Sand Boa Questions

[lizlover]

Hi I am new to the forum and wanted to ask a few things. I wondered if anyone had any success stories of changing their parent's minds on not having a snake. My mom doesen't want me to have a snake because she thinks it will get out and she wont believe me when i say I will do everything necessary to keep it in its cage. I was also wondering if someone could just give me the basic run down on sand boa care. I have been reading about them and am really interested.


Thanks for all the help

Alex:D

[Removed_2815]

First, Welcome to ssnakess! You'll find most people to be very helpful but you might also find that people don't like to respond to vague posts that ask for the "basic run down" on a certain snake's care. People respond better to specific questions.
A simple search of the forum will bring up many answers, and people won't have to repeat themselves. There's a post with your exact question four lines down...
Best of luck!
Cheers,
Ryan

[lizlover]

Thanx Ryan I wasn't really thinking much about the looking around lol. I was just wondering about humidity and a nice cage that i could have mostly.

Alex

[lizlover]

Also what is the best possible substrate and does anyone know of any online breeders that will be selling sand boas around febuary?

Alex

[HeatherRose]

Where are you located lizlover? That would help us rattle off some breeders for ya. Also, sand boas stay quite small. I don't see one escaping from an enclosure very easily, so tell your mom she needn't worry ;)

For my sand boa's substrate, I use eco earth. It's cheap and a little bit goes very far. You should be able to pick it up at any petstore.

Good luck, welcome to the site and feel free to post more questions :D

-Heather

[lizlover]

Im located in California near Sacramento. Man everyone is so welcoming here lol. I wonder now if a sand boa is right for me. I want an easy snake one that I wouldnt worry about but i want a boa or python. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Alex

P.S. My mom doesen't believe much of what I say :( but I will tell her any way. Also she says it will be out in thge garage any way with my uromastyx and beardies that also need low amounts of humidity.

[JAdkins2451]

As for your mom. I had the same problem my mom is terrified of snakes. So what i did was I asked for it to be one of my presants, I read as much as possible and explained everything to her. So after that she was still worried about it getting out, So I bought a cage for it and got a lock for it,and showed her that there was no possible way for it to get out. And now I have a snake, and she actully as takin a likeing to it. She wont touch it though.

[lizlover]

JA i let my mom read your post and she says she doesen't know. I asked for it for christmas and I would be willing to buy a cage. But she said thats not all she doesent like about snakes she just doesent like them. She is hopeless.

Alex

P.S. she says you have a better mom then me lol.

[HeatherRose]

What's the reason you want a boa or python? (out of curiosity, honest) just because sand boas don't get very big at all compared to other boas, maybe 2-3 feet at most.

Snakes can't climb glass or plastic, so the sand boa being the size it is will have no way to get out of it's enclosure unless you provide high cage decorations. However, the lid should be securely fastened anyway, so there's a very small chance to no chance at all that it'll escape.

Read plenty of caresheets (some links below) and impress your mom with how much you've learned and how much care you've taken to making sure that you'll be able to provide an escape-proof enclosure.

http://www.sundialreptile.com/caresheet-ksb.htm

http://lllreptile.com/info/library/animal-care-sheets/snakes/-/kenyan-sand-boa/

http://www.centralpets.com/critterpages/reptiles/snakes/SNK2757.shtml

Good luck again :)

[lizlover]

Thanks Heather we are going back and forth lol. I really like the spotted pythons but havent done any research. Hey but they look cool lol. My mom will warm up to snakes i hope. But her one thing she told me was it had to be out in the garage. So something I could keep out in the garage that would be 5 or less feet with easy care and 150 or under would be my dream snake lol.


Thanks for the links.

Alex

[lizlover]

Oh and the reason I want a boa or a python is that I like things that will constrict.

[Removed_2815]

Originally posted by lizlover
Oh and the reason I want a boa or a python is that I like things that will constrict.
Most non-venomous snakes constrict, not just boas and pythons...
Ryan
P.S. The allure of constriction should be moot, as you should never feed live prey.

[JAdkins2451]

I mean I took me some time to get her to that point. See its not just my mom, my brother and sis dont like them either. They main thing is to show that your responsable and mature enough to take care of it. Some people like it for a month and then want something diffrent (not sayin thats how your are). See I asked my mom in the summer for it as a presant. And I got on the computer every day after work and looked up as much as possible to prove that I have learned enough to take care of a snake. And to show that I resposable enough. I mean I got plenty of no's before I got a yes. And I hope your mom will let you have one its a good experiance. And i dont think that she has much to worry about. You can even look up cages on the web and show them to her, and she will be able to see that there sacure enough.. Good Luck

And I agree with RM yo0u dont want to feed it live, you dont want to harm your snake..

[lizlover]

Ryan I am confused about what you meant about or P.S. Also I have been reading some different care sheets and I think its been narrowed down to a sand boa or a rosy boa because there care.

Alex

P.S. If you know any dwarf boas could you please tell me.

[Removed_2815]

About what I meant post script? Or the whole post?
What I was saying in the post is that pretty much all non-venomous rodent eaters constrict; boas, pythons, rat snakes, etc.

For the P.S., I was saying that you shouldn't want a specific snake because it constricts, because, as a responsible keeper, you won't be feeding live prey (only as a last resort for non-feeders, and even still, there are precautions). In your readings you will quickly learn to feed only f/t or f/k (frozen/thawed or fresh killed, respectively) so as to not risk injury to your snake (not to mention the convenience of keeping rodents in the freezer). Snakes that are fed f/t usually lose their urge to constrict, and it ain't so thrilling to watch when the prey was dead to begin with.

Cheers,
Ryan

[JAdkins2451]

A normal bci Male I belive reaches on average 5-7.

[Katt]

BCI are definitely not for the beginner. Far too heavy bodied for their length. A seven foot boa is not the same as a seven foot beauty snake.

[lizlover]

Ryan I wanted to know if I had to buy the rodents and keep them in the refrigerator or if I could go to the pet store when I needed a feeder.

Alex

[JAdkins2451]

It depends on where you live. Its hard for me to find feeders.

[lizlover]

I wondered if any snake could live in my garage with the same care as a bearded dragon or a uromastyx (heat and humidity wise). It would be in a thick plastic shed thing to keep the heat in but I wondered if that would do the job.

Alex

[Removed_2815]

Originally posted by lizlover
Ryan I wanted to know if I had to buy the rodents and keep them in the refrigerator or if I could go to the pet store when I needed a feeder.

Alex
Like I had mentioned, you must not feed live if you can avoid it. Live pinks might not be a problem but the snake will get bigger and so will its prey (which will then be capable of defending itself).
I buy about a months worth of frozen mice and keep them in my deep freezer. You can go to the pet store every time you need a feeder if you want to, but why? Just buy enough for a month or two and then you only have to go to your freezer when your snake is hungry...
Cheers,
Ryan

[lizlover]

Ryan the reason I wanted to go to the store every time is because I would have to buy my own freezer to keep the mice in cuz my mom wouldnt go for having mice in her freezer lol.

Alex

[HeatherRose]

My mom was like that once ;)

Now I own the two bottom drawers in our freezer. I just put all the rats/mice I buy in a big shoebox in those drawers, and there's a little note on them saying 'don't open me' incase someone goes into our freezer.

It'll be a lot cheaper and convenient for you to use frozen mice, and like Ryan said, safer.

Good luck :D