# Kenyan sand boa



## Leonidas (Dec 29, 2007)

I'm going to buy a baby one this week.I've read many caresheets,but I've got these questions:
a)The substrate is aspen shaving is it ok?
b)When I feed it I should put it in a box?
g)How i collect the feces if they are in the sand(i mean how will i find them)
h)When its shedding should i spray?


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## bigjunk93yj (Dec 29, 2007)

Leonidas said:


> I'm going to buy a baby one this week.I've read many caresheets,but I've got these questions:
> a)The substrate is aspen shaving is it ok?
> b)When I feed it I should put it in a box?
> g)How i collect the feces if they are in the sand(i mean how will i find them)
> h)When its shedding should i spray?


i don't know much about sand boas so no answer for a) or h) but as far as b) i think it's a good idea to have a feeder tank/box and for snakes g) i would use either a sand sifter (looks like a little scooper made out of metal mesh) or get a kitty litter scooper (probably cheaper).


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## OldHag (Dec 29, 2007)

I use crushed walnut shells for my kenyans. They like the weight of it better than the aspen. But I think aspen is a good choice as well. The walnut is easy to clean up the waste as it clumps kind of like cat litter. Aspen tends to absorb and spread out the liquid waste so you have to throw away more when you clean up a mess.  
Sand, I think, is too dusty.. I dont like using it.
I keep a tupperware box with a hole in the side with moist papertowel or moss so they can go into it when they want higher moisture for shedding. I would NOT spray the tank or substrate.
I feed them in a separate place as well to avoid injestion of the substrate.


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## Leonidas (Dec 29, 2007)

OldHag said:


> I use crushed walnut shells for my kenyans. They like the weight of it better than the aspen. But I think aspen is a good choice as well. The walnut is easy to clean up the waste as it clumps kind of like cat litter. Aspen tends to absorb and spread out the liquid waste so you have to throw away more when you clean up a mess.
> Sand, I think, is too dusty.. I dont like using it.
> I keep a tupperware box with a hole in the side with moist papertowel or moss so they can go into it when they want higher moisture for shedding. I would NOT spray the tank or substrate.
> I feed them in a separate place as well to avoid injestion of the substrate.


Thank you very much for the info.When you move the snake you place it in a box with sunstrate or just like that.If the snake feels lke eating when you move the food item infront of it it strikes or you just leave the snake and the pinkie in the box for a couple of hours?Al;so,as its a baby its difficult to make it eat?


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## OldHag (Dec 29, 2007)

I put the mouse in a tub (box) with NO substrate. Then put the snake in the tub. I keep the tub IN the snake cage so when the snake is done eating it can crawl out into its cage.

Baby kenyans eat small pinkies very well. Ive been breeding them for a few years and have never had one I couldnt get to eat. Some can be subborn but they always eventually eat. If they are having a hard time eating I will lock them in the box with the mouse overnight and that usually does it. I keep the box in the cage so its kept warm.


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## Leonidas (Dec 31, 2007)

Thanks again.I finally bought it!Its probably a baby female but I've got some last questions:
a)They said at the petshop that they fed her.When shoul i feed her again?
b)The aspen shaving are 5 cm deep.Is this a problem?
c)The heat pad is fine for heating her?
d)My dad brought her some time after she ate.The trip was 10 minutes long.Its quite cold outcould she have a problem even though now shes with the hetpad?


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## OldHag (Dec 31, 2007)

I would put the heat pad on the side of the enclosure so as not to burn her.

I feed my snakes every 10 days. It depends on how you want to feed them. Some people say to feed every week. You decide which you think is best.


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## Leonidas (Jan 1, 2008)

OldHag said:


> I would put the heat pad on the side of the enclosure so as not to burn her.
> 
> I feed my snakes every 10 days. It depends on how you want to feed them. Some people say to feed every week. You decide which you think is best.


Thanks.Em , how many pinkies should I feed to my baby?One aprt of the faunabox is very hot,but the other one is just a bit warm(shes all the time at that part).I still need to place the heat pad on the side?


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## Leonidas (Jan 2, 2008)

Leonidas said:


> Thanks.Em , how many pinkies should I feed to my baby?One aprt of the faunabox is very hot,but the other one is just a bit warm(shes all the time at that part).I still need to place the heat pad on the side?


Also this species is supposed to have a white belly.Mine ahas one too,but the ventral some scales have  light brown spots which are NOT mites.They vary in size and they have no particular shape.I keep it in a totally dry terrarium and the same thing at the petshop.But really,could it be skin bliset disease.Remember,they are not circular,they are not pimples,just colour and they are kight brown and they are in many scales.They are not very many.What could it be???????Somebody told me that they culd be burns,but  this species is tolerant up to 100F!How can I found the temps oat the botom with the thermometer?I placed the thermometer on the  substrates surface and it was 27 C.


