Dumerils-Feeding advice

KWenger · 06-21-13, 11:49 AM

I received my male Dumerils yesterday and he seems very healthy. He was shipped cross country from Los Angeles to my home in North Carolina and arrived in great shape. I'm not sure of his exact age, but I think he is about a year old. Apx. 4 feet long and he weighs 564 grams. How often should I feed him? What is an appropriate size prey item? I have a quantity of frozen weaned rats (ave weight 50 grams) and also frozen med. rats (ave weight 150 grams.) What would you recommend for his feeding schedule? Should I feed him in his cage or remove him to a feeding box? I'm thinking one weaned rat might be too little for a meal, but is a 150 gram rat too big for him? I've got experience with BPs and corn snakes, but this is my first Dumerils. Advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Amadeus · 06-21-13, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KWenger

I received my male Dumerils yesterday and he seems very healthy. He was shipped cross country from Los Angeles to my home in North Carolina and arrived in great shape. I'm not sure of his exact age, but I think he is about a year old. Apx. 4 feet long and he weighs 564 grams. How often should I feed him? What is an appropriate size prey item? I have a quantity of frozen weaned rats (ave weight 50 grams) and also frozen med. rats (ave weight 150 grams.) What would you recommend for his feeding schedule? Should I feed him in his cage or remove him to a feeding box? I'm thinking one weaned rat might be too little for a meal, but is a 150 gram rat too big for him? I've got experience with BPs and corn snakes, but this is my first Dumerils. Advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Dums grow more slowly than other boas a four footer is probably 2-3 years old.

Feed in cage

Use the mediums

Good luck, great snakes they are.

rocknhorse76 · 06-21-13, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amadeus

Dums grow more slowly than other boas a four footer is probably 2-3 years old.

Feed in cage

Use the mediums

Good luck, great snakes they are.

I agree, he's probably close to 3 years old if he's 4 feet. He's a bit thin for his length, but not too bad.

Definitely feed him in his cage.

A small would be best to start out with, but as long as the medium isn't substantially larger than the snake's widest girth, the mediums will be fine. Feed him every 2 weeks.

Give him a couple weeks to settle in before trying to handle or feed him, and don't handle him for about 48 hours after a feeding.

Most of all, ENJOY him! Dumeril's are awesome snakes

exwizard · 06-21-13, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amadeus

Dums grow more slowly than other boas a four footer is probably 2-3 years old.

Feed in cage

Use the mediums

Good luck, great snakes they are.

This exactly, on every point. I have Dums of most sizes. My smallest pair consists of nearly 2 yr. olds. I have them on Smalls but the bigger female of this trio is on Mediums now. If your Dum can eat Mediums, feed every other week as they have a slower metabolism in addition to being slow growers. All my Dums big enough to eat Mediums get fed every other week.

KWenger · 06-21-13, 03:09 PM

Thanks for the excellent feeding advice. Also, you're correct about his age. I checked earlier today with the breeder I bought him from, and he told me he will be three years old in September. I realize snakes continue to grow some their entire lives, but about when can I expect my Dum to be more or less "full grown?"

exwizard · 06-21-13, 03:23 PM

I have a '07 female who is just over 6' long and 14 lbs. She is possibly gravid but before that she was 12 lbs. I would say she is the size you would expect a Dum female to get. Males however, take longer and don't quite get that size. I would give a male at least 6-7 years. My oldest male is 5 1/2' long and 12 lbs. and he is the avg. size for males.

NCHornet · 06-21-13, 04:15 PM

You may want to Google for a care sheet for them but you have gotten good advice so far. You should see a slight bulge in your boa after it consumes the prey, if you don't feed it the next size up. At 3 years I would be feeding every two weeks.
Nice to see another member from NC where do you live in NC? I am in Mount Airy.

rocknhorse76 · 06-21-13, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exwizard

I have a '07 female who is just over 6' long and 14 lbs. She is possibly gravid but before that she was 12 lbs. I would say she is the size you would expect a Dum female to get. Males however, take longer and don't quite get that size. I would give a male at least 6-7 years. My oldest male is 5 1/2' long and 12 lbs. and he is the avg. size for males.

Yeah, my male is about 4 years old, just over 5 1/2 feet, and about 9 lbs so far. My female is only a yearling.

Amadeus · 06-21-13, 06:16 PM

Rebels....

exwizard · 06-21-13, 06:30 PM

Avg size does not always occur. while the avg female usually maxes at 7', Black Betty is 9 1/2' long and 24 lbs. The fact remains, however, that Dums are slow growers and males even moreso.

rocknhorse76 · 06-21-13, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exwizard

Avg size does not always occur. while the avg female usually maxes at 7', Black Betty is 9 1/2' long and 24 lbs. The fact remains, however, that Dums are slow growers and males even moreso.

Holy crap, she's a big girl!! Got any pics of her? I really hope my female ends up at 7 feet or better.

Oh, and I wasn't trying to upstage you or anything....merely giving another example of their slow growth since my boy hasn't filled out nearly as much as yours yet.

exwizard · 06-21-13, 08:08 PM

No worries. I only used Black Betty in this context to illustrate that exceptions do exist but even with these exceptions, the general rule for Dum sizes are 6' max for males and 7' max for females.

Black Betty is rare as I have never seen another Dum her size but I have heard of their existence. In any case, since you asked. I have enclosed a couple of pics.

rocknhorse76 · 06-21-13, 08:22 PM

Wow, she's quite impressive! Thanks for posting the pics. I wonder if there could be some MGB influence in her bloodline?

Amadeus · 06-21-13, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rocknhorse76

Wow, she's quite impressive! Thanks for posting the pics. I wonder if there could be some MGB influence in her bloodline?

MGB? IS that Madagascar GRound boa?

Amadeus · 06-21-13, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exwizard

No worries. I only used Black Betty in this context to illustrate that exceptions do exist but even with these exceptions, the general rule for Dum sizes are 6' max for males and 7' max for females.

Black Betty is rare as I have never seen another Dum her size but I have heard of their existence. In any case, since you asked. I have enclosed a couple of pics.

She must be a sweatheart =]