My Dumerils has started biting me!

[KWenger]

I've had my male Dumerils over a month now and he has been a wonderful pet.....until two days ago. I've been handling him every day or every couple of days and he has been calm and gentle. Then, two days ago, for no apparent reason, when I reached in his cage to pick him up he struck at me and clamped his jaws around my finger. I was shocked to say the least as no snake has ever bitten me before. I gently pried his jaws off my finger and put him back in his cage. The bite didn't hurt much but certainly produced a lot of blood. I didn't disturb him again until this evening when I again took him out of his cage and put him around my neck and sat down to read a book. After about 20 minutes I decided to put him away and when I lifted him from around my neck he bit my thumb really hard. I didn't want to injure him and carefully and gently pried his jaws open. He immediately struck at my other hand and bit my finger while at the same time constricting really firmly around my wrist and hand. I put him, still wrapped around my hand, in his cage thinking he would release. He didn't. It took me several minutes to get him off my hand during which time he bit me repeatedly on both hands. I have six different bite marks now and blood literally dripping off both my hands. Nothing has changed as far as husbandry is concerned. He eats great. Does anyone have any ideas? I cannot keep him if this behavior is going to continue. I've gone from loving him to being afraid of him and I certainly cannot allow anyone else in my family to handle him now.

[smy_749]

I can honestly say I pictured the whole scenario in my head and found it rather entertaining lol As for why, had you handled anything prior to picking him up these past few days that could initiate a feeding response? Is he possibly going into shed? Did you feed any other animals or move furry friends into the same room as him? Any signs of health issues that could be bothering him when you touch that area, a burn maybe?

[KWenger]

I do have other snakes in cages in the same room as the Dumerils but none of them have been fed for a couple of days so there cannot be any prey odors. We have a cat and a golden retriever but neither have ever even gone in the "snake room." When he bit me the first time I thought maybe my hands smelled like dog or cat so I carefully washed my hands tonight before I took him out of the cage. He shed 3 weeks ago and shows no sign of going into shed now. No way he could have a burn, and I can detect no other health issues. I am completely at a loss.

[rocknhorse76]

My big male has been pretty pissy lately too. He hasn't struck at all, but he huffs and puffs and hasn't really wanted to be handled much. I just don't let him have his way lol. You may want to get some lightweight leather gloves for handling him, and let him bite all he wants. He'll eventually realize that it doesn't do any good and stop biting.

[KWenger]

I did just notice one other change of behavior. It has been about an hour since the most recent biting episode and he is now curled up inside his water bowl. I've NEVER seen him do that before. As a matter of fact, I've never seen him get near his water bowl before. Does this mean anything? Also, I have him in a cage with a "hot" end thermostatically controlled at 86 degrees. There is also a hide on that end. The ambient temp stays around 81-83 and drops down to 77-80 at night. I live in NC and the humidity is high here this time of year. The humidity level in his cage stays 50% - 60%.

[smy_749]

I did just notice one other change of behavior. It has been about an hour since the most recent biting episode and he is now curled up inside his water bowl. I've NEVER seen him do that before. As a matter of fact, I've never seen him get near his water bowl before. Does this mean anything? Also, I have him in a cage with a "hot" end thermostatically controlled at 86 degrees. There is also a hide on that end. The ambient temp stays around 81-83 and drops down to 77-80 at night. I live in NC and the humidity is high here this time of year. The humidity level in his cage stays 50% - 60%.

Sounds like you have a stressed animal. Check your temps with a temp gun, maybe get a new humidity gauge, just to triple check all parameters. Also give him a good inspection for mites, impaction, burns etc.

He could just be going into shed and the enclosure is not humid enough. Just double check everything. Do you have pics of your setup for us to see?

[rocknhorse76]

Temps and humidity sound about right, but I generally keep the hot spot for my Dums at around 88-90. Humidity is generally in the 50-60% range, but I bump it into the 70's during shedding.

[marvelfreak]

I did just notice one other change of behavior. It has been about an hour since the most recent biting episode and he is now curled up inside his water bowl. I've NEVER seen him do that before. As a matter of fact, I've never seen him get near his water bowl before. Does this mean anything? Also, I have him in a cage with a "hot" end thermostatically controlled at 86 degrees. There is also a hide on that end. The ambient temp stays around 81-83 and drops down to 77-80 at night. I live in NC and the humidity is high here this time of year. The humidity level in his cage stays 50% - 60%.
He could be going in to shed or hungry how often and what size food do you feed? How big is your Dumerli? Do you wash your hands before handling? Also QUIT HANDLING HIM SO MUCH. You could just be stressing him out.