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## OldHag (Jan 2, 2008)

I keep the hot side of my cages at 90F. No higher. The cool side at about 78-82F.

Im not sure about the spots on the stomach. Could you post a picture? It might just be coloration. Like a freckle or something.

If the snake is a baby, just feed it one pinkie. If its a big baby you could feed it a fuzzy or two pinkies.


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## RhettusMaximus (Jan 2, 2008)

*aspen*

I would put a kenyan sand boa in sand, not calcium sand but a silicate. Aspen and walnut shells are not easily digestible, and aspen causes respiratory problems in snakes as well...


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## RhettusMaximus (Jan 2, 2008)

*...*

Not to say sand is digestible, but sillicate sand will not clump in the digestive tract like calcium based sand will.


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## Leonidas (Jan 3, 2008)

OldHag said:


> I keep the hot side of my cages at 90F. No higher. The cool side at about 78-82F.
> 
> Im not sure about the spots on the stomach. Could you post a picture? It might just be coloration. Like a freckle or something.
> 
> If the snake is a baby, just feed it one pinkie. If its a big baby you could feed it a fuzzy or two pinkies.


Finally i found out the spot s are just coloration.You give 2 pinkies on  what size of babies?(over 20 cm?)


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## cheetah13mo (Jan 3, 2008)

I keep mine in about 3 inches of fine sillica sand. My little boa is about 10 inches long and I feed it a decent sized pinkie once a week. I have a heat mat under one corner of the tank and a small water dish but I've never seen it drink. I also put a rock in there a little smaller than my fist so when it sheds it's skin, it'll have something to rub the old skin off against.


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## secular (Jan 3, 2008)

> I keep mine in about 3 inches of fine sillica sand. My little boa is about 10 inches long and I feed it a decent sized pinkie once a week. I have a heat mat under one corner of the tank and a small water dish but I've never seen it drink. I also put a rock in there a little smaller than my fist so when it sheds it's skin, it'll have something to rub the old skin off against.


this sounds just like my setup except i'm using a piece of wood instead of a rock.  i've noticed the same with the water dish; i think i've maybe caught her drinking once.  most of the time you just see those nose and eyes sticking out just above the surface.  my boa is a little larger at this point and will eat a few fuzzies or hoppers each week (2-4 she's a pig).

she's a good eater but i've never gotten her to take f/t.  likes the live ones i guess.  she prefers to feed at night, in fact i've never had her eat during the day.

i think it's worth noting that this is the only snake i'm actually keeping on sand since she definitely seems to prefer it.  most of the time i hold to the common rule of thumb "no sand", using aspen and reptile carpet.  i actually had her on aspen at first which was working fine, but when i moved her to sand her behavior seemed more "natural".

normally i feed my snakes in a separate enclosure as well (fairly standard practice, helps avoid bites from feeding response, etc).  the sand boa i have been feeding in her enclosure since she seems to prefer to hunt/capture prey in the manner similar to what is used in the wild:  hiding buried beneath the substrate (sand in this case) and then exploding forth as the prey passes by.  pretty neat to watch.  at any rate the solution here is probably to setup a nicer feeding box for her or work on modifying the behavior, but things have been going well enough for us so far.

all in all a very unique snake and fun to keep, even if you don't see them very often without digging them up.


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## Leonidas (Jan 3, 2008)

really when it defecates,how will i know where the feces are and when it defecated??Also during the night,it moves all around its enclosure.Why?The enclosure is 5-10 cm longer than the snake.I saw her drinking two times.Quite funny way!


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## bigjunk93yj (Jan 4, 2008)

from Wiki:


> While sand is generally harmless, one must take care with some activities involving sand such as sandblasting. Bags of silica sand used for sandblasting now carry labels warning the user to wear respiratory protection and avoid breathing the fine silica dust. There have been a number of lawsuits in recent years where workers have developed silicosis, a lung disease caused by inhalation of fine silica particles over long periods of time. Material safety data sheets (MSDS) for silica sand state that "excessive inhalation of crystalline silica is a serious health concern"


same dust you breathe in when setting up the tank or sifting the sand. might considder using a paper dust mask (probably overkill but i wouldn't mind the $0.25 of insurance). don't know if i would want my critters ingesting that though.


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## Mushroom Spore (Jan 4, 2008)

bigjunk93yj said:


> same dust you breathe in when setting up the tank or sifting the sand. might considder using a paper dust mask (probably overkill but i wouldn't mind the $0.25 of insurance). don't know if i would want my critters ingesting that though.


Forget ingesting, what about the SNAKE inhaling that dust all day every day while living and burrowing in it?


