Reptile & Amphibian Forums

1. Do you prefer sand your ksb's cage or another substrate? (state which one if you have alternate substrate.)
2. What type of heat do you prefer for your ksb? (overhead, heating pad ect.)
3. How often and what size of mice do you feed your ksb? (state its age please.)
4. How big is your ksb's terrerrium by gallons?
5. If you have over head heating, how many watts are your bulbs?
6. If you use sand, what kind of sand do you use?
email me at if you have any other opinions or would like to answer my questions through email at:
Taylor_Desoto@cox.net
Thanks for Taking My Poll!
forums.kingsnake.com

If you're just asking about my Kenyan my answers are as follows (my answers would be different for my other sand boas)

1. My KSB is on crushed walnut shells
2. Heating pad
3. He's gone off feed now, but he was eating a f/t adult mouse once a week. He's just over a year old
4. He's in a 10 gallon
5. -
6. -
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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa "Legalos"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"
0.1 Okeetee Corn snake "Amazon"
0.0.1 Crested Gecko
0.0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink
0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer "Kira"

1. Do you prefer sand your ksb's cage or another substrate? (state which one if you have alternate substrate.)
I have used calcisand and paper (all of my smaller kenyans are on paper towels while my largest female is on aspen at the moment)
2. What type of heat do you prefer for your ksb? (overhead, heating pad ect.)
I use a combination of above heat (light shroud with a 40 watt bulb) and under tank heat (flexwatt)
3. How often and what size of mice do you feed your ksb? (state its age please.)
I feed varying times and sizes. (average is every 6-10 days)
4. How big is your ksb's terrerrium by gallons?
the smaller ones are in shoe boxes and the largest female is in a 40 gallon breeder enclosure (I could keep her in a 20 long easily but have this tank not in use, so might as well use it.)
5. If you have over head heating, how many watts are your bulbs?
mentioned above
6. If you use sand, what kind of sand do you use?
mentioned above
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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com

1. I think I have used all the substrates. I prefer layers of newspaper and a wad of shreaded newspaper. I use sani chips in a few cages, and with the babies. I don't feed on substrate.
2. I have flexwat for some, but rely on a oil-filled heater for the room.
3. I feed once a week /-. I just increase prey size from pinks on up to adult mice with the size of the snake. This rate will produce a healthy mature KSB in 3 to 4 years. Adult males may get smaller prey and sometimes fed every other week. Some males like to fast for months at a time.
4. Largest is 2'x2'x12" for breeding visits, and for gravid females. Most others are a rack in Cambro food trays about the size of 10 gal aquariums, but only about 6" high. Few are in small "reptile ranches", babies are in plastic sandwich boxes.
5. no over head heating
6. no sand, it stayed too wet.
Frank

Well, might as well take my own poll to see what you guys think.

1. Do you prefer sand your ksb's cage or another substrate?
(state which one if you have alternate substrate.)

I use repti sand mix of vitamins no calcium. When i tried calci sand, he refused to burrow in it so i took it out.

2. What type of heat do you prefer for your ksb? (overhead, heating pad ect.)

I use a black light 15 watt, but the of coarse i live in arizona, room temperature is really hot. His sand on warm side is 85-90 degrees F. Cool side is 70-80 degrees F. I tried heating pad but it burns him, so i glued it to a piece of cardboard and in the winter i use it and its fine.

3. How often and what size of mice do you feed your ksb? (state its age please.)

He is just over a year, and he goes on and off. sometimes he'll eat two to three pinkies every 4 days, and sometimes he'll go for a few weeks without eating.

4. How big is your ksb's terrerrium by gallons?

I have a 15 gallon tank

5. If you have over head heating, how many watts are your bulbs?
I have a 15 watt black light. MY ksb climbs on my daylight and wraps his last few inches around it and just hangs there until he burns himself, so i took it out.

6. If you use sand, what kind of sand do you use?

Above

1. Do you prefer sand your ksb's cage or another substrate? (state which one if you have alternate substrate.)
i use crushed walnut but i might switch to aspen.

