Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am going to be aquiring my first Sand Boa soon, probably a Kenyan, but those Rough Scales sure are pretty too! Just wondering what kind of substrate preferences some of you had. I use newspaper for my other snakes, but they are not burrowers. The local stores carry shredded aspen, Carefresh, and sani-chips. I'm personally leaning toward shredded aspen. Any thoughts?

Dan
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1.0.0 Snow Corn - RIP
0.1.0 Normal Corn Snake
1.0.0 Amelanistic Corn Snake
0.2.0 Normal Ball Python
1.0.0 Pastel Ball Python
1.0.0 Red Eared Slider

I use Aspen chip, but did use shredded aspen for several years as well and both work fantastic. Give them a couple of inches of depth at least and you're set.

Shredded aspen is the way to go. A few inches deep for adults and very thing for babies.
Mark

Thin*

I have used all three of those substrates in the past. I like sani-chips because it is really easy to spot clean, but it does not hold burrows well. I would also NOT feed the snake in the enclosure if you are using sani-chips. Carefresh is too dusty in my opinion. Currently, I have all my sand boas on shredded aspen.

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

Tried them all and really prefer shredded aspen. Snakes seemed to eat better when they are in this substrate (could be the voices in my head, though...).
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Mark Huntley
Sand Boa Morphs

Kenyan Sand Boa's
4.1 Rufescens
3.2 Albinos
0.2 Dodoma
4.2 Normal (orange)
2.5 Anery
0.1 Snow
2.2 Hopeful Yellow Snow
0.1 Splash Albino
1.0 Splash Anery
1.0 Orange Stripe 100% Het Anery
2.0 High Orange Stripe
1.0 Yellow Stripe
0.4 High Orange Tiger
2.2 High Orange
2.3 Boston Terriers
0.2 Sooners
8.30 Rhode Island Reds
0.0.15 Tropical Fish
0.1 Moody Wives
1.1 On the fence in-laws
2.1 Rug Rats

...Is the way to go with sand boas, IMO. It's easy for snakes to dig into and holds the burrows very well, and is also simple to clean. Shredded aspen is my #1 choice, but all the stores around here stopped selling the large bales of it for some reason, so now I use aspen chips. It holds the burrows too, but not as well as the shredded aspen. All of my snakes hate Carefresh.
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- Natalie
(San Francisco Bay Area)

I normally pick up my shredded aspen at the local show. Its like 17 bucks for a huge bag (possibly a 'bale').
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Mark Huntley
Sand Boa Morphs

Kenyan Sand Boa's
4.1 Rufescens
3.2 Albinos
0.2 Dodoma
4.2 Normal (orange)
2.5 Anery
0.1 Snow
2.2 Hopeful Yellow Snow
0.1 Splash Albino
1.0 Splash Anery
1.0 Orange Stripe 100% Het Anery
2.0 High Orange Stripe
1.0 Yellow Stripe
0.4 High Orange Tiger
2.2 High Orange
2.3 Boston Terriers
0.2 Sooners
8.30 Rhode Island Reds
0.0.15 Tropical Fish
0.1 Moody Wives
1.1 On the fence in-laws
2.1 Rug Rats

Check out a local Fleet/Farm type store. I get large bails/bags for $5. The stuff I buy is sold as horse bedding.

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