male dumeril biting female? [Archive] - sSNAKESs : Reptile Forum

Detroitboa13

10-28-13, 04:20 AM

Hey guys,
Last night I had my dumerils out and was just letting them hang out on complete opposite sides of my living room and then my male started acting super aggressive and chased my female down and bit her. I know its the cool down period but why would he go out of his way to bite her when she was no where near him?

As far as age of the two, my female is 6 and is about 6.7 feet and my male is 5 and is about 6.2 feet... Any ideas?

marvelfreak

10-28-13, 07:33 AM

Maybe she smell like a rat. I would diffidently keep them apart. How bad was the bite? Was it deep? how is she behaving now and was there blood.

BTW just noticed in your signature you have it as 2 males. It should be 1.1 for male and female.

Terranaut

10-28-13, 09:20 AM

Well this may sound stupid but are you sure they are not 2 males?
Sounds like 2 males to me but if you are sure one is female then I have never heard of this.

Sublimeballs

10-28-13, 03:17 PM

Well this may sound stupid but are you sure they are not 2 males?
Sounds like 2 males to me but if you are sure one is female then I have never heard of this.

My first thought was they are both males. Did you sex them or were you told they were 1.1?

Detroitboa13

10-28-13, 06:23 PM

The female I purchased from a local pet shop and they sexed her as a girl, and the male was sold to me as a male. I think it may be stressed induced. I just changed their enclosures and the bite wasn't terrible. I checked and there was no mark but she has been lethargic all day today.

Terranaut

10-28-13, 07:29 PM

I would have the "female" probed again. It sounds too much like male combat.

Sublimeballs

10-29-13, 04:08 PM

I would have the "female" probed again. It sounds too much like male combat.

I second that motion, very easy to have gotten a mis sexed snake when you're going by what others have told you.

ErikBush97

10-30-13, 01:42 AM

Not a lot of pet shops I'd trust to accurately sex a snake...

Mikoh4792

10-30-13, 01:45 AM

you can probe them yourself. It's not that hard.

Terranaut

10-30-13, 04:16 AM

Not a lot of pet shops I'd trust to accurately sex a snake...

Who ever said to go to a pet shop?

Always best to have it demonstrated by someone but it is not hard.

Sublimeballs

10-30-13, 11:59 AM

Who ever said to go to a pet shop?

.

I think he's referring to the shop he got the female in question from.

ErikBush97

10-30-13, 03:43 PM

Who ever said to go to a pet shop?

The female I purchased from a local pet shop and they sexed her as a girl

Sorry about the confusion :)

Terranaut

10-30-13, 06:27 PM

Yup. Sorry. I somehow didn't read into that. But obviously he should not take the snake (which I would bet is male ) to a pet store as this is most likely the origin of the issue.

Detroitboa13

10-31-13, 03:38 AM

UPDATE- So, the plot thickens. I took the snake in question to my local vet to have it sexed and it is a female... Any ideas? The male I have noticed is in pre shed so maybe that had something to do with it, and also these two snakes have never met before so is it possible maybe the male was irritable and didn't want to play? I do remember when I removed him from his enclosure he would almost "hit" me with his body when I would try to touch him as if he was telling me to "leave me the hell alone" and this is not typical behavior for this snake.

He is typically puppy dog tame and a dream to handle, so I am going to assume maybe he is just grumpy and didn't like the idea of being around another snake while in shed...

Any thoughts?

Mikoh4792

10-31-13, 03:47 AM

UPDATE- So, the plot thickens. I took the snake in question to my local vet to have it sexed and it is a female... Any ideas? The male I have noticed is in pre shed so maybe that had something to do with it, and also these two snakes have never met before so is it possible maybe the male was irritable and didn't want to play? I do remember when I removed him from his enclosure he would almost "hit" me with his body when I would try to touch him as if he was telling me to "leave me the hell alone" and this is not typical behavior for this snake.

He is typically puppy dog tame and a dream to handle, so I am going to assume maybe he is just grumpy and didn't like the idea of being around another snake while in shed...

Any thoughts?

That's a very good possibility. I'll just suggest you leave snakes alone when they are in shed. They feel vulnerable. Not only that they are focusing their energy on shedding and it makes sense that they are irritable then.