KSB enclosure

[Dizzle]

I was thinking of putting my female kenyan sand boa into a 40gal breeder tank at some point in the near future. I know this is probably not needed as even adult females can be housed in a 20gal comfortably but I have a 40gal and figured why not? Other than being a larger than needed enclosure, any reason why this is a bad idea? I would include plenty of hides, a shed box, large water bowl etc... and provide a hot and cool side. Currently she is in a 15gal tank with like 4 - 5 inches of substrate. Thanks!

 

[pyro fiend]

I was thinking of putting my female kenyan sand boa into a 40gal breeder tank at some point in the near future. I know this is probably not needed as even adult females can be housed in a 20gal comfortably but I have a 40gal and figured why not? Other than being a larger than needed enclosure, any reason why this is a bad idea? I would include plenty of hides, a shed box, large water bowl etc... and provide a hot and cool side. Currently she is in a 15gal tank with like 4 - 5 inches of substrate. Thanks!

hey diz glad to hear your lil girls doin good.

theres realy no need to keep her in a large enclosure nor to keep her in a smaller one. we have no clue if she is or isnt using it all because well.. they burrow youl never see them lol but if you want. go bananas. XD iv never seen anything stressful from larger cages. i have however seen some ksb refuse food in smaller cages.. till they had a new larger cage.

some believe if u use sand that the weight can be heavy on the snake, but they live in sand in the wild,so im not sure why they would get this idea lol.. thats like saying if you full the fish tank up more then 80% the fish will drownd XD [thus why people use crushed walnut, shreded aspen or even coco, usually not for cleaning purposes]

as for your idea sounds good. just a nice little container mainly burried with moss or wet paper towels for humid hide tons of little things to hide in. some even like the fake and real skulls people put in. as well as cork or mopani or realy any wood can be nice.. there is one thing id change.. i wouldnt use a large water dish just a small one, like the standard rock ones [real stone not the fake] as too much humidity is no fun. plus alot of ksb have a bad habbit of dumping it.. and last thing you want is a ton of water in the enclosure. a smaller bowl made of actual stone decreases the amount of humidity in the air, the possibility of being tipped over and even if it does get tipped. alot less water will get into the sand then if it was a bigger bowl.

as for sub. it doesnt matte rhow many inches she gets in the new enclosure if i remember right a 40 breeder [i use antique 50 breeders so guesstimating here] is 36*18*16? may be off a little there but that would mean up to 8in of sub if you fill half. thats a ton of room for 1 snake. especially at her size.. but shed use every inch im sure. iv rescued ksb's who was kept in 55s filled almost completely full of sand. within a inch of the trim [meaning about 2inches from the lip of the lid] and had to undig them. shoved my hand in sub and found most throughout the middle enclosure so up to you realy 4-5" sounds fine to me as well a 8" does too. but thats up to you less sub means more room to make it look nice. maybe even a live aloe plant or something [iv seen huge aloe plants in their cages before] or a nice intricate landscape. as some ksb will bask. its not common. pretty rare actually but does happen. [and not from sickness my largest paradox used to lay on the first 3 inches of a cork slant and i took him in thinking illness and nothing just a over confident boa ]

 

[Dizzle]

Thanks pyro! She is doing well indeed. Actually she is in the molting process so I will snag some pix when she's all done

Sound advice as usual, I'll stick to a smaller water bow then. I do like my enclosure's to be aesthetically pleasing too and skulls are always a favorite heh. Probably stick to around 8" of sub, the dimensions you listed are pretty spot-on to what I've got here. I was concerned a too large enclosure may stress the animal like I've read about with T's lately I guess but it's good to hear there shouldn't be any issues there.

I've witnessed mine 'bask' as well as a matter of fact. It's not often but she definitely will lay out on top of the fake rock-hide thingy in her enclosure and try to get right under the heat.

And thanks again for the reply dude!

hey diz glad to hear your lil girls doin good.

theres realy no need to keep her in a large enclosure nor to keep her in a smaller one. we have no clue if she is or isnt using it all because well.. they burrow youl never see them lol but if you want. go bananas. XD iv never seen anything stressful from larger cages. i have however seen some ksb refuse food in smaller cages.. till they had a new larger cage.

some believe if u use sand that the weight can be heavy on the snake, but they live in sand in the wild,so im not sure why they would get this idea lol.. thats like saying if you full the fish tank up more then 80% the fish will drownd XD [thus why people use crushed walnut, shreded aspen or even coco, usually not for cleaning purposes]

as for your idea sounds good. just a nice little container mainly burried with moss or wet paper towels for humid hide tons of little things to hide in. some even like the fake and real skulls people put in. as well as cork or mopani or realy any wood can be nice.. there is one thing id change.. i wouldnt use a large water dish just a small one, like the standard rock ones [real stone not the fake] as too much humidity is no fun. plus alot of ksb have a bad habbit of dumping it.. and last thing you want is a ton of water in the enclosure. a smaller bowl made of actual stone decreases the amount of humidity in the air, the possibility of being tipped over and even if it does get tipped. alot less water will get into the sand then if it was a bigger bowl.

as for sub. it doesnt matte rhow many inches she gets in the new enclosure if i remember right a 40 breeder [i use antique 50 breeders so guesstimating here] is 36*18*16? may be off a little there but that would mean up to 8in of sub if you fill half. thats a ton of room for 1 snake. especially at her size.. but shed use every inch im sure. iv rescued ksb's who was kept in 55s filled almost completely full of sand. within a inch of the trim [meaning about 2inches from the lip of the lid] and had to undig them. shoved my hand in sub and found most throughout the middle enclosure so up to you realy 4-5" sounds fine to me as well a 8" does too. but thats up to you less sub means more room to make it look nice. maybe even a live aloe plant or something [iv seen huge aloe plants in their cages before] or a nice intricate landscape. as some ksb will bask. its not common. pretty rare actually but does happen. [and not from sickness my largest paradox used to lay on the first 3 inches of a cork slant and i took him in thinking illness and nothing just a over confident boa ]

 

[pyro fiend]

Thanks pyro! She is doing well indeed. Actually she is in the molting process so I will snag some pix when she's all done

Sound advice as usual, I'll stick to a smaller water bow then. I do like my enclosure's to be aesthetically pleasing too and skulls are always a favorite heh. Probably stick to around 8" of sub, the dimensions you listed are pretty spot-on to what I've got here. I was concerned a too large enclosure may stress the animal like I've read about with T's lately I guess but it's good to hear there shouldn't be any issues there.

