Rough Scale Sand