Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I keep many different Boas and pythons. I have kept and loved Dumerils boas for over ten years now and cannot figure out why they are not more popular? They stay a manageable size, have a great personality and are really hardy. You could not ask for a more beautiful snake with their cryptic browns,grays, and pinks. Their price is reasonable...cheap compared to a lot of other boids. Why are they so often overlooked?

Good question. Maybe people are more into the latest greatest morph.
As far as size goes, they can get pretty big so that might be a turn off for lots of people. Mine is just under 7 feet and I think about 16 pounds, that's kinda big for a lot of people
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Jason

I ask myself that a lot. I love Dums and they are probably my 2nd favorite type of boa after the Argentines. The 2 dums that I have are always a big hit with all of my friends that come over and check out the collection.

My guess is because there arent really any morphs with the exception of a couple t and possible hypos (to my knowledge) so no big name breeders want to work with them and hype them up. it's mostly just casual hobbiest and small breeders that have them and sell them and as a result most people have never even heard of them. I was keeping/ breeding corns, kings, and balls for nearly 4 years before I knew what a Dumerils boa was.

I guarantee that if you saw cage after cage of dums in pet stores the way you do with red tails and balls, they would be a huge hit... gorgeous, impressive, manageble, user friendly snakes for dirt cheap... everyone would snatch them up.

Personally, I think Dums are victims of the "No Morphs" complex. Even though there are a few morphs in the making, There are T Albino (Caramel) Dums in Germany, and a couple people are workin on establishing Hypos here in the states.

Dums are fantastic snakes. It also seems that the only people that appreciate Dums are the people that like "natural" looking snakes. Don't take me wrong, I like morphs, but a normal Dum is one of the prettiest snakes there is.
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Pat Higdon - Higdons Herps, Tuttle, Oklahoma USA
Oklahoma City Herpetological Society Member
2 dumerils boas, 2 rosy boas, 2 burmese pythons, 2 ball pythons, 1 african house snake, 1 albino nelsons milksnake, 2 bearded dragons, 6 leopard geckos, 2 african fat-tail geckos & 1 sulcata tortoise

I have 2 Dumerils and it was really hard for me to find the 2nd one (first one was a rescue and accidentally found). On the west coast I think they aren't really known about. I live in Reno, Nevada and have met herpers that have no clue what I'm talking about when I say I have dumerils.