[KWenger]

He is almost 3 years old, about 4 feet long and he weighs 700 grams. He last shed 3 weeks ago and I can see no sign that he is going into shed again. I feed him once per week; one sm.-med. f/t rat. I've weighed these rats and they average 75gm - 120gm each. His feeding response is excellent and he eagerly takes food immediately when I offer it to him. I ALWAYS, without exception, wash my hands thoroughly before and after I handle any of my snakes. Maybe I am handling him too often......please advise what "too often is." I don't know. I've read comments on this and other forums from Dumerils owners who say they handle their snakes daily, or almost every day. I've been handling mine for about 30 minutes or so most days except for 48 hours after he eats. Is that too much?? Until he unexpectedly bit me the first time a few days ago he was always extremely calm and "chill" when he was out of his cage. I've even let little kids briefly hold him without concern.

[marvelfreak]

Cut your handling down to no more than 15 minutes every other day. As they get older so snake get cranker and don't like handling as much. Also at that age and size it could easily take a larger rat. Mine the same age and size and i feed one large rat every two weeks. some times he gets two if one of my other snakes doesn't eat.

[KORBIN5895]

Like Chuck said you're handling way too much. I would cut it back to once a week. He straight up doesn't like you and has had enough.

He also seems really small for 3 years old.

[KWenger]

Thanks so much for your advice. If it is true that these snakes generally get crankier as they get older and should be handled only once a week or so, then this certainly isn't the snake for me. I'm used to my BPs and Corn snake that are handled daily, or sometimes more than once a day and always remain sweet and calm. I thought Dumerils would have the same behavior characteristics as far as friendliness is concerned, but apparently I was mistaken. I've contacted the breeder I bought him from and asked if I could return him......no, I'm not asking for a refund. Or, if any of you want him you can have him for FREE. I'll only ask that you pay to have him FEDEXed to you.

[Mikoh4792]

I think it has more to do with the individual than the species. Long time ago I had a dumerils boa that could be handled anytime. My corn snake is very shy and at times can show that it definitely does not want to be handled.

I would take it but I am not into snakes that get as big or thick as dumerils boas.

[rocknhorse76]

Give him some time and definitely cut the handling down for now. I'd focus on getting him up to weight, as he is underweight for sure. At 4 feet, he should be double the weight that he is. When I first got my boy, he was about the same size as your snake, albeit about a year younger, and he was pretty cranky too. He'd try to strike at me anytime I set him down, and sometimes even when I'd walk past his cage. Turns out, he was just hungry all the time. Move him up to a med/large or even a large rat every two weeks, and you'll see him put on some weight.....I'd be willing to bet that he'll calm down a lot too. Once my boy started filling out, he became much easier to handle. He's now about 4 years old, over 6 feet long, and almost 10 lbs (no, he's not overweight, either).....he never tries to strike, just hisses and tries to sound scary now lol.

[rocknhorse76]

Remember, he's a boa, not a ball python (pet rock). Boas have more attitude and personality than a BP, and you definitely know it when they're not happy. They'll hiss and bite when they're pissed instead of starving themselves lol. Just makes them more fun in my book!!

[SnakeyJay]

Remember, he's a boa, not a ball python (pet rock). Boas have more attitude and personality than a BP, and you definitely know it when they're not happy. They'll hiss and bite when they're pissed instead of starving themselves lol. Just makes them more fun in my book!!

Exactly how I feel about my boas! They can be a pain but I love them for it :)

[rocknhorse76]

Amen to that!

[Kid Boa]

Good afternoon.

A lot of good info given here already.

I would have to agree with feeding your snake larger prey. I think in a few weeks of feeding large rats that he will calm down again.

Again as stated above, a little less handling for a few weeks may help too.

[KWenger]

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I didn't realize Dumerils had so much "personality" or I would never have gotten one in the first place. I wanted and expected a snake with a "puppy dog" personality as I've often heard Dumerils described. In my house a snake that is inclined to occasionally be pissy and bite just wont work. Don't want an animal I can't trust and enjoy handling without fear of getting bitten. And if he ever bit a child......don't even want to think about that. In any case, the breeder has agreed to take him back so he will be leaving my house in a couple of days. I guess I'm just a "pet rock" kinda guy. My BPs and Corn are sort of boring......but sweet and docile too. Thanks again and good luck to all of you with your boas.

[Terranaut]

Bite and hold sounds more like a feeding responce. Usually a defensive strike is "bang" and the snake doesn't hold on. Exceptions to every rule but my guess is a hungry snake.

[KORBIN5895]

Hmmmm. Maybe you should rehome your other two snakes also. They are wild animals and could honestly turn on you at any moment. Especially that royal. Those heat pits give them deadly accuracy. on heat sources like hands.

