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I was hoping someone could help me out...I have a beautiful Kenyan Sand Boa..had her for 2 months. Not exactly sure of the age but I know she's 6 months for sure. She's healthy and an awesome eater, she's grown 2 inches since I got her.

However, she never leaves her humidity box.
She seems to enjoy coming out of her cage and when I return her to her cage, she cruises around ON TOP of the shavings looking for a way to get back out... but she really hesitates to go thru the aspen substrate. My temperature seems right on: Hot spot on warm side IN the shavings is 90 degrees, cooler side around 70-75 degrees.

When I bought her she had been living on sand and seemed active on it. However, I don't want to put her back on that if I can avoid it. But I really want her to be comfortable and enjoy her environment.

Like I mentioned, she is very healthy right now but I don't know the silent impact this might be having on her and totally don't want this turning into a health issue down the road. Any helpful suggestions or perhaps some incites into her behaviour would be very much appreciated....

are the shavings packed down? or are they really really loose?
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 normal ball python (felix)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

they are loose.....I shift them daily.....thanks though

I know my male who is almost three was on sand his whole life until recently. The first time I put him on aspen he seemed a bit confused but went right in after a min or two. I have not had any problems other wise with the other sand boas using aspen. I also use Sani-Chips, which are finely ground aspen squares. If you use the stuff from say walmart it has lots of splinters in it. A friend of mine had a Kenyan die because of a splinter in his mouth.

You are not leaving the humidity box in the cage all the time are you? I am not trying to bust on you..just help you out. If you are you will be doing yourself a favor in the long run by keeping the humidity in the cage between 40%-60% and taking out the humidity box. Only let her use the humidity box if she is having problems shedding. If you allow her to remain in the humidity box all the time you are asking for an RI...

I think she will be fine in time…

Later,
Jeff
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Jeff
0.1 Wife: Kim
1.0 Hogg Island Boa, Bob Sears Line: BLT
1.1 Smooth-Scaled Sand Boas: Xerxes, and Sa'rai
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa: Solomon
0.2 Kenyan Sand Boas, 100% het anery: Sheba, Jasmine
0.1 Doberman: Princess Grace
1.0 Pitbull Mix: Popcorn
1.0 Rough Collie: Dante

Hey Jeff,

Thanks for the post......don't worry about "busting on me", if I'm doing something wrong I want to know.

I do keep the humidity box in the cage all the time...we heat our house with wood......creates a very dry environment. So I leave it in for obvious reasons....I keep the humidity box50/50 on her heating pad. HOWEVER, if it's wrong I will take it out...

I've had her since January 27th, she has shed twice on me..both perfect sheds, I don't know if thats attributed to the humidity box or not.

Humidity in my house is around 40%.....she will be ok with this.? I should remove it? Can you tell me why she would get a respitory infection?
Thanks

I am not saying you are doning anything wrong. Just anything over 60% humidity runs a probable risk of RI because of all the moisture. Sand Boas come from a semi-dry environment. 40% is ok but she will probable have problems shedding and might need to have drintking water availible more often( some folks only give ther sand boas water 3-5 times a week). I find that my cages, because I am using aspen are about 10% - 15% lower in the cage than in the room itself. Therefore the inside of your cage its self maybe 30% and she is trying to escape the very dry environment. If you can I would get an inexpensive humidity gauge to put in the cage and check it. If after checking your humidity gauge you need to raise the humidity I might try a larger water bowl or covering part of the cage top.

If I missed one of you questions let me know and I will try to answer it or help you find it. I hope I have helped a bit.
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Jeff
0.1 Wife: Kim
1.0 Hogg Island Boa, Bob Sears Line: BLT
1.1 Smooth-Scaled Sand Boas: Xerxes, and Sa'rai
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa: Solomon
0.2 Kenyan Sand Boas, 100% het anery: Sheba, Jasmine
0.1 Doberman: Princess Grace
1.0 Pitbull Mix: Popcorn
1.0 Rough Collie: Dante