My Dumerils has started biting me! - Page 3

guyabano · 07-22-13, 08:59 PM

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 · 07-22-13, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marvelfreak

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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 · 07-23-13, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marvelfreak

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

I lol'ed.....

SnakeyJay · 07-23-13, 03:19 AM

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 · 07-23-13, 04:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakey-Jay

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 ^^^^^

marvelfreak · 07-23-13, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KWenger

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 · 07-23-13, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marvelfreak

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** · 07-23-13, 07:31 AM

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 · 07-23-13, 08:34 AM

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 · 07-23-13, 09:01 AM

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 · 07-23-13, 09:01 AM

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 · 07-23-13, 09:09 AM

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 · 07-23-13, 09:10 AM

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

Kid Boa · 07-23-13, 09:10 AM

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

Mikoh4792 · 07-23-13, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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!

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