[KWenger]

Thanks KORBIN for that useful suggestion. I think I'll hold on to my potentially deadly BPs though and take my chances. And my 8 year old corn snake too. No telling when he might decide to attack me. Seriously though, I took to heart all of the suggestions and comments I heard from folks on this forum and others. What I basically learned....please correct me if I'm wrong......is that even the very best cared for Dumerils can get cranky from time to time and bite. Isn't that right? I also know that a fully grown male like mine should be in the vicinity of 8-10 lbs or so, and one of you said that the older they get the more likely it is that they will be cranky on occasion. When my 1 1/2 lb guy bit me it didn't really hurt, but there was a remarkable amount of blood. What happens if a 10 pound adult gets pissed off for some reason and bites? I would assume the results would be far more painful than the wounds I recently received. I thought I did a lot of careful research before I bought my Dumerils...a couple of month's worth......but I honestly did not encounter anyone who suggested they would be prone to bite sometimes. I most often heard them described as "puppy dogs." For me, rehoming this snake back to the breeder I bought him from....I'm NOT asking for a refund and am gladly paying the shipping charges......seems to be the most sensible and prudent thing to do. I didn't risk giving him up to a "bad" new home with a "free to a good home" ad on Craigslist or something like that. I'm returning him to where he came from and hope that his next owner gives him a good life. Just doing my best to be responsible.

[rocknhorse76]

You're really going to give up that easily? You haven't had the snake for that long, and I can tell you with almost absolute certainty that he's stressed out and hungry. Feed him a few big rats and give him some space, and I almost guarantee that he'll become a very easily handled snake. My Dum has only bitten me once in the 2 1/2 years I've had him, and that was while he was still underweight and new to my home (hungry and stressed out). Now he'll lay in my lap for hours if I let him.
Hell, even my ball python has bitten me a few times......again, this was right after I rescued him and he was new to my home, stressed out, and hungry. If you give up the Dumeril's this quickly because you're afraid he'll bite someone, then you may as well give up all of your snakes because ALL snakes have the potential to bite at some time. My snakes know that I'm not afraid of them biting me, so instead of doing that, they'll just huff and puff and/or crap all over the place to gross me out.

[Mikoh4792]

He wants a snake that acts like a puppy. Your giving up on a snake because it acts like a snake?

It seems to me like you are keeping snakes just to handle them. What happens in a couple of years when handling your snakes become boring? Are you going to rehome the rest too?

[smy_749]

Patience is a virtue. Everyone has a bad day, even cats and puppy dogs (real ones) have bad days occasionally. I don't advise you to rehome him, wait a bit and see what happens.

[Lankyrob]

Reptiles are wild animals, they always will be and wild animals are likely to bite back at some point. Part of the appeal of reptiles is that they are not tame in the way dogs and cats are.

If you never want to be bitten then reptiles probably arent your thing.

[marvelfreak]

Thanks KORBIN for that useful suggestion. I think I'll hold on to my potentially deadly BPs though and take my chances. And my 8 year old corn snake too. No telling when he might decide to attack me. Seriously though, I took to heart all of the suggestions and comments I heard from folks on this forum and others. What I basically learned....please correct me if I'm wrong......is that even the very best cared for Dumerils can get cranky from time to time and bite. Isn't that right? I also know that a fully grown male like mine should be in the vicinity of 8-10 lbs or so, and one of you said that the older they get the more likely it is that they will be cranky on occasion. When my 1 1/2 lb guy bit me it didn't really hurt, but there was a remarkable amount of blood. What happens if a 10 pound adult gets pissed off for some reason and bites? I would assume the results would be far more painful than the wounds I recently received. I thought I did a lot of careful research before I bought my Dumerils...a couple of month's worth......but I honestly did not encounter anyone who suggested they would be prone to bite sometimes. I most often heard them described as "puppy dogs." For me, rehoming this snake back to the breeder I bought him from....I'm NOT asking for a refund and am gladly paying the shipping charges......seems to be the most sensible and prudent thing to do. I didn't risk giving him up to a "bad" new home with a "free to a good home" ad on Craigslist or something like that. I'm returning him to where he came from and hope that his next owner gives him a good life. Just doing my best to be responsible.
Not to sound like a a hole but i hate these words. Have you ever seen a puppy dog that didn't bite? I mean really what the hell is puppy dog tame? Puppies bite, they ****, and piss every where. But because they are furry it's cute but a snake does it let's get rid of it?

Your seriously going to give up on the snake that easy? WOW YOU DISGUST ME! God i hope you don't have kids. I can see it now one of them gets sick or lord forbid bites you or another kid. Better send it back to the hospital or orphanage.

Everybody here has told you just feed it bigger food and cut back on handling for a bit and he'll go back to his old self, but lord forbid you do what's best for the snake. Please do you and your other snakes a favor and just re home them now. :mad::mad::mad::mad:

[KORBIN5895]

Thanks KORBIN for that useful suggestion. I think I'll hold on to my potentially deadly BPs though and take my chances. And my 8 year old corn snake too. No telling when he might decide to attack me. Seriously though, I took to heart all of the suggestions and comments I heard from folks on this forum and others. What I basically learned....please correct me if I'm wrong......is that even the very best cared for Dumerils can get cranky from time to time and bite. Isn't that right? I also know that a fully grown male like mine should be in the vicinity of 8-10 lbs or so, and one of you said that the older they get the more likely it is that they will be cranky on occasion. When my 1 1/2 lb guy bit me it didn't really hurt, but there was a remarkable amount of blood. What happens if a 10 pound adult gets pissed off for some reason and bites? I would assume the results would be far more painful than the wounds I recently received. I thought I did a lot of careful research before I bought my Dumerils...a couple of month's worth......but I honestly did not encounter anyone who suggested they would be prone to bite sometimes. I most often heard them described as "puppy dogs." For me, rehoming this snake back to the breeder I bought him from....I'm NOT asking for a refund and am gladly paying the shipping charges......seems to be the most sensible and prudent thing to do. I didn't risk giving him up to a "bad" new home with a "free to a good home" ad on Craigslist or something like that. I'm returning him to where he came from and hope that his next owner gives him a good life. Just doing my best to be responsible.
Now this will be fun.

