The Kenyan Sand Boa Thread

[Casual Observer]

I've wanted a snake again ever since my first experience owning one almost 20 years ago. My first snake experience was heavily influenced by Jack Straw's crazy antics and obsessions. He was working for me at the time for a CA startup mid first internet bubble and became obsessed with snakes for a time. I never thought about owning a snake but it seemed fun so I tried out a corn snake, beautiful little girl. Turned out it wasn't a good time in my life to take on a snake's level of responsibilities so re-homed it to a friend of my sisters. I've been talking about and thinking about getting another one ever since. Well, finally this lovely guy showed up on my doorstep yesterday packed neatly in a little deli cup surrounded by heat pads in a styrofoam cooler :



Chose this species because of all the Boas he's the only kind that never gets big. He'll top out at about 20 inches long and 3 inches thick so I'll never be in that situation where I have a 10 foot long snake and have to have him rescued. I can't stand people who get things like ball pythons because they're cute and fun but then let them go when they're too big and now we have to pay rednecks to kill them in Florida. This little guy is special as he's evolved to move swiftly through sand. His head is extra wedge shaped and as you can see in the pic his eyes are more towards the top of his head than most snakes because he likes to lay right below the surface of the sand and wait for his prey. He's the most docile snake I've ever seen, you can set him on a table with a couple of rocks and he'll amuse himself all day on that table, spending most of the day just sitting there looking at me.

I'll update when I get the enclosure set up where I want it. I plan to video his feeding adventures, maybe even make a moving gif or two. He's getting two pinkie mice today so it'll be fun.

Anyone else here like snakes?

[Jizaboz]

Grew up with mad snakes I'd mess with or almost got bit from in the mountains lol. Only ones I felt comfortable around were a huge ass boa at the local science center they would sometimes bring out and a friends dads python. I think they are cool just never wanted to have one.

[AArdvark]

Snakes alive! Don't mind them wandering in the yard eating frogs and such but don't want them in the house

[Casual Observer]

Time for an update to the KSB thread. Little Mesh (Kenyan friend I once had's name Meshak) has accomplished eating 3 pinkie mice and molted twice. Took a little time to get the terrarium set up the way he and I like it but finally he seems happy. Hot his hot side and cool side, enough places to feel like he's hiding but I can usually see him or see his tracks in the sand. First time I've ever seen him not hiding under something so Yay Mesh!

In the foreground is a Venus Flytrap that I have almost successfully killed (hint: don't feed VFT''s too much when they're really little because eating causes the traps to turn brown and die, if too many do that it's not getting enough light to live). If it lives I'll give it a name.

[Tdarcos]

If your Venus Fly Trap lives, I suggest either the name Sunev ("Venus" spelled backward) or Phoenix, as it rose from the dead.

[Casual Observer]

If your Venus Fly Trap lives, I suggest either the name Sunev ("Venus" spelled backward) or Phoenix, as it rose from the dead.

2 Excellent suggestions, thanks man!

[Casual Observer]

Update: The venus fly trap did not live. It was doing bad enough that it ended up in the compost trash and it's pot was recycled. Oh well.

Mesh (Saundy) is doing great. He molts every time he eats which is about 2 - 3 weeks on average, he's wasted several pinkie mice. Here's a photo after his latest molting:



This snake is weird for me. I had a corn snake before and she spent every minute trying to escape. Lots of snakes do that I read. This guy, I don't have to close his tank at all. Left to his own devices, he will just sit in sand or a cave all day and night. He has no ambition to do anything at all. He's inert. I take him out and put him on the carpet and he spends his time trying to burrow into the carpet. He doesn't even shit. Apparently his metabolism is so slow, he digests his food such that he only generates liquid excrement, no shit. I get that this isn't a pet, really a hobby, but it's weird to me that an animal has evolved such that it's life is so slow that it absorbs almost 100% of the food it eats and shits nothing. This thing will literally spend weeks just sitting in the same spot and doing nothing. I thought about getting it a female or some companion animal but apparently it is evolved to just sit by its self all day for years on end.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

That's a cute snake!

Also, wait, did Straw working California? Or was he working remotely 20 years ago?? What happened to that gig for him?

[Casual Observer]

Also, wait, did Straw working California? Or was he working remotely 20 years ago?? What happened to that gig for him?

I hired him to do research for my cold calling office in Rochester, working for a Hayward CA based dotcom startup that went gloriously bust after the bubble burst. Most of what I've done for a living has been working remotely for California companies.

[Tdarcos]

According to Wikipedia, that snake has the technical name, Gongylophis colubrinus. Jesus, that sounds like something you get on your penis that you need a prescription ointment to cure!

[AArdvark]

[Casual Observer]

Kenyan Sand Boa Long Term Review:

Ok, maybe I got the wrong snake. My idea was that I wanted a snake again, wanted something more unique than a garter or corn snake, but didn't want to be another one of those guys who selfishly gets a snake that will end up being 12 feet and killing alligators.

So I got a Kenyan Sand Boa because he'll never get longer than 18 - 24 inches. I had read about the fact that these guys can go a year without eating in the wild so gotta be pretty easy to take care of, right?

Yes. This thing isn't just lazy it's fucking inert. Left to it's own devices it will literally spend 99% of it's time just sitting there, usually half in and half out of the sand. The only thing that gets it moving is . . . carpet. Toss him down on some thick carpet and he'll spend all day trying to burrow into it, ha ha sucker it's carpet.



About 6 months ago I was hopeful about him growing faster so I bought a box of fuzzies (step up from Pinkies). He's still on pinkies though he gets two per feeding, about a week and a half apart. Today he's about to molt which is why he's all grey and cloudy, hopefully he'll emerge a little bigger.

I mean, it's kinda fun to hold him, sometimes he moves to different parts of the cage for awhile. Every once in a while I catch him drinking water. Overall, a KSB is more like a plant or a hobby than a pet.

[Jizaboz]

I'll take a lazy pet snake over a hyperactive one that wants to escape and bite me ANY DAY!