Nice strike

[John9k]

Hello,

Well, y'all know my picky eating boa, here is my beast dum, who eats like a champ! (she)

She's the complete opposite of of my male, she stays in feeding mode for hours.

see video here:

Boa strike! - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkuUcibpmK4&context=C4b55d8aADvjVQa1PpcFNiULgWyswbOWfZkwXFAkt7 ofU6G1MXjJc=)

John

[Becky Goings]

Nice! We've been trying to get video of ours. Hopefully we will get all of them soon (well, except my one royal who will only eat if we leave it overnight. lol That is a very nice looking Dumeril. I just love their patterns and colors!

[alessia55]

That's awesome... she really KILLS it :p

[icole]

Cool. Here is a video of my Juvenile eating her first ever rat. I have been feeding mice until now. I don't want to hear about the enclosure. I ordered a pro line 4 by 2 a month ago, and it will arrive in about 3 weeks. I also know feeding live is a no no. I plan to stun every meal from hear on out, then maybe switch to F/T or pre-killed. I did not realize how big this rat was untill I got it in the tank. I thought about taking it out but she was after it, so I let it go. The live feeding is for the video. I'm a high school science teacher, and my students asked to see video of her eating. As stated before this is her last conscious meal.
Dumeril Boa Eats Rat - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw9NJFZbp30&list=UU-7egNcHA2Fqr1fZaQbfoLg&index=1&feature=plcp)
Also my daughter cries because my wife dragged her out of the room, and not because the rat was killed.

[John9k]

Cool, I noticed my smaller male often misses his first strike (on live food) like on your video. Is this common?

[icole]

I fed her live mice at first, because some dumerils don't take still prey. She rarely missed. I think she was hitting the glass on some of those misses. She actually got this on the first try and it got away. I was going to take it out and stun it, but she was so aggressively hunting it that I was afraid she would take my hand, so I started taping again and let it play out. A rat can give a pretty nasty bite, so from now on I will stun the rats.

[SnakeyJay]

That first missed strike can mean the rat does serious damage to the snake... Each to their own, but definately not worth it in my eyes.. Even for educational videos. :D

[icole]

That first missed strike can mean the rat does serious damage to the snake... Each to their own, but definately not worth it in my eyes.. Even for educational videos. :D
It was bad news, I was really worried about her. If she had been less eager to try again, I would have pulled the rat out, and stunned it, but with how aggressive she is at feeding, it seemed there were risks in trying to remove the rat as well. It has been a week, and she seems fine, so I got lucky. Only unconscious food from now on.

[John9k]

Yup f/t is the way to go. It is strange how yours and mine missed. From what I understand snakes run purely on instinct. Weird they can miss such an easy target, what would happen in the wild...?

[icole]

I think the reflection from the glass threw her off. In the wild she would hide in leaves and dirt, and wait for unsuspecting prey. As you ca see she has lost her wait and hide instinct, and will chase down the rat. This is the first time that I have seen her miss.