First off throw out any idea that your snake is well cared for. You handling him every day is good or proper care.

Secondly two people have said your snake sounds severely under weight for the age yet you are sending it back where it came from? Well played.

So you are keeping an animal that is completely unpredictable and then complain that it is defending it self when you harass it? Seems legit.

The best Part is where you obviously believe that there is a species of snake that doesn't defend itself.

@Chuck

Now please tell us how you really feel.

[marvelfreak]

Now this will be fun.

First off throw out any idea that your snake is well cared for. You handling him every day is good or proper care.

Secondly two people have said your snake sounds severely under weight for the age yet you are sending it back where it came from? Well played.

So you are keeping an animal that is completely unpredictable and then complain that it is defending it self when you harass it? Seems legit.

The best Part is where you obviously believe that there is a species of snake that doesn't defend itself.

@Chuck

Now please tell us how you really feel.

Ok i feel like these guy is a total freaking dill wad. Oh and BTW get rid of all knives in your house they have the potential to cut you. Oh and don't cross the street you might get ran over. This guy sounds like such a pansy that i bet the only reason he got snake to begin with is so people would think he was cool or a bad a-s. When in reality he just a sorry waste of space.

[rocknhorse76]

I rescued my male from a pet store when he was about 3 1/2 feet long and less than 2 years old. I'm his 3rd owner. The original owner fed him mice exclusively, and said that he was "too aggressive", so they gave him to the pet store. Another person bought him, still only fed him mice, and returned him after only a month due to him being "too aggressive". After holding him a few times at the store, I decided to take him home....knowing exactly what is in store for me. He was fairly shy and defensive for the the first month or so with me, and liked to strike once in awhile. After an exhausting process of switching him over from f/t mice to f/t rats (and then working him up to the appropriate size), he became quite docile and tolerant of handling every few days. Now, he's a total pig that eats a jumbo rat every 3 weeks, and will chill on my lap. I even let my 6 y/o nieces pet and hold him under direct supervision!! Long story short.....BE PATIENT and he'll end up being a great pet.

[guyabano]

Quick question, do you hook/tap train your boa? Sounded more like a feeding response bite rather than a defensive/stress bite to me.

[KWenger]

[/COLOR][/SIZE]
Ok i feel like these guy is a total freaking dill wad. Oh and BTW get rid of all knives in your house they have the potential to cut you. Oh and don't cross the street you might get ran over. This guy sounds like such a pansy that i bet the only reason he got snake to begin with is so people would think he was cool or a bad a-s. When in reality he just a sorry waste of space.

Honestly marvelfreak, what is the point of making such silly, sophomoric comments on a public forum? I'm not even sure what a "dill wad" is. Perhaps a misspelling? I assume your intention was to insult me. OK, I stand insulted, and more than a little bit amused. Actually, since you brought up the topic, I am a rather cool guy....but no doubt my ownership of a few snakes has enhanced my "cool" factor. When you reach your mid 50s as I have it is tough to ratchet up one's coolness. I'm glad to know snakes have helped me in that department. I own a successful business and am known as a considerate and generous employer. I've achieved a level of financial success that some admire and many envy. I have a rather wonderful collection of classic cars and spend quite a bit of time on various old car forums. I've never encountered anyone quite as articulate as you on those forums however. Bad ***? Depends on one's definition I suppose. Mostly I'm known as a very nice guy. But in the land of marvelfreaks that makes me a "pansy," correct? As for being a "sorry waste of space".......I don't think so. I've been very lucky to have a happy, successful life so far and believe sincerely that I always treat people with dignity and respect. At least I try. I would encourage you to do the same.

[Mikoh4792]

Ok i feel like these guy is a total freaking dill wad. .

I lol'ed.....

[SnakeyJay]

And yet again we descend into crap because someone won't listen to advice (given nicely at first).. So I'll just sit back and watch lol...

However I will say that buying an uncared for animal isn't a rescue, it's allowing the shop money/reason to replace it with another.

