Hello new member

[BRANT13]

Hello everyone my names brant....im new to the forum and just thought i should let u all know a little about me.....ive been keeping freshwater fish for sometime (african cichlids) and have just recently expanded from just collecting fish to a snake as well.....shes (or so i can tell) is a juvenile kenyan sand boa. She is currently on live pinkies and only 1 every 5 or 7 days...shes housed in a 75G aquarium so shes got her own world in there....shes only about 10 to 12 inches long atm.....the hot side of the tank has an undertank heater that i have set to get up to 97 at the peak of the day and then cools off at anywhere from 80 to 85 at night...to kool side stays 88-80 during day and cools to nowhere below 70 at night....my subsrate is a mixture of sand and calcium sand ive got two big chuncks of drifwood in there with some coconut shavings skatteredunder the drifwood and sparsley around the cage....its more for my liking really i know she wont take full advantage of the wood but i occasionally see her climbing on it....i have water readily available at all times on the cool side....also i got this snake roughly three weeks ago and i have yet to see her go into shed so that will be exciting and i hope all goes well...im aware of possibly needing a humidity box to aid in the shedding......and thats my setup. Im here to help widen my knowledge on these interesting snakes....i would like to know if anyone has any experience with them and what theyre setups are like and if i should change anything with mine. Also would love to know any special details or good to know facts or tricks associated with owning this snake....andy help would be much appreciated...Thank you all in advance. btw no problems yet besides at first the whole temp with the tank took a while to get it right and she even started eating for me a few days after her arrival so all is well.

[Chu'Wuti]

Overall, you've got a pretty nice set-up for your baby. However, you might want to adjust your temps some more. According to the Western New York Herpetological Society,

They are best kept however at temperatures of 80° to 85° F with a basking temperature of 90° to 95° F. Night temperatures can drop to as low as 75° to 77° F.

Based on that, your "cool side" temps are too warm; your nighttime temps are a little confusing but if they get down below 70 or even down to 70, it's too cold for a kenyan.

See Kenyan Sand Boa Care Sheet and Information - WNYHS for more info.

Do add a humid hide now to assist with shedding. Just get some long-fiber sphagnum moss (not the milled kind used for soil amendment, but the kind that is used for orchids and reptiles). Soak it in water, then squeeze out most of the water, and put it in the hide. That will provide adequate humidity for ensuring a clean shed.

You probably can also switch her to frozen/thawed (F/T) prey pretty easily right now, which will be a lot less expensive for you in the long run as well as safer for your snake.

Good luck!

[BRANT13]

Hello....thank you for your reply.....ive read the caresheet before along with many others including this one Library suggests a slightly higher temp?....im getting alot of different temp recommendations so some clarity on this would be great...as for prekilled or fresh thawed i tried...no succes...i tried a live pinky and he went nuts constricticting it as soon as i introduced the mouse to her feeding box so i think i will stick to this i dont see any harm in doing it this way.....and as for the humidity box....what can be used for the actual structure that will be sturdy and easily cleaned...also this moss u speak of...ive seen it in LPS and its dried green moss that comes in a box cant recall the name offhand but i take it this is the stuff i need...also would i need to show her where its at or would she be able to find this on her own...ive read that its a good practice to show my KSB the water dish upon going back in her tank which is cool because she drinks right out of my hand.

[jonny666]

Welcome to the forum. I read your profile and answer and I have to agree F/T is the best way to go. It is alot cheaper and is also safer for the snake. I've experienced and heard of a mouse getting the final say when it is about to be killed. The perfect example is I have a Ball Python that is a great eater but gave it a live mouse when I first got it. Long story and pricy vet expense later and it is fine but needed stitches form the bite. So think about it and if you have any questions feel free to post them. To many snakes to list......http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/images/icons/icon12.gif

[Chu'Wuti]

Live pinkies are not a threat to your boa, but as your boa progresses to larger prey, the prey will become increasingly dangerous to your boa, as evidenced by what happened to Jonny's BP. That's why we're recommending you switch. It may take you several weeks of persevering to get him switched over. A couple of years ago, WingedWolf posted this info on switching:

What's worked for me:
First, keep in mind that pythons are stimulated to feed by 3 things. Scent, heat, and motion. Some individuals will take anything remotely edible that you offer them, but others are exceptionally picky. Here's what has worked for me to get them eating what you want them to:

First, put them on a regular, consistant feeding schedule, in a consistant environment. It's important that they be eating regularly before you try to switch them to something new.

