Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys, got to thinking about this while i was feeding my Female Paradox Albino tonight and was interested in hearing your thoughts and opinions. What has been the largest prey item you have offered to your adult female Kenyan Sand Boas, without them having a problem getting it down?

Thanks for reading, and answering!

Chrissy

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1.0 Ball Python-Siegfried
1.0 BRB-Pedro
1.0 Blair's Phase GrayBanded Kingsnake-Elvis
0.1 Paradox Albino Sand Boa-Cleo
2.2 Dodoma's
0.1 pug mix

I have females that have eaten a small rat no problem. Ive been feeding rat fuzzys(refuse to eat mice for some odd reason) the last few months to get em plump. I wouldnt normally feed small rats to them but it was all i had.
Mark

On occassion I threaten to offer my four year old but to be fair he's a bit small for a four year old, a tad under 30 pounds. None of the KSBs have taken me up on the offer yet but my four year old is sufficiently convinced to make the offering just as effective as if they had.
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Mark Huntley
Sand Boa Morphs
3.1 Rufescens East African Sand Boas
2.1 Albinos EASB
0.1 Dodoma EASB
0.1 Egyptian Normal (yellow) SB
0.1 Normal (orange) SB
2.5 Anery SB
0.1 Snow SB
0.1 Splash Albino SB
1.0 Splash Anery SB
1.0 Orange Stripe 100% Het Anery SB
1.0 Orange Stripe SB
1.0 Yellow Stripe SB
0.1 Orange Tiger SB
2.2 High Orange SB
3.2 Boston Terriers
0.2 Sooners
8.30 Rhode Island Reds
X.X Tropical Fish
0.1 Moody Wives
1.1 On the fence in-laws
2.1 Rug Rats

I have had adult females take small rats, but I typically feed them 2-3 adult mice every couple of weeks. My adult males typically get 1 smaller adult mouse or large hopper every couple of weeks.

-Chris
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Christopher E. Smith
Contact
Captive Bred Herps
Wildlife Research & Consulting Services, LLC

Thanks for the replies, i greatly appreciate it!! The reason i was asking was because my Female Paradox Albino is a very picky eater, and trying to get her to eat even one adult mouse is a chore. She will strike, grab it, but will let it go and go right back underneath the sand and not touch it again, even if i leave it in overnight, so last night i decided to see if she would take a small f/t rat, which was not wider than the middle of her body. To my surprise, she immediately grabbed it and started to chow down on it, lol. She got it down with no problem whatsoever.

Chrissy
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1.0 Ball Python-Siegfried
1.0 BRB-Pedro
1.0 Blair's Phase GrayBanded Kingsnake-Elvis
0.1 Paradox Albino Sand Boa-Cleo
2.2 Dodoma's
0.1 pug mix

I've had the same thing.. I have 3 adult females that will occasionally take f/t mice but usually only 1. When offered a life mouse they will kill it and leave it. I've found that they love rat pups, f/t or live, don't matter. So that's what they get now every feeding. Seems like you have the same thing going on there.
Mark

Got one female that eats small rats. She's 33 inches.

As far as size difference, I had a male that was the diameter of my pinky eat a jumbo mouse once. It wasn't intended for him (he was a picky eater that only ate 3-4 times a year), and he could barely crawl afterword. Did fine with it though.

Got several sand boas that refuse to eat mice. They absolutely love rat pups though.

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Travis Rose
Lazy S Snake Ranch
3.7 Kenyan sand boas (various morphs)
1.2 Indian sand boas
0.3 Dogs
0.1 Cat
X.X Fish
0.1 Very understanding wife
2.0 Future Snake Lovers

I feed all my Kenyans rats, except the babies of course. I switch my babies to pinky rats as soon as they are big enough to take them (usually at about 6-12 months of age, depending on the individual). I have noticed that females that are feeding on rats before breeding have larger litters and larger babies. They also seem to put weight on better after giving birth, if fed rats. These are just my observations.

Forgot to answer your original question. I had 3 females (1 normal and 2 anery) that regularly fed on medium rats. All three were born in 1998 making them 10 years old when I sold them early last year. I currently don't have any Kenyans that feed on anything larger than small rats.

Thanks for all your replies I appreciate all the more experienced owners and breeders take on this subject, cause i never had fed my female small rats before, but she took the one i offered her with no problem, so i'll offer her another when her next feeding comes.

Chrissy
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1.0 Ball Python-Siegfried
1.0 BRB-Pedro
1.0 Blair's Phase GrayBanded Kingsnake-Elvis
0.1 Paradox Albino Sand Boa-Cleo
2.2 Dodoma's
0.1 pug mix