[Lankyrob]

And yet again we descend into crap because someone won't listen to advice (given nicely at first).. So I'll just sit back and watch

This ^^^^^ :no:

[marvelfreak]

Honestly marvelfreak, what is the point of making such silly, sophomoric comments on a public forum? I'm not even sure what a "dill wad" is. Perhaps a misspelling? I assume your intention was to insult me. OK, I stand insulted, and more than a little bit amused. Actually, since you brought up the topic, I am a rather cool guy....but no doubt my ownership of a few snakes has enhanced my "cool" factor. When you reach your mid 50s as I have it is tough to ratchet up one's coolness. I'm glad to know snakes have helped me in that department. I own a successful business and am known as a considerate and generous employer. I've achieved a level of financial success that some admire and many envy. I have a rather wonderful collection of classic cars and spend quite a bit of time on various old car forums. I've never encountered anyone quite as articulate as you on those forums however. Bad ***? Depends on one's definition I suppose. Mostly I'm known as a very nice guy. But in the land of marvelfreaks that makes me a "pansy," correct? As for being a "sorry waste of space".......I don't think so. I've been very lucky to have a happy, successful life so far and believe sincerely that I always treat people with dignity and respect. At least I try. I would encourage you to do the same.


First off i like to apologize for let my anger get the better of me and name calling.

Second i like to explain why i got so mad. I hate seeing people gets animals and as soon has they have a problem they want to get rid of them. I hate to see a snake get sent back to a breeder who was underfeeding it to begin with. Dumerli are sweet and amazing snake to own and work with. The problem your having with yours is a easy fix just feed it bigger meals. Any time a snake bites and hangs on it's a feeding response. It their way of saying i am hungry.

Third it's obvious you really like your Dumerli if you handle him every day. So why give up on him so easy? On to the handling. Anytime you get a new snake you should give it a couple weeks to settle in and get it eating regularly for you before starting handling. Right now the poor thing is just stressed and hungry. I'll bet when your stressed out and hungry your a little grumpy to. Does your wife get rid of you when you get like that? No why because she made a commitment to stand by you through better or worst. When we get pets this is the same commitment we should make to them.

Forth and final! If your such the great guy you claim to be then prove it by doing what's right for the snake. Sending it back to some one who was not caring for it right isn't going to help it. You been given great advise which will help with the behavior problems your having with your snake. So why not use that knowledge and make it life better before just throwing in the towel?

[Terranaut]

First off i like to apologize for let my anger get the better of me and name calling.

Second i like to explain why i got so mad. I hate seeing people gets animals and as soon has they have a problem they want to get rid of them. I hate to see a snake get sent back to a breeder who was underfeeding it to begin with. Dumerli are sweet and amazing snake to own and work with. The problem your having with yours is a easy fix just feed it bigger meals. Any time a snake bites and hangs on it's a feeding response. It their way of saying i am hungry.

Third it's obvious you really like your Dumerli if you handle him every day. So why give up on him so easy? On to the handling. Anytime you get a new snake you should give it a couple weeks to settle in and get it eating regularly for you before starting handling. Right now the poor thing is just stressed and hungry. I'll bet when your stressed out and hungry your a little grumpy to. Does your wife get rid of you when you get like that? No why because she made a commitment to stand by you through better or worst. When we get pets this is the same commitment we should make to them.

Forth and final! If your such the great guy you claim to be then prove it by doing what's right for the snake. Sending it back to some one who was not caring for it right isn't going to help it. You been given great advise which will help with the behavior problems your having with your snake. So why not use that knowledge and make it life better before just throwing in the towel?


Nicely put.

I also hope you keep him. Just feed him more and see if that helps.

[Pareeeee]

To ignore the last pile of rant-comments I want to put in my two cents.

KWenger, I think you should give it a bit of time, feed him more (because it sounds like a feeding response, not an anger strike), handle less and with gloves. He may calm down, he is a new snake after all and you've been handling him a lot. Having only had him for a month, I would not expect him to take kindly to being handled that much. Snakes take a LONG time to adjust to new surroundings and he could still be stressed. If, after all this, he's still aggressive and you still want to get rid of him then do so. Even ball pythons can bite, especially if they are a bit underfed.

[KWenger]

Hello everyone, and marvelfreak, I want to begin by saying there are no hard feelings whatsoever on my part. I appreciate your passion and fully understand why you were angry with me. All of you experienced, knowledgeable folks were doing your best to give my good, sound advice, and I was ignoring it. For that I owe ALL OF YOU an apology. So, this is what I have decided: I am NOT going to return my Dum to the breeder from whom I bought him. Please know I didn't really understand until you guys explained it, that my snake was malnourished and apparently not properly cared for by the breeder. It would be cruel to return him to that environment, so I wont do that. Ever. After carefully rereading all of your comments I have decided to keep my snake and do my very best to make him healthy, happy, and hopefully calm. I promise I will NOT compare him to a "puppy dog" or any other warm blooded animal. He's a snake. A reptile. He's never going to have the mannerisms of a cuddly, furry pet and I get that. My plan is to immediately begin feeding him larger rats....still not sure of the best size, but I'll figure it out......weekly until he puts on some weight. I'll then go to a two week feeding schedule. Any opinion as to what a good "goal weight" would be for him before I switch to feeding him every two weeks? I have a good digital scale I use with my other snakes and can easily weigh him. Right now he is 700 grams and will be three years old in September. You're right that I do love him.......and you've made me aware I was overdoing it by handling him so often. My mistake. I'm going to limit handling him to 2 or 3 times a week (with gloves for now) for 15 minutes or so, and hopefully increase from there after a few months if he seems OK with it. Until I'm confident I can trust him to not bite unexpectedly, I will not let any of the kids near him. Easy enough to do, and prudent I think. I'm going to incorporate all of your sage advice into a new care plan for my Dumerils.....his name is Barney by the way.......and with patience I'm hopeful he will become a pet I and my family can enjoy for many years to come. I hope all of you have a great day, and thanks again.