2. What type of heat do you prefer for your ksb? (overhead, heating pad ect.)
heat pad from the bean farm; best heat pads known to man.

3. How often and what size of mice do you feed your ksb? (state its age please.)
my 5 month female flame eats 2 large pinkies every sunday.

4. How big is your ksb's terrerrium by gallons?
10 gallons
5. If you have over head heating, how many watts are your bulbs?
no light
6. If you use sand, what kind of sand do you use?
bleh sand no

1. CAREFRESH,ASPEN
2. FLEXWATT BEHIND PULLOUT TOTE(RACKSYSTEM)
3.HOPPERS, 2&3 YEARS OLD
4.27 QAURT PULLOUT TOTE
5. HELL NO. (ITS A SAND BOA,NOT A LIZARD)
6.SAND SUCKS IMO.

>>1. Do you prefer sand your ksb's cage or another substrate?

Aspen. I have had lost sandboas kept on sand, but never on aspen. Doesn't prove anything but I wouldn't use it anymore.

>>2. What type of heat do you prefer for your ksb? (overhead, heating pad ect.)

I have used flexwatt and heat pads, both of which were controlled by rheostats to prevent overheating.

>>3. How often and what size of mice do you feed your ksb? (state its age please.)

My females ate small weanling mice (the mice pet stores as adults). Males ate fuzzies.

>>4. How big is your ksb's terrerrium by gallons?

I kept them in rubbermaid containers on a rack or in freedom breeder cages.

>>5. If you have over head heating, how many watts are your bulbs?

I used it once for my Rough-scaleds and found that it wasn't as good as using UTHs.

>>6. If you use sand, what kind of sand do you use?

I tried play sand and fine sand I collected in the desert. Both were equally dissatisfactory.
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Chris Harrison

1) I use desert sand for Kenyan sand boas, aspen for other erycine species that are not as dedicated burrowers.
2) I prefer overhead heating rather than undertank.
3) Our adult male KSBs eat large fuzzy mice and the females eat 1/2 size mice. We have some KSBs that are neonates and some that we have had for almost 18 years that were adult when imported.
4) I use screen lidded aquaria for my KSBs. I prefer a trio to a 15 gal sized enclosure.
5) We live in FL where it is often not necessary to offer much supplemental heat. Our bulbs are about 60w in the summer and if we have a cold winter I may increase wattage to 100w.
6) I currently use smooth desert sand. I have also used silica sand without mishap.
I have never had a sand boa death that is attributable to sand ingestion. This doesn't mean that it won't happen tomorrow, but even if it should, I doubt that I'd change my husbandry.
Rgds/Dick Bartlett

Hi there:

My Kenyan sand boa lives in a glass 10-gallon vivarium. The substrate is a mix of washed play sand, aspen shavings, shredded dried grass and reptibark. The room he is kept in is always very warm, so I do not use direct heating. He is given a peach fuzzy mouse about once every week. He is a little under a year old.
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DAVE

Western green toad
green treefrogs
green Anole
brown Anole
Mediterranean gecko
Oriental fire-bellied toads
American bullfrog
South American caecilian (Dermophis occidentalis)
Spanish ribbed newt
rough-skinned newt
golden Axolotl
Eastern ribbon snakes
red-cheeked mud turtles
dwarf peacock day gecko
Dubia day gecko
Sonoran gopher snake
rough green snakes
giant African black millipedes
White's treefrog
Okeetee corn snake
Albino African clawed frog
Pygmy leaf chameleon
Kenyan sand boa
Argentine flame-bellied toadlet
African bullfrog
yellow * Everglades rat snake intergrade
Western hognose snake
fire salamander

1. Sand, although right now they are on aspen...

2. undertank only...seems to do the trick...

3. 1 small mouse every other week (they are both just 1.5 years old)

4. ten gallon--in about six months, depending on their size, it'll be a 20 long.

5. --

6. Toys R Us play sand, no dust and cheap...oh yeah, also more like what they would naturally have in the wild (probably not the washed, no dust part...)