Dumerils baby

[MONIKAZEMA]

Hello all,
I have been lurking here for a few days, reading all I can read, but I think I am ready for some advice.
Last Saturday (09/06/13) I finally nabbed my dream snake: a Dumerils baby at the WPB Repticon. Very nice, robust male about 24 inches long.
Now, everyone says dums are very calm and nice, well... not this one! Tagged me the first time I held him, so I figured I let him get settled in and leave him alone, but even when in his quarantine box with the lid on, he will strike and snap and get all huffy and tense when we come near him. He does have hides on warm and cool side, a water bowl and a mixture of moss and coco husk for substrate, 75-85F temps, heating pad on the back wall of the box.
Is it normal that he is so uncomfortable? The body language and snapping are definitely defensive. I have 4 other snakes (redtail, BRB, Hog and a C.A boa), and none of them ever acted like this, or snapped at me.
What am I doing wrong? How can I help him relax and get used to being held? I take it the breeder did not handle him much.
Either way, I had been looking to get one of those for months, and I just want him to be happy :)
Any input would be much appreciated.

[Snakesitter]

Hi Monikazema, and welcome to the forum!

There could be several reasons for your new pet's defensiveness.

The first item that can cause this is unsuitable conditions. It is thus important to double check his environment. Conditions that are off (maybe due to an equipment failure or reading a bad care sheet) can cause stress and defensiveness...but also seriously hurt the animal. So take a quick check of the temp and humidity using a second set of instruments to make sure they are spot on.

The second item is just being in a new home. Remember, he's had a rough last few days. It can take a few days for an animal to feel safe in their new enclosure, and during that transition time they can be grouchy.

The third item is impending shed. If he's in the early stages you may not have noticed it, but he will feel it for sure. Some animals just do not want to be bothered during this period.

If conditions check out OK, I'd just leave him alone for a few days to adjust to his new home before bothering him again. If he's still defensive at that point, that is when you have to work with him to get past the behavior while he is still young. Better a few baby bites than a nippy adult years down the road.

Good luck!

[MONIKAZEMA]

Thank you for your response, Snakesitter,
I checked the conditions, everything is the way it's supposed to be (I have multiple reptiles, so swapping the instruments was not an issue).

So far my little guy is spending time in various areas of the enclosure, chilled in the water bowl, sat on the warm and cool side, we pretty much left him alone as you recommended, but he pooped, so we had to do a quick clean up.
My husband got him out and I did the dirty job, can you believe this little guy (snake) sat on my husband's hand and watched my every move... I think he hates me LOL

I tried to post a picture of him, but I think I need more posts before I can do that .

[exwizard]

After he has settled in, given enough time, patience and persistent working with him, he will tame down. I have done this with my Dums as well as with baby Macklot's and baby Burms. It is true. If they're a nippy now when they are babies, it's better to take a few tags when they are small and handle them anyway. This way, when they get bigger, they are more handleable.

[MONIKAZEMA]

Let's see if I can attach a picture.
25535

[Theweinz]

Beautiful snake!

[thinkbig317]

Beautiful Dumerils!

[rocknhorse76]

Gorgeous little baby!

Keep handling him and he'll eventually calm down for you. My little female is sometimes a bit nippy, but once she's out of the tub, she settles down quite nicely.

[exwizard]

Gorgeous little baby!

Keep handling him and he'll eventually calm down for you. My little female is sometimes a bit nippy, but once she's out of the tub, she settles down quite nicely.

I agree! He obviously is handleable enough to use your bare hand so yeah, I'd keep handling him. I have not had a problem with nippiness with any of my Dums but I have with my Macklot's and baby Burms. In both cases, regular persistent handling did tame them down and if you do this with your baby Dum, this will happen for you as well.

[MONIKAZEMA]

Thanks guys!
My little dude is doing ok, mostly just left to himself. I picked him up briefly to clean up his water bowl, he did not strike, but he felt like he was spring loaded lol.
He's so pretty, I really want us to be friends lol.
I will keep you guys posted on how he is doing.

[marvelfreak]

What kind of substrate are you using in your cage and how deep is it? I use Reptile bark and i always keep it deep enough that mine can completely burrow or hide under it. It help them feel safe and secure. Which means they are not stressed and mellower.