[Mikoh4792]

Nice decision. If you show us a picture of your dumerils boa next to a soda can or anything to compare his size to, maybe we can help you with prey size.

It's only my opinion but I think handling more than 2-3 times a week is a little excessive for an adult dumerils

[Kid Boa]

A+ to the OP. :)

As far as weight goes, I really wouldn't worry about how much he weighs.

Just keep feeding him proper size rats at proper intervals and in 6 months I guarantee he will not be 700 grams. :)

A nice round muscular boa is a healthy Boa.

Do you have pics of Barney, would love to see some ?

Best of luck.

[KWenger]

Ooooooo......I'm sort of embarrassed to admit this, but I haven't figured out how to post pictures. I would very much like for you to see a photo of him next to a soda can so you can get an idea of his size & girth. Is there a "how to" tutorial somewhere on the site that explains how to post photos?
Thanks!

[Lankyrob]

Kudos to Marvelfreak and to kwenger. Looking forward to seeing some pics of a nice Dum in te future :)

[Kid Boa]

Get a photo bucket account. Just upload pics there, then you can just copy and past the IMG links here in your post. :)

[Mikoh4792]

Ooooooo......I'm sort of embarrassed to admit this, but I haven't figured out how to post pictures. I would very much like for you to see a photo of him next to a soda can so you can get an idea of his size & girth. Is there a "how to" tutorial somewhere on the site that explains how to post photos?
Thanks!

WITHOUT SPACES

[i m g ] URL goes here [ / I m g]


You can go to tinypic.com it's instant

[marvelfreak]

Hello everyone, and marvelfreak, I want to begin by saying there are no hard feelings whatsoever on my part. I appreciate your passion and fully understand why you were angry with me. All of you experienced, knowledgeable folks were doing your best to give my good, sound advice, and I was ignoring it. For that I owe ALL OF YOU an apology. So, this is what I have decided: I am NOT going to return my Dum to the breeder from whom I bought him. Please know I didn't really understand until you guys explained it, that my snake was malnourished and apparently not properly cared for by the breeder. It would be cruel to return him to that environment, so I wont do that. Ever. After carefully rereading all of your comments I have decided to keep my snake and do my very best to make him healthy, happy, and hopefully calm. I promise I will NOT compare him to a "puppy dog" or any other warm blooded animal. He's a snake. A reptile. He's never going to have the mannerisms of a cuddly, furry pet and I get that. My plan is to immediately begin feeding him larger rats....still not sure of the best size, but I'll figure it out......weekly until he puts on some weight. I'll then go to a two week feeding schedule. Any opinion as to what a good "goal weight" would be for him before I switch to feeding him every two weeks? I have a good digital scale I use with my other snakes and can easily weigh him. Right now he is 700 grams and will be three years old in September. You're right that I do love him.......and you've made me aware I was overdoing it by handling him so often. My mistake. I'm going to limit handling him to 2 or 3 times a week (with gloves for now) for 15 minutes or so, and hopefully increase from there after a few months if he seems OK with it. Until I'm confident I can trust him to not bite unexpectedly, I will not let any of the kids near him. Easy enough to do, and prudent I think. I'm going to incorporate all of your sage advice into a new care plan for my Dumerils.....his name is Barney by the way.......and with patience I'm hopeful he will become a pet I and my family can enjoy for many years to come. I hope all of you have a great day, and thanks again.
Really glad to hear your keeping Barney.
Has for posting pictures checkout this link. http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/general-discussion/83140-how-use-pictures-posts.html

[SnakeyJay]

Really great news that your going to keep and carry on working with this guy. Hopefully you'll have a good future together. Bites are a part of keeping wild animals and can NEVER be ruled out, no matter how "puppy dog tame" someone thinks their snake is.

Just remember this for future purchases, BOAS OF ANY KIND KICK ***! Haha :D

[Mikoh4792]

Really great news that your going to keep and carry on working with this guy. Hopefully you'll have a good future together. Bites are a part of keeping wild animals and can NEVER be ruled out, no matter how "puppy dog tame" someone thinks their snake is.

