Just bought Dumerils Boa

[Marica]

Beautiful shed! Could be why she refused her last meal.

[forza_inter]

Originally Posted by TeaNinja

haha, i just saw this now.
i actually leave that red light on 24/7. in the summer i use a 100 watt red bulb and in the colder parts i use a 75 watt. i wondered if turning it off at night would get too cold so i tried it one night and hit it with the digital thermometer like 20 minutes later and it was already in the mid 60's so i just leave it on 24/7. as for substrate change, i just spot clean whenever i see him poop or something. sometimes when i have him out i stir up all the substrate in the viv and spray it all down and such. i havn't actually done a full substrate change in months.

my dum is an adult male and he put off food for like 4-5 months then finally started eating again a month or so ago. was nice.




i have a ceramic for my BP. i leave that on 24/7 also.



and very nice shed btw

thats cool man....yea im def loving the red light....ever since i switched it shes been a lot more active....then again i've kinda left her alone so maybe that might be why as well....but yea lots of improvement in the last few days from my girl....and the great shed was such a relief

[forza_inter]

Originally Posted by TeaNinja

snakes are ninja's. my huge dum doesn't even make tracks in his substrate unless he wants to. sometimes i'll wake up and he'll have dug around and there will be little substrate dunes and peaks everywhere lol. it looks crazy. but i've definetly seen my snake going around and go back into his hide and he hasn't made any tracks.
also i sometimes stay up till like 5am and both my BP and dum are usually only out at like midnight to 6am lol. that's when the nocturnal animals roam. of course there are acceptions. i come home sometimes and my BP will be out cruising and i'll walk into my room and he'll look at me like O.O , then he hides lol.



i wouldn't hold a snake every day, they get stressed if handled too much. i hold mine MAYBE twice a week.

hahaha @ ninjas....yea thats a good way to describe them. yea i'll creep in on her and catch her about to come out of her hide....then i'll walk in, trying to go unnoticed....ya she spots me right away and slowly backs into the hide lol

btw thats a sick picture of your snake with its meal....cant wait for mine to start eating

as for the handling it twice a week....i'll take that into consideration....can it be more frequent then that as they get older tho?? only twice a week seems so little

[forza_inter]

Originally Posted by Marica

Beautiful shed! Could be why she refused her last meal.

thanks.....yea thats possible, i waited a week and im going to try again 2morow. im gonna do things a little more different this time as well.....i put her in a smaller clear tank and held the mouse with my hand (still waiting for tongs to arrive in the mail).....im going to try to feed her in a box lined with black garbage bag.....to make it darker, and i'll try to stay as much out of sight as possible....and with the garbage bag liner i imagine it would be simple clean up after

[TeaNinja]

if you have a snake that is very used to handling you can handle more often. once you're farmiliar with their signs you can spot if they are stressed easily. if you handle often and your snake doesn't get stressed out, i say go for it. stress is the main issue to not handle too often. of course Nobody touches them in the wild

i was super happy when i got that picture of my dum eating that f/t, because he put off food for so long. was a relief to get him eating again.

[forza_inter]

Originally Posted by TeaNinja

if you have a snake that is very used to handling you can handle more often. once you're farmiliar with their signs you can spot if they are stressed easily. if you handle often and your snake doesn't get stressed out, i say go for it. stress is the main issue to not handle too often. of course Nobody touches them in the wild

i was super happy when i got that picture of my dum eating that f/t, because he put off food for so long. was a relief to get him eating again.

true that....i guess i'll have to wait and see how she turns out then

and i just finished feeding her, yes she FINALLY ate....im extremely relieved!


By dan_mancuso at 2011-05-24

....i ended up putting her in a box and then after i could tell she had finished swallowing i picked her up and moved her back into the tank. she seemed very rattled tho when i went to get her out of the box.....and once i put her back in the tank she flew under one of her hides. little concerned about that. maybe i should just start feeding her in the tank....just to avoid putting added stress on her when i go to put her back

[TeaNinja]

either way. when i got my dum the guy fed him out of the enclosure and i started feeding him inside and i switched him to f/t instead of live. i feed my BP in a shoebox sometimes and i always make sure to leave him for a minute to get the rat into the lower part of his body, then once he seems ready to leave the box i just pick him up and set him back in his viv.

remember, when a snake is eating it gets super stressed if messed with. if you feed f/t, you can just leave it on the cold side of the tank, chances are it will get eatin by the morning. i've had a time or two when i take the BP out and put him in the shoebox, and he's stressed and refuses to eat. so i take the f/t and just leave it in the tank and it's gone by the morning.

your snake looks very nice

[stephanbakir]

Grats on getting her to feed.

[Lankyrob]

Will the "feed box" fit in the enclosure? IF so just leave it in there and remove it in the morning - snakey can leave the box when he wants then.

[forza_inter]

Originally Posted by TeaNinja

either way. when i got my dum the guy fed him out of the enclosure and i started feeding him inside and i switched him to f/t instead of live. i feed my BP in a shoebox sometimes and i always make sure to leave him for a minute to get the rat into the lower part of his body, then once he seems ready to leave the box i just pick him up and set him back in his viv.

remember, when a snake is eating it gets super stressed if messed with. if you feed f/t, you can just leave it on the cold side of the tank, chances are it will get eatin by the morning. i've had a time or two when i take the BP out and put him in the shoebox, and he's stressed and refuses to eat. so i take the f/t and just leave it in the tank and it's gone by the morning.

your snake looks very nice

That's not a bad idea (leaving the f/t in the tank over night) but on the cold side? I would figure the warm side would be better so it keeps the mouse warm and. "life-like" no?? I'm def going to try it tho if I have any feeding issues in the future. Thanks man

[forza_inter]

Originally Posted by stephanbakir

Grats on getting her to feed.

Thanks...it was a big relief

[forza_inter]

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

Will the "feed box" fit in the enclosure? IF so just leave it in there and remove it in the morning - snakey can leave the box when he wants then.

That's actually a great idea...It would mean having to switch to a smaller box, but if I can reduce any unnecessary stress I def will. She seemed very unsettled when I picked her up after she ate. And the way she took off as soon as she touched the substrate in her tank rattled me a bit. I guess the search is on for a smaller box. Thanks!

[Lankyrob]

Our bp was always fed in a plastic box before we got him so we started off by putting the box in the viv and feeding him and then one week changed the box for a plate like the rest of our snakes and he was slightly more tentative but did eat and has eaten since.

[SnakeyJay]

putting it in the warm side would surely increase bacteria growth.... Not 100% on this, just my view.

[sassy_snake_lady]

I leave refused food items on the warm side. When my boa refused i saw no point leaving it on the cool side, couldn't see her taking an already refused meal once it's gone cold.

Left on the warm side it got eaten within a couple of hours