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## cheetah13mo (Jan 4, 2008)

These snakes live in sand. They have membranes in their nose to keep the fine particles out while still being able to breath. They are called a sand boa for a reason. lol


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## OldHag (Jan 4, 2008)

I still wouldn't use sand for my "sand"boas   Seen/heard of too many reptiles adversely affected by sand in one way or another. I don't use it for my sandboas just because its dusty.

I dont feed them in their substrate so I dont worry about ingesting.


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## secular (Jan 4, 2008)

> really when it defecates,how will i know where the feces are and when it defecated??Also during the night,it moves all around its enclosure.Why?The enclosure is 5-10 cm longer than the snake.I saw her drinking two times.Quite funny way!


if i see the waste laying in the sand i'll spot clean and just pick it up out of there.  at least once every few weeks when i have her out i remove the water bowl and decoration then use a mesh/screen "scoop" to sift through the sand.  if i notice it starting to look "dirty" even after this type of cleaning i dispose of the substrate and wash the enclosure.  that goes for any foul odor as well.

a sand boa is primarily nocturnal, so it's normal to see it out at night, if at all.  mine rarely comes out from beneath the substrate, normally all i see are her eyes and nose.  sometimes when i catch her out at night it's when she hasn't had a meal in awhile... she might be out actively hunting.  other than that, snakes definitely like to explore!

sounds like you and your companion are having a good time.


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## Leonidas (Jan 4, 2008)

secular said:


> if i see the waste laying in the sand i'll spot clean and just pick it up out of there.  at least once every few weeks when i have her out i remove the water bowl and decoration then use a mesh/screen "scoop" to sift through the sand.  if i notice it starting to look "dirty" even after this type of cleaning i dispose of the substrate and wash the enclosure.  that goes for any foul odor as well.
> 
> a sand boa is primarily nocturnal, so it's normal to see it out at night, if at all.  mine rarely comes out from beneath the substrate, normally all i see are her eyes and nose.  sometimes when i catch her out at night it's when she hasn't had a meal in awhile... she might be out actively hunting.  other than that, snakes definitely like to explore!I love him/her!
> 
> sounds like you and your companion are having a good time.


you are right!she ate a HUGE  pinkie mouse and now she doesnt move that much!it was the first time i saw a snake eating infront of me and it was super cool.Even though it was weird!when i moved the pinkie with a pair of tweezers infront of her she ignoresd it,but when i left it infront of it she was smellin it and then she ate it.She didnt coil around it though but pressed the pinkie on the walls of the feeder box in order  to help it swallow it!


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## Leonidas (Jan 5, 2008)

Hey I fed ti yesterday but now,the big belly it had cause of the pinky dissappeared!should i feed it again????today or the day after tomorrow???How big should te pinkie mice be in order to satify it?shoul i give it more pinkie mice?the snake is aprox.28 centimeters


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## Gesticulator (Jan 5, 2008)

So glad I found this thread! Old Hag, thanks for all the advice. My only snake is a Kenyan Sand Boa. He is on aspen and I keep a large container of water in there. I have always put thawed pinkies on top of his log and he ate them by the next day. I have a heat pad on one side of his tank and he has thrived well for the last year. 
He has suddenly stopped eating, though. Do they slow down in colder weather? Should I try live feeders?


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## Mushroom Spore (Jan 5, 2008)

Leonidas said:


> Hey I fed ti yesterday but now,the big belly it had cause of the pinky dissappeared!should i feed it again????today or the day after tomorrow???How big should te pinkie mice be in order to satify it?shoul i give it more pinkie mice?the snake is aprox.28 centimeters


Do not feed it again! It's still digesting the last meal, you're going to make it sick. Feed about once a week. If the prey item is about as thick as the fattest part of the snake, it's enough.


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## OldHag (Jan 5, 2008)

Gesticulator said:


> So glad I found this thread! Old Hag, thanks for all the advice. My only snake is a Kenyan Sand Boa. He is on aspen and I keep a large container of water in there. I have always put thawed pinkies on top of his log and he ate them by the next day. I have a heat pad on one side of his tank and he has thrived well for the last year.
> He has suddenly stopped eating, though. Do they slow down in colder weather? Should I try live feeders?


I would be careful feeding him where he can pull the mouse down onto the substrate.  
If it IS male he might just be "In the mood" My males slow down on the eating thing in Jan-March-ish. I always thought it was because they can smell the females and are just trying to get to them and are too busy to eat. Maybe its just "that time of the year"

I wouldnt worry about him not eating for a while.  I would, however, feed him in a tupperwear or buttertub so he wont eat the aspen.

I have a couple of cute wee females for sale if he wants a girl friend down the road


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