Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my friend recently received and KSB and i am interested in getting one now as well. i have owned and handled snakes for a good while now and don't no much about the KSB, i have done alot of research and they seem well tempered and easy to care for. also if i do get a KSB i am really considering breeding it with my friends. is the KSB a hard snake to breed in captivity?

Well I am not sure I can help much but I can give you some info I persoanly have learnd from maitaining my KSB. First off mine is the most hot headed snake I have. Even after atempts to tame the indevidual it still takes shots at me all the time. Also it has proved to be much harder to maintain then my Corn Snakes, King Snakes and even harder than my BP's. Well maybe not harder but jsut requiers more atentivness. I have maintained several species of snakes all the way from Common Garter Snakes to Burms for the past 16 years and I think I can honestly say if I had researched KSB's before I impulsivly purchased mine I would not have purchased it., That is just my personal prefrence
Foot Hill Reptiles

I personally like them. As what JasonW said is kind of true. Some of them especially the young/babies are extremely hot headed and will try to bite you if you try to pick them up or try to avoid you by jerking their bodies all over the place. Also if you do decide to get one, make sure you don't get a baby but a well started sub-adult. Babies can be picky eaters and can die on you if you're not used to handling picky baby KSBs.
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1.0 Graziani Pastel Ball Python (Baldwin)
1.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Snow Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Blue Garter Snake (Blue)
0.1 Sumatran Blood Python

Mine was 6 years old when I purchased it. Maybe mine just has somthing wrong with it but its has proved imposable to tame it. Now it just sits in the enclosure and is observed but not touched
Foot Hill Reptiles

We purchased a KSB in Feb, she is 2 years old. We have had no problems with her. If you don't know how the snake was treated before, then there could have been a problem. Now the reading we have done is that babies are very nippy. Last weekend we went to a shop that had some baby KSB, and yes I got nipped. These guys were about 3 weeks old. My suggestion is to handle the snake before you buy one, if at all possible. Maybe get a sub adult or adult. If you are getting one shipped, talk to the breeder about how well the snake is handling.

Kate

I have 3 Kenyan Sand Boas and I adore them. The one I got as a 1.5-year-old is VERY calm and has never attempted to bite me. She just lays calmly in my hands. However my 2 new babies are quite hot headed and bite me almost every time I pick them up. Hopefully with more handling they will calm down.

wow, i didnt know they had a nasty rep, mine i got as a baby is super chill, never a bite or gape or anything. as tame as my corns.

update -- after a couple days of handling, my baby kenyans stopped biting me when i picked them up. they're doing great now!