them settle in, which will mean NO HANDLING, no starring into the cage, etc....Just let it settle in, get it feeding regularly and THEN start handling little by little. And don't worry that she's going to get too aggressive during this short time period, it'll be fine. A little patience and proper set up should be all you need to be successful. So, if the mouse is still alive, set him up in a little cage, feed him good food, and try again in a few days, not every day...give it a few days between tries. Most the time when people are stressing over their dumerils not feeding, in about 2 weeks, they'll come back saying that their dumerils ate and everything is fine. Also, one last thing....we all have our own ideas of what works, don't be afraid to try different approaches, BUT don't try them all in a 3 day period-LOL! Give things time to work!!! Take care

Paul

OK Paul...I finally figured it out. I needed to just calm down and leave her alone with the mouse in a tiny enclosure and give her a minute to recognize the food and then she ate. Simple as that. It took hre about an hour to eat it, but after she did, I tossed in another frozen that I had from before, doused it in chicken broth, and she ate that too! So I'm really beginning to see the versatility of my exact snake, because she seems to eat anything, and since the time I have had her, I have held her during every period that you are generally "not supposed to". When she was shedding, I held her every day after I soaked her and she loved it. Five minutes after she eats she is tame as a kitten. I reach in her cage and wake her up at whatever time, never snapped at me once, AND she seems happy to be there. I think this whole time its me whos been getting all ancy about her, but the whole time she is just perfect...I can't seem to piss her off even if I tried! So anyway, I think I solved it, and now I can probably feed her anything because she ate that f/t mouse in chicken broth. I bet shed eat a f/t small rat next time....NOW for the real question...how the heck do you post pictures? LOL! After I put em in the gallery, then I just pop the URL into the "Image URL" box, but what do I type after that to make it show up in the forum, and how do you do multiples? Thanks again!
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Danny P
1.0 Dumerils Boa

As far as pics, I just click on the "select image from photo gallery" box, and pick a picture. I cheat on multiple pics as I'm not real keen on multiple pic posting....that will definitely have to come from somebody else! I would suggest not handling immediately after feeding, not for fear of aggression, but for fear of regurgitation. A meal slightly too large could be all it takes combined with handling to cause a regurge, and that's never good! Also, don't expect her to feed like a common boa as they have a slower metabolism, and feeding every 10-14 days will be adequate for proper growth and consistent feeding. That's another "problem" people question around here...."my dumerils was eating great every 3 days, for a month, now it hasn't eaten for 2 weeks, what's wrong???" LOL...nothing wrong, they're just not retics! Sounds like you got everything under control, not sure you need to use any chicken broth, but as long as she's feeding, it's all gravy from here! Take care!

Paul

I agree with PBM; I don't think that feeding outside the cage makes a difference. In fact, I would think that you're more likely to be nailed by your snake when you're transferring it back to its cage after it has been fed. (Having just downed a meal, it's still in "hunt" mode.) I feed my Dum in his cage all the time. I think it's a matter of becoming familiar with your own animal. If you can "read" them well, you never have to worry.

She had a perfect shed tonight! I'll feed her an adult mouse tomorrow. Appreciate the help!
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Danny P

Let us know if she eats for ya. If you can post pics of her. We all love seeing pics of peoples Dumerils.
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"Life is a Safari"

I think feeding in the cage all depends on the species. I own retics and carpets, and make an effort to feed both out of cage in a different cage just to make sure they understand feeding time and know there schedule, I also do it just because it gives me a schedule. I don't feel that feeding in the cage would make them more or less aggressive its just they wont be used to it so when you try taking them out your not seen as food. Im not a dumeril guy and was just skimming the forum and have always fed out of cage for my snakes.
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Pat
1.1 (100% het albino) Retics
1.1 Coastal Carpet Pythons

I have a bunch of carpets now and have had my share of adult retics in the past. I think any precaution you take with Retics is good! The Dumerils side is a bit different, just as you stated, certain things vary from one species to the next. Some people offer the advice that feeding in a seperate enclosure will help with problem feeders. Generally if they set the baby dumerils up in a set up that made them feel more secure they'd feed anyway. Those that will feed when placed in a small container aren't what I consider "problem feeders", just dumerils that are insecure/stressed in their regular set ups. Where carpets and retics are very adapt at climbing and thus capable of tagging you in the face in an instant if they chose, dumerils are much more cumbersome and don't have near the potential as retics when it comes to keeper error inflicted bites. Of course this is just my opinion, and not every animal will act like the majority of the species, and things will come down to paying attention to your animal as someone stated above(sorry can't remember the name and don't want to have to retype this going to check-lol). I think Retics require more frequently handling to keep tame than Dumerils do. The HUGE difference is potential size. I don't see anyone becoming afraid of their dumerils as they grow as they often do with adult Retics. This turns into a neglected animal which more often than not is neglected. The cage isn't kept clean, the animal isn't handled, and may or may not get fed often enough. I think this tendency results in the aggressive animal, more so than just feeding in it's cage. Like I said in my previous post, there's nothing wrong with feeding in seperate enclosures, I just don't see it as a solution for anything. But, when dealing with animals the size of Retics, any precaution is a good precaution! Take care!

Paul

I thought you were stating it was completely wrong.

Im not a boa person, let alone a specific like the dumeril, but read that and thought completely different.
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Pat
1.1 (100% het albino) Retics
1.1 Coastal Carpet Pythons