Next, offer it's preferred prey in f/t form on tongs. If it's refused, give them live again.
The next time, wait 2 days beyond their usual feeding time, and offer f/t on tongs again. If refused, give them live.

Next feeding, offer them a stunned prey animal--one that is alive, but unconscious. I have never had this refused by an animal that regularly eats, but if it is, leave it there for an hour, then remove it it and offer live again. Repeat this each feeding until the animal accepts the stunned prey item. Feed stunned prey successfully at least twice in a row, if it was not accepted on the first try.

Next, offer a pre-killed prey item. If it is refused, offer stunned again. If that is refused (backsliding is possible), give live, and try pre-killed again the next time. As with the previous 'step', if the item was refused at first, wait until it is accepted twice in a row before moving on.

After your snake is eating pre-killed, offer f/t again. Make sure it is warm. If it's refused, give it pre-killed and wait til next feeding. This time, offer f/t that has been rubbed with soiled bedding from that animal. As with the previous steps, keep trying, offering the food from a previous step if there is a refusal, until the animal eats.

Now, assuming you have the world's most stubborn gerbil eating python, you now have a python eating frozen gerbils. Make sure it is eating them for at least 3 consecutive feeding sessions, then offer the f/t animal you WANT it to eat (say, a rat).
If it is refused, offer it rubbed with bedding of its preferred prey.
With a bit of persistance, this is your final step, and eventually the snake will switch to eating the f/t rat.


Scenting is a very important step in all of this, and with scenting alone I have converted w/c garter snakes from live earthworms over to f/t mice on the first try.

You can convert a snake from gerbils to mice or rats using scenting by rubbing the mouse/rat with soiled gerbil bedding, if you are persisant, and some people may wish to do that before converting them over to f/t, if they're eating something expensive like gerbils.
I have found that mouse smell tends to stimulate ball pythons better than rat smell, and have gotten some stubborn pythons eating by scenting a rat with mouse bedding.

Though he's referring to pythons, these suggestions apply equally well to boas.

Regarding the temp--I know how frustrating it can be to see different care sheets giving different info. Consider the source carefully--I'd bet the herp society had their experienced members review the care sheet before they posted it; is the same true for the one at the link you posted? I don't know, and I've heard some questionable things about that source that would make me take information from them with a large dose of salt. However, all that aside, you could provide a basking area with temps up to the higher limit AND a basking area with the lower temps mentioned for basking and see what your boa prefers; just watch it carefully for signs of dehydration.

The moss you want can be green, greenish, yellowish, and it comes on pieces that can be a few inches long and actually look like moss. The type of moss to avoid is that used for soil amendment--it is ground up and looks a lot like brown, fine, dirt.

Good luck!

[BRANT13]

what can be used for the humidor then? just a plastic container?

[Chu'Wuti]

Sure, you can do that, or one of the faux rock hides . . . it doesn't really matter as long as your snake can curl up in it and feel safe.

[BRANT13]

would i need to show her this by placing her in it...or can she seek it out by herself....the cage is quite large for her 75G

[Kmef07]

She would find it for herself. they can sense differences in the air and heat. they can find more humid or hotter places. so let her find it for herself. it could take a couple days though for her to get used to it.

[BRANT13]

awesome thanks.......so is there anything that comes with experience from owning these snakes that anybody can tell me to be aware of or little things that i can do to help the overall life of my little snake besides what i am currently doing?

[Kmef07]

Just keep the habitat you made for them perfect and don't worry too much. Snakes have been around for a really long time and they really can fend for themselves.

[BRANT13]

very true ty

[tigerlilly]

hello hello and welcome friend

yes live pinkies are ok now but wen he does get bigger and needs larger prey it will be very dangerous for ur snake..its best to swap to frozen prey now so he gets used to it.

hope this helps.

[BRANT13]

i was leaning more along the lines of fresh killed.....ive had to my last pinky beacause she finally is beginning her first shed under my care and wouldnt eat for anything...(she ate 2 times for me before)....so i just put the pinky in a sock and hit it on my wall.....is there a better way to prekill mice/pinkies/fizzies? I just see fresh killed or live being better tan frozen....wont some nutrients vitamins ect. be deminished from sitting for an extended period of time in freeze mode?

[BRANT13]

....bump..