Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My son purchased a pair of Saharan adults and I'm having a hard time getting them to eat live pinkies, fuzzies, hoppers or mice. Do they prefer rat pups? I kind of get the feeling from reading about them that maybe they are not the most hardy snake in captivity. Any ideas or thoughts would be helpful.
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Mark Huntley
Sand Boa Morphs

Kenyan Sand Boa's
4.1 Rufescens
2.2 Albinos
0.2 Dodoma
1.5 Flame
2.5 Normal (orange)
3.4 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

Mark,

I picked up 3 female recently imported saharans in Tampa a few years back. They didn't seem to like live mice but hammered f/t mice left in the cage overnight. All but 1 of the females did great (still have them). At the time I was keeping them similar to kenyans (shredded aspen, ~95F warm spot, etc...). I would also offer them a humid hide since they are known to inhabit humid forested areas (I think I read this somewhere?). I have since switched all of mine over to sand hoping that they would breed (didn't breed in aspen), but no luck. I think I am going to switch them all back to aspen soon.

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

I tried F/T's first because I'm an optimist with all my snakes...lol!!!

I'll offer them a humid box and try f/ts again.

It just may take more time, they are pretty large 250 grams each so I know they use to eat!
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Mark Huntley
Sand Boa Morphs

Kenyan Sand Boa's
4.1 Rufescens
2.2 Albinos
0.2 Dodoma
1.5 Flame
2.5 Normal (orange)
3.4 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

I have two larger female Saharans that eat rat pups/ weaners with no problems. I feed them live. I haven't tried f/t.
Trey

Welcome to the joys of saharans. I had a pair a year ago. They eat at their own pace, and seem to grow fairly slowly. Mine occasionally ate mice, but the female got to a point where she would only eat rat pups, and then the male quit eating all together accept for about 1 in 5 times when I would leave a f/t hopper in with him overnight. Who knows? They just need more time in captivity for more info to become avaliable, but they seem to be sensitive eaters that eat rats better.
-Steve Tillis
www.RepTillisHerps.webs.com

Thanks everybody,

I'm increasing humidity and going to try and find some rat pups.

We'll see how it turns out.
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Mark Huntley
Sand Boa Morphs

Kenyan Sand Boa's
4.1 Rufescens
2.2 Albinos
0.2 Dodoma
1.5 Flame
2.5 Normal (orange)
3.4 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