Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone, I was wondering if the Male Sand Boa was the smallest Boa snake when full grown. I have Ball Pythons and a Red Tail now, but I was just wondering what the smallest adult Boa (or snake) would be that does well in a small enclosure. I was thinking of using a Eco Glass enclosube on a small Boa in my home ofice. But is there a Boa that stays small enough to be content in a small enclosure like that? Or what size enclosure would a adult Sand Boa need? Would there be another type of snake I should be looking into for something like this?

Thanks...

I'm not sure if they're the smallest boa but male kenyan sand boas(EASB)tend to be around 15-20 inches. There are several other types of sand boas and I don't know what the sizes on those are. I'm sure someone else can let you know.

I don't know what size the enclosure you are talking about is but adult males can be kept in 12-16q sterilite/sweater boxes relatively easily.

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1.1 Anery KSB
1.2 Snow KSB
1.2 Normal KSB
0.1 P. Albino KSB
1.0 Albino KSB
1.0 Rufescen KSB
1.1 Snow Albino King
1.0 Cali Banded King
0.1 Jungle Hypo Boa
0.1 Golden Retriever

Definitely small enough for a small enclosure. Plus, the sand boa is not type of snake that needs to move around alot, compared to a cornsnake for example.

There are other small boas, like Mexican rosies and San Felipe/San Matias rosies, where a 10gal sized enclosure will be just fine. In fact, IMO they do better in small enclosures.
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Mark

Smallest boa? My guess would be a male russian sand boa..... followed closely by male rough scaled sand boas and male rubber boas.

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

Male Kenyans certainly aren't the smallest.

Male Eryx miliaris are smaller and I suspect make jayakari are probably smaller than those. Eryx elegans is pretty small so I suspect the males of that species would be contenders. I don't know if anyone has ever found an adult male Eryx somalicus?

Male rubber boas are pretty small as well. They get longer than the sandboas but are pretty slender.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Skyfire_1:
You asked, "---- I was wondering if the Male Sand Boa was the smallest Boa snake when full grown." By 'full grown', are you referring to when a species first reaches adult status, the average length of males of a species, or the maximum length of adult males?

I know nothing about the relative size (lengths) of various species of sand boas. So what I mention below can be judged by those that have experience with other species of boas.

A dwarf form of the Rubber Boa occurs in various mountain ranges and mt. peaks throughout much of S. Calif. from the San Jacinto Mts. of Riverside County north to the southern Sierra Nevada Mts. (Kern Plateau) of southern Tulare County. In my efforts to characterize this dwarf form, I have endeavored to determine at what total length males and females of this dwarf morph reach maturity so such information can be compared to similar information gathered on a population of the large morph of the species here in Oregon.

I deem males to be mature when they exhibit courtship behavior when placed with females in reproductive condition. On 5/30/03, a 13 7/8 inches (352 mm) male from the Southern Kern Plateau courted a number of females and later was found coupled to one female. On 5/14/05, a male 13 3/8 inches (340 mm) from the same region was observed exhibiting courtship behavior during a 2 hour period after being placed with 4 females in reproductive condition.

Richard F. Hoyer (Corvallis, Oregon)