Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought a KSB about a week ago as this is my first herp to raise I have a couple of questions.

1. What is a good substrate for useing with a KSB right now I have a 10 gallon tank with an underheating pad for herps and the little guy is only 5 or 6 inches long.

2. He or she was fed live pinkys at the store and im trying to switch him to F/T and I am feeding him in a seperate container that is a plastic tub about the size of a shoe box. Should I put anything such as a substrate in that box when he is in there to feed? and should I also place any type of heat source on or in that container?

Congratulations on your first herp!
First of all, you must make sure that your temperatures in his enclosure are appropriate. I use under the tank heaters (UTH's) and heat tape (for my racks), placed on about one quarter of the end of the enclosure. The warm end should be around 95 degrees. The cooler end should be no cooler than 78 degrees. You will need to measure this with a THERMOMETER of some type..don't guess!
I use crushed walnut substrate and also shredded aspen. Some folks use newspaper or paper towels but you will need to provide hide boxes as these snakes love to burrow and need to feel secure.
I feed all of my sand boas in a small container with NO substrate! Snakes can accidentally injest substrate while swallowing prey and it may cause impaction or other problems. For new babies, I use deli cup type containers with a few holes punched for air. Drop in a pinkie and the snake, and if he doesn't take it, place the container in a dark closet or cover with a towel. I have even had to place an appropriately cut piece of paper towel in with a snake and pinkie if it was a difficult eater, and so far it has worked!
I'm sure others will have input as well, this is a great place for information! Hope this helps, and good luck!
Heather

I totally agree with everything said above.

As far as a heat source for the feeding container, that is a no no....if you use a small container and add a heat source it will get way to hot.

Also, if you kenyan eats well I would agree and not add any substrate to the feeding container. If it does not eat after a hour or so, I would leave the snake with a couple pinkies over night in a deli cup. If it still does not eat well I have found adding 2-3 tiny live pinkies into the actual cage and leaving it overnight works great.

Lets see photos!

Chris
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Christopher E. Smith
Contact
Captive Bred Herps

Yes i would not put any substrate in the seperate container. I on the other hand have had troubles with feeding. They are not the greatest of eaters. I have 5 right now, they are awesome. They are also bad shedders sometimes, and do take awile to shed. Congrats on your first herp. I use Desert snow as my substrate as for sand i will not use for health issues and feeding reasons, irritation and many more. Desert snow is easy to clean and is not as dusty as aspen bedding. I do offer water to mine as well about 2 days a week!

In my cage, for my one KSB, I have a constant water source, which is just a shallow rock looking water dish. The cage is 4X2X2, so it is way bigger than he needs. I don't remember what exactly the substrate is, but it's a calcium enriched sand alternative. easy to clean, as well as a little heavier for added security for the animal. He is a PICKY eater though. Drives me crazy. Won't eat f/t....ever. If it is not moving, he will forgbet it's there. Then i get him live ones, and he will start to smell them and get ready to dine, then change his mind. At least he leaves them alive. Annoying though. If you have any suggestions for this, anyone, I appreciate it. For now, I'm just going to call him dumb. I guess that's what I get for naming him Kevin.
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1.0 Dumeril's Boa(acrantophis dumerili)
0.0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa(Erix Colubrinus)
0.1 Significant other
0.1 Roommate
0.1 Cat(Burden)

Sand is a very bad substrate to have them on. The breeder i even bought from at the show told me never to put it in sand for several reasons, Irritation to skin and eyes, will eat sand when eating food and will cause imapction, also he said when they go to the bathroom they show there hemipenises and sand gets stuck to it and can couse rectum problems along with irritation and death. I use desert snow which is easy for them to dig in and easy to see what they poop where and when and how much. Very sufficent clean and will not irritate them in anyway.

Where do you get the desert snow stuff at? What does it look like? I feed mine in a seperate container with no substrate so he won't ingest any either.
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1.0 Dumeril's Boa(acrantophis dumerili)
0.0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa(Erix Colubrinus)
0.1 Significant other
0.1 Roommate
0.1 Cat(Burden)

Yes i also feed in seperate container! Just as a safety measure!!

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/bedding/-/t-rex-desert-snow-bedding-2-pound/

I get it at my petstore it cost 8.52 there without having to be shipped. Usually right in the reptile section. Good luck!!