Just remember this for future purchases, BOAS OF ANY KIND KICK ***! Haha :D

+1

You can never go wrong with a boa

[KORBIN5895]

Hello everyone, and marvelfreak, I want to begin by saying there are no hard feelings whatsoever on my part. I appreciate your passion and fully understand why you were angry with me. All of you experienced, knowledgeable folks were doing your best to give my good, sound advice, and I was ignoring it. For that I owe ALL OF YOU an apology. So, this is what I have decided: I am NOT going to return my Dum to the breeder from whom I bought him. Please know I didn't really understand until you guys explained it, that my snake was malnourished and apparently not properly cared for by the breeder. It would be cruel to return him to that environment, so I wont do that. Ever. After carefully rereading all of your comments I have decided to keep my snake and do my very best to make him healthy, happy, and hopefully calm. I promise I will NOT compare him to a "puppy dog" or any other warm blooded animal. He's a snake. A reptile. He's never going to have the mannerisms of a cuddly, furry pet and I get that. My plan is to immediately begin feeding him larger rats....still not sure of the best size, but I'll figure it out......weekly until he puts on some weight. I'll then go to a two week feeding schedule. Any opinion as to what a good "goal weight" would be for him before I switch to feeding him every two weeks? I have a good digital scale I use with my other snakes and can easily weigh him. Right now he is 700 grams and will be three years old in September. You're right that I do love him.......and you've made me aware I was overdoing it by handling him so often. My mistake. I'm going to limit handling him to 2 or 3 times a week (with gloves for now) for 15 minutes or so, and hopefully increase from there after a few months if he seems OK with it. Until I'm confident I can trust him to not bite unexpectedly, I will not let any of the kids near him. Easy enough to do, and prudent I think. I'm going to incorporate all of your sage advice into a new care plan for my Dumerils.....his name is Barney by the way.......and with patience I'm hopeful he will become a pet I and my family can enjoy for many years to come. I hope all of you have a great day, and thanks again.

Balls to you bro.

As far as prey size goes I would feed an 175gram rat

[Donnie]

Hello everyone, and marvelfreak, I want to begin by saying there are no hard feelings whatsoever on my part. I appreciate your passion and fully understand why you were angry with me. All of you experienced, knowledgeable folks were doing your best to give my good, sound advice, and I was ignoring it. For that I owe ALL OF YOU an apology. So, this is what I have decided: I am NOT going to return my Dum to the breeder from whom I bought him. Please know I didn't really understand until you guys explained it, that my snake was malnourished and apparently not properly cared for by the breeder. It would be cruel to return him to that environment, so I wont do that. Ever. After carefully rereading all of your comments I have decided to keep my snake and do my very best to make him healthy, happy, and hopefully calm. I promise I will NOT compare him to a "puppy dog" or any other warm blooded animal. He's a snake. A reptile. He's never going to have the mannerisms of a cuddly, furry pet and I get that. My plan is to immediately begin feeding him larger rats....still not sure of the best size, but I'll figure it out......weekly until he puts on some weight. I'll then go to a two week feeding schedule. Any opinion as to what a good "goal weight" would be for him before I switch to feeding him every two weeks? I have a good digital scale I use with my other snakes and can easily weigh him. Right now he is 700 grams and will be three years old in September. You're right that I do love him.......and you've made me aware I was overdoing it by handling him so often. My mistake. I'm going to limit handling him to 2 or 3 times a week (with gloves for now) for 15 minutes or so, and hopefully increase from there after a few months if he seems OK with it. Until I'm confident I can trust him to not bite unexpectedly, I will not let any of the kids near him. Easy enough to do, and prudent I think. I'm going to incorporate all of your sage advice into a new care plan for my Dumerils.....his name is Barney by the way.......and with patience I'm hopeful he will become a pet I and my family can enjoy for many years to come. I hope all of you have a great day, and thanks again.

great responce, well done for taking the advice on board. Good luck with your Dum

[MoreliAddict]

OP-

If you're afraid of the snake, keep in mind that you could always use a snake hook to avoid being bit while you pull the snake out of its enclosure.

[Terranaut]

Omg finally a person who takes the advice given without getting their poo poo in a knot. Kudos to you!!

[Concept9]

OP-

If you're afraid of the snake, keep in mind that you could always use a snake hook to avoid being bit while you pull the snake out of its enclosure.

After a few dozen bits you don't get scared any longer and the snakes gets board of chewing on you. :)

[rocknhorse76]

I'm so glad to hear that you're keeping him! I know you'll take much better care of him than the breeder was and he'll end up being a great pet. Remember, we're all here to help each other out, so please ask for help anytime you're stumped!

[TeaNinja]

if i DON'T use a snake hook on my female dum to break the feeding response she WILL bite me 90% of the time. she usually bites at the hook in reaction and realizes it's not dinner time and i can grab her after that. as for the biting while handling, i've never had that happen personally. i've only been bitten twice in my life and they were both feeding responses.

[smy_749]

+1 to you mang

[Spirit_Scale]

Well, most of what I was going to say everyone else has said and I'd be just repeating.
So yes, +1 to feeding larger meals and keeping weekly feedings.
Also agree that it is a wild animal, hell any animal ever can bite you, and that this guy is probably hungry and stressed.