I've witnessed mine 'bask' as well as a matter of fact. It's not often but she definitely will lay out on top of the fake rock-hide thingy in her enclosure and try to get right under the heat.

And thanks again for the reply dude!

cant wait to see! and no problem for the help. hope to see your enclosure once its set up, cant go wrong with a skull with a desert species lmao ;D cant blieve i called the 40g breeder dementions. even being an aquaria keeper iv never used a 40g breeder only my 7 antique metal frame 50 'breeders' [36*19*19] mad skills lmao

as for stress i dont believe this will be an issue. these guys burrow for their comfort. if your was going to do it with another species id say heck no. but these guys will feel right at home. i kept 1 aggressive female [actually ate the males after mating on 2 occasions..i guess she thought she was a T lol] in a 33 long [48*12*12] and she had a hayday. they claim too big of a enclosure causes feeding problems with snakes but as said these guys need sand and that apeares to be all [kept all species of sand boa] and iv actually never had feeding problems in my tanks. using 10gs for hatchlings in the past. and only time iv ever had meal refusals was first meal [some just are picky] and sheds.

oh also for the sand. may want to be sure you get good quality, not the cheap 90% rock stuff. ^_^ doesnt harm the ksb. but it is a bit of an eye sore and some dont like it alot may also wana make the humid hide against the front glass so you know when you have a nice shed as well as more likely to see her

always remember never be afraid to ask in forums or in pm!
happy keeping

 

[Dizzle]

cant wait to see! and no problem for the help. hope to see your enclosure once its set up, cant go wrong with a skull with a desert species lmao ;D cant blieve i called the 40g breeder dementions. even being an aquaria keeper iv never used a 40g breeder only my 7 antique metal frame 50 'breeders' [36*19*19] mad skills lmao

as for stress i dont believe this will be an issue. these guys burrow for their comfort. if your was going to do it with another species id say heck no. but these guys will feel right at home. i kept 1 aggressive female [actually ate the males after mating on 2 occasions..i guess she thought she was a T lol] in a 33 long [48*12*12] and she had a hayday. they claim too big of a enclosure causes feeding problems with snakes but as said these guys need sand and that apeares to be all [kept all species of sand boa] and iv actually never had feeding problems in my tanks. using 10gs for hatchlings in the past. and only time iv ever had meal refusals was first meal [some just are picky] and sheds.

oh also for the sand. may want to be sure you get good quality, not the cheap 90% rock stuff. ^_^ doesnt harm the ksb. but it is a bit of an eye sore and some dont like it alot may also wana make the humid hide against the front glass so you know when you have a nice shed as well as more likely to see her

always remember never be afraid to ask in forums or in pm!
happy keeping

Have you had success with communal enclosures for these? I have always kept my snakes and other herps separate but I have heard people claim to have KSB communal setups. Actually I believe the breeder who sold her to me said that is what he does. Oh and one more thing; what bout aspen bedding for sub?

 

[pyro fiend]

Have you had success with communal enclosures for these? I have always kept my snakes and other herps separate but I have heard people claim to have KSB communal setups. Actually I believe the breeder who sold her to me said that is what he does. Oh and one more thing; what bout aspen bedding for sub?

They can be but some just dont tollorate it. I kept my tubs and cages in trios of girls and added a male durring breeding.

I personally dont like aspen as sub the stuff soaks up moisture so sometimes a wondering snake brings it in the dish and it soaks it up and for me being in a semi humid climate it wasnt good as sub. But its all personal prefference.

 

[Dizzle]

Makes sense though and being in a pretty humid state myself I think I should follow your advice...what specific substrate do you use for your ksb's if you don't mind me asking?

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[pyro fiend]

Makes sense though and being in a pretty humid state myself I think I should follow your advice...what specific substrate do you use for your ksb's if you don't mind me asking?

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I used actual sand. Not sure of the brand. But it wasnt that play sand thats super cheap. Thats full of rocks (found glass in it once actually) the stuff i used to buy was aprox 8 bucks a bag. Fairly goodsize.and nice fine sand. Also some sands ment for fish tanks work(3x price tho). I wash my sand and bake it befor puting it in, kinda like with Ts except sand can get alot hotter then dirt so letting it cool while another pan cooks is a wise idea

But as said its all prefference i use my spring and sumer temps for all animals and im in MO so 65-70% humidity is a normal day. Thus why i used sand you probably could get away with aspen if your careful.

 

[Dizzle]

Ohh ok I gotcha. Nah I rather like the way you did it, humidity gets kinda crazy where I am in summer so that actually is a concern for me. Although my scorps seem to enjoy it (emps)

 

[pyro fiend]

Emps arnt quite desert dwellers tho my rosea and brachy's do fine. Even my leopard gecko likes it. But when i kept ksb i wasnt gona risk it haha xD

 

[Dizzle]

Makes sense, well good talk. And... snoochie boochies.