[MONIKAZEMA]

He is in a mixture of coco husk and moss, about 3 inches deep. He has burrowed himself completely, I can't even tell where he is.

[TeaNinja]

if he is anything like my girl dum you will want to start using a hook just to break the feeding response. ill poke and pull at the snake with a hook for a second just so she knows im not food then i can reach in and grab her everytime, but she strikes at the first touch sometimes.

[MONIKAZEMA]

TeaNinja the snake hook idea has crossed my mind, I hate reaching and grabbing any of my snakes from their homes anyway.

But hey! I just peeked into his box, and he is in the process of shedding. I am going to leave him alone for a few more days, and then let's hope he will be in a better mood.

[Snakesitter]

Glad to hear it is going better. And great pict!!!

[sweatshirt]

Gorgeous boa; congrats on the shed :D

[MONIKAZEMA]

OK, so we had a perfect first shed, all in one piece, and then today when I went to check on him he just crawled out of the box right onto my hand. No striking, no heavy breathing, just a curious little creature. He was quite relaxed, cruised a little bit and then settled in nicely in my hand.

Guys, I was freaking out because none of my other snakes went through this, they were nice and mellow from the get go.

Now, will see how he does Friday- the feeding day!

[rocknhorse76]

Glad he had a good shed and calmed down for you.

[Snakesitter]

Glad to hear the good report. May it be a sign of good things to come!

[MONIKAZEMA]

Hey guys, soo... so far no interest in feeding, which does not worry me, I am prepared to wait for a while, but he has calmed down tremendously, does not strike any more, and comes out of the box on my hand with no problem.
I am very pleased :)

[marvelfreak]

From the sound of it he was just cranky because he was in shed.

[Mark Taylor]

Just my opinion but very nice looking dum, I personally think it's better for them to eat for you before taming but that's me. Congrats on the perfect shed can't wait for updates.;)

[MONIKAZEMA]

For your viewing pleasure, a couple of head shots.

[marvelfreak]

Almost looks like a viper in the face. I love that prehistoric look.

[TeaNinja]

they go through phases too i've noticed. the last month or 2 my normally totally calm 7' male is like in FEEDING FRENZY mode. i grabbed him like an idiot in his cage a few weeks ago without breaking the feeding response and he tagged me GOOD really fast. i was spraying blood out of my hand all over my room and into the bathroom xD. ive been bit by each of my dums once and both times it was me being stupid and not breaking their feeding response before grabbing them.

[MONIKAZEMA]

Well look who decided to be a good boy today and eat his dinner!
Did not even hesitate. I fed him in his box while he was burrowed up to his eyeballs.

[ErikBush97]

OK, so we had a perfect first shed, all in one piece, and then today when I went to check on him he just crawled out of the box right onto my hand. No striking, no heavy breathing, just a curious little creature. He was quite relaxed, cruised a little bit and then settled in nicely in my hand.

Guys, I was freaking out because none of my other snakes went through this, they were nice and mellow from the get go.

Now, will see how he does Friday- the feeding day!

A lot of snakes get very defensive when they shed, or they're about to shed. One of my snakes goes absolutely nuts on me and then 2-3 days later his eyes go blue. Other than that he's a little sketchy, but still controllable

[swolek]

He's gorgeous, I'm glad he's doing so well! That's my main dream snake :).

[MONIKAZEMA]

Anybody else get creeped out by the Snake Stare?

[TeaNinja]

Anybody else get creeped out by the Snake Stare?

lol. i took this when i first got my male dum when he was still in his old tank.

http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af184/teaninja/hide002.jpg (http://s1006.photobucket.com/user/teaninja/media/hide002.jpg.html)

[exwizard]

I think snake stares are rather cute.

[MONIKAZEMA]

Very nice pictures, guys. So, so far we had three successful feedings, the snake is active at night, days he spends burrowed up, he is now quite friendly, comes out of his tub all on his own right onto my hand, and turns into a lap snake in front of the tv lol.

[MONIKAZEMA]

Well look who is going into shed again :)

[exwizard]

Yup, very cool :)

[MONIKAZEMA]

So here is a pic post-shed and one with him all cozy up in my sleeve lol.
He has gotten much longer, that's for sure.