So get that under control and see how he does.

I too own a ball python, he's even more of a pet rock than most balls are---hell he doesn't even ball up or act afraid...he's just...there. A bit of a freak of nature in that regard and I can do just about anything (including touching his head and injections and medical care) without so much as a hiss.

HOWEVER, the day will probably come where I will get tagged.

Anyhoo, my addition to this might be a little hippie-trippy but how's your energy? Sometimes its just a person's 'way of being' when they handle the snake that sets the animal off.
I have taken in many animals who were known to be biters/be difficult...take your pick.

Yet magically, they stopped being 'difficult'.

My recent rescue boa is like this. This is an animal who (in shed, has abscess, mites etc) should be in pissy mood. I thought I was going to run into problems as when the guy showed him to me and opened the lid up and touched him Lazarus opened his mouth and hissed for all he was worth and threatened to bite the snot out of the guy. I asked if he was ok being handled and I got the nervous chuckle 'uhhh....'

I don't know if its me, or how I handle him...but Laz has never (in the four days since he's been home) threatened to bite or really hissed at me. I get what might be a little puff once in a while (hard to tell as he also has an RI) but that's it.

There's probably really subtle body language you missed before the strike, so it feels like to you its out of nowhere or without cause. Usually defensive bites are a strike and release, but sometimes if they feel the predator/attacker has 'got them' they will try and constrict it and fight back. The other possibility is a hunger strike.

Do you just reach in and get him? Where do you pick him up by? How fast do you come in and get him?

With both Ihysius (ball) and Lazarus (boa) I usually lift their hides, give them a minute or two to get their bearings and then slowly reach in to touch their lower bodies (not by their heads or coming in towards their face) and will touch them/pet them with a finger or two---when they loosen up and begin to move I gently lift them up starting with their tail/lower body and then reach in to support the rest of them.

[KWenger]

[QUOTE=Mikoh4792;858394]Nice decision. If you show us a picture of your dumerils boa next to a soda can or anything to compare his size to, maybe we can help you with prey size.

Here is a photo of him that I took today.....Saturday July 27.

http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a604/hofcag/IMG_4838_zps9e4318c7.jpg (http://s1286.photobucket.com/user/hofcag/media/IMG_4838_zps9e4318c7.jpg.html)

[rocknhorse76]

Yeah, he's pretty underweight. He'll be much more chipper when he's fattened up a bit.

[rocknhorse76]

For reference, here's my male next to a soda can. Just took the photo a few minutes ago.

http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k496/rocknhorse76/Snapbucket/9F5AF2AE-orig_zpsd75f5fbb.jpg

[Mikoh4792]

Yours looks longer though.

[rocknhorse76]

Lol yeah, he's over 6 feet long, but I'm just showing how heavy bodied these snakes are in relationship to their length. His definitely needs some fattening up.

[KWenger]

rocknhorse, your snake looks positively HUGE compared to mine......even accounting for the fact he is longer, his girth is considerable. About how old is he? Weight? Given the age of my snake (3 years) if I feed him correctly from now on, which I certainly intend to do, can I expect him to eventually reach the size of yours?

[rocknhorse76]

Yeah, he's a big boy. He's about 4 years old, 73" long, and weighed 4244g (9.3 lbs) this morning. I got him when he was about 2 years old and 44" long. He weighed about
1200g at the time if memory serves me correct. He has grown substantially every time I increase his prey size and extend the feeding intervals. He's eating a jumbo (400g+) rat every 3 weeks right now.

[KWenger]

Beautiful snake! I'm confused though about what you said regarding him growing in size as you increased prey size and extended feeding intervals. Are you suggesting my guy will grow more quickly if I feed him LESS frequently than I presently am.......once per week? I am getting conflicting advice about how often to feed my Dum. Every week? 2 weeks? 3 weeks? The consensus seems to be he should be eating prey that is large enough to leave a slight bulge for a couple of days. The 170 gram "med" rats seem to do just that. I can just barely see the bulge of the rat after he eats, and within 3 days the bulge is gone. Since he is clearly underweight, I thought it would be best if I continued him on the weekly, medium rat feeding regimen until he fattened up. But maybe that isn't right?

[rocknhorse76]

I would expect yours to get at least 5 feet long if you feed him correctly. Just remember that these guys grow a little slower than other boas and have a slower metabolism. I'd go 10-14 days between feedings since you're increasing the prey size quite a bit. Once he's up to a large rat, every 14 days will suffice, and then go to every 21 days once he's on an XL and larger rat. Mine will be on a 3-4 week schedule in another year or so.

[rocknhorse76]

I don't like feeding them weekly after about 2 years of age. Mine put on weight better with longer intervals between feedings because they actually use the nutrients in the rat for growth rather than just digestion.

[Snakesitter]

I'm impressed to see a thread in which everyone has made peace, with both grace and dignity. Great 180° from where people accused this place of being just a few short months ago. Great job to all, especially the OP and Chuck.