Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just git my first snake on Sunday. It is a baby kenyan sand boa... the lady at the petstore told me that she had already been eating pinky mice and that she was 3 months old. I'm not sure if everything she said is true because at three months old shouldn't she be bigger than 8 inches? and also, I've been having trouble feeding her so far.. any suggestions?

8" and three months old sounds about right. They are a small snake species, with adult males being around 15" and females being around 30". What type of cage are you keeping it in, what type of heat and bedding are you using? In my experience baby sand boas do best when fed live pinky mice for the first 3-6 months at which point they can be switched to frozen/thawed. They also need to be provided a warm spot of ~95-100F and a cool side around room temp (70-80F).

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

I have my first sand boa, and he is a delight to my children!
I've had him for a full week, following every direction I can find, and he still isn't eating. I did read that sometimes they take several weeks to adjust to a new home, and its not uncommon for snakes to go a month without eating.
The "mommy" in me wants to take over and panic over him not eating.
I've tried live pinkies, thawed pinkies, night feeding, left covered for several hours, braining the pinky (ok, the kids were gruesomely fascinated by my doing this).
He is not lethargic or sluggish. Has a favorite place to hide and seems healthy.
Need reassurance or advice, please.

It has only been 4 days, so there is no need to worry yet. Better to take advice on setting up the cage just right.

I'm not a breeder of these snakes, but I have kept a few here and there and with great success. I have found that they do well for me when kept (talking babies here) in a shoebox and a heat pad over about 1/4 to 1/3 of the bottom depending on how cool the room is. I kept the heater at around 90-100 range on mine (it varied a bit, no problem with these snakes.)

I found that mine either liked a substrate they could bury into, or newspaper they could crawl under and "feel" the weight of on their backs. However, I experimented with 1-inch diameter PVC pipe and they used that to hide in and feed in as well. These snakes like to be mostly concealed, whether in PVC pipe or paper or wood chips. And they do fine even if the cages are kept mostly dark and have very little ventilation.

It seems with these snakes, the simpler the setup, the better. They do not need alot of TLC or room in the cage. They are shy and may need a good 5 days to settle in when new however.

If you are doing the glass tank thing, I urge you to go plastic shoebox for these snakes as described above, especially for babies. Much easier, and the snake will feel more secure.

One last tip: Sometimes after shipping or living in a pet shop, even a sandboa can get dehydrated. A 5 minute soak in about 1/4 inch or less of clean water will get the snake well hydrated. Then, if you house it in a shoebox, it will be easy for the snake to maintain hydration. When hydrated, warm and secure, the snake will eat. And when hungry, they attack dead food with force. BTW, don't hold sandboas on their necks right behind the head, they seem sensitive there and may bite or jerk suddenly.
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Mark

Ditto what Mark said about giving the snake more time to settle in (and the other info.). I didn't catch that it had only been a few days (it was late...). It usually takes a few days to a couple of weeks for sand boas to settle down. Give it some alone time and try feeding it in a few more days.

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

thank you for your help
my mistake though, it was Thursday when I got her... It was Sunday that I tried feeding her.
She is in a 25 gallon terrarium with reptisand. Her hot spot is around 90-95 and the cold side is in low 70's.
so for now I should put her in a smaller enclosure?
How small?
Thank you so much for the tips!

Plastic shoebox (storage box), find them at Walmart or Target - about 11 inches x 6 inches floor area roughly. Or even a plastic Kritter Keeper of similar size. Yes, that small.

Cage too big often means a new snake will not eat. True much of the time for rosyboas and sandboas. They like smallish cages!
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Mark

ok, sounds good but there is the question of heating.. I don't want to have to buy another heating pad because they are very expensive. What is the easiest and cheapest way to heat an enclosure that small?
sorry for all of the questions stupid questions lol

If you have a larger heating pad you can use a part of it. As Mark mentioned in the other post, the enclosure should sit about 1/4 to a 1/3 over the heating pad (not more than a 1/3). One note on using plastic shoe box or tuberware enclosures, make sure the lid is secure! Sand boas, as with most other snakes, are excellent escape artists. Also, make sure you have small air holes (don't make them too large).

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

I house my babies in 7 quart sterilie shoe boxes from wal-mart. The ones with the green snap downs on the lid. Drill a couple holes on the sides and a couple directly above their water source (they don't like too much humidity) and put your heat pad on the opposite end of the water source (1/4 to 1/3) with some aspen substrate (not too much inch or two) and it should be fine. I don't normally attempt to try and feed my new ones for at least two weeks. Give them their space so they can get acclimated.
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Mark Huntley
Sand Boa Morphs

Kenyan Sand Boa's
4.1 Rufescens
1.2 Albinos
0.5 Dodoma
2.1 Flame
2.5.8 Normal (orange)
3.4.10 Anery
0.1 Snow
2.2 Hopeful Yellow Snow
0.1 Splash Albino
1.0 Splash Anery
1.0 Orange Stripe 100% Het Anery
1.0 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

http://sandboamorphs.blogspot.com/

ok, thanks everyone for your help