Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had a few questions about boas, I hope some of you guys can answer:
-Which of the Sand, Rosy, Rubber are the largest?
-I have been back and forth between wanting a hognose or one of these boas, from what i've read hognose and rubbers can be picky eaters but do any of you own hognose and can you tell me if they are more aggressive, I have read that they can be a little fiesty and are known to bite? (not exactly right for this forum but I'm more interested in boas)
-I had a rosy boa when I was about 6, it was great but my mother unplugged the heatrock to vacuum and forgot to plug it back in and it died, I was under the impression these boas didn't need extra heat or is that only the rubbers?
thats all I've got for now.
Thanks!
Lindsey
South Texas

I own both W. Hognose and Kenyan Sand Boas. Both are great snakes.

Here are somethings you need to think about....

1) Hognose snakes usually more active that kenyans (kenyans tend to spend more time buried under the bedding, althoug hogs do this too).

2) Both Western Hognose and Kenyan Sand boas tend to eat mice well in captivity. However!! Eastern Hognose, and Southern Hognose are more difficult to get feeding on mice and should be avoided unless you have a year round supply of Toads.

3) In my experience with hognose snakes they tend to act big and tough (hissing, flattening neck, and close mouthed strikes), while kenyans if grumpy will bite (although it is painless)

4) Lots of people sell Wild Caught Hogges so be careful. There are plenty being bred by breeders so there is no need to buy wild caught hogges...

Good luck and keep us posted!!

Chris
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Chris Smith
Contact
Captive Bred Herps

There are many species of sand boas and several subspecies of rosy boas. Females(the larger of the sexes in erycine boas)of the larger rosy boa subspecies can top42 inches(107 centimeters. Rubber boas are one of the smallest of the species with large females reaching 31 inches and males half that at most.East african sand boas can easily top 30 inches,arabian sand boas may only reach 14 to 17 inches, the rough scaled sand boa reaches 30 inches. By far the largest sand boa is the smooth scaled sand boa at over four feet in length. As for the picky eating rubber boas can sometimes be picky eaters but it is usually not serious for short periods of time. In cooler areas hatchling rubber boas may not take their first meal for 18 months after they hatch due to hibernation. Many of these snakes can be picky if wild caught, so be sure to buy a captive bred snake(which most rubber and rosy boas are. Western hognoses can be a bit picky(not nearly as picky as their eastern cousins).If you do get a picky eater try feeding toads(especially with eastern hognoses) If handled regularly hognose snakes can become tame(usually not as tame as rubber and rosy boas), and many bites from hognose snakes are initiated as a feeding response. About heating boas rosy and sand boas need a basking light or undertank heater(not heat rock, these can burn the belly of your snake. Rubber and Cameroon burrowing boas need no supplementary heat except when gravid in the case of the rubber boa(Cameroon burrowing boas lay 2-5 large eggs). Cameroon burrowing boas and Rubber boas can handle higher humidity levels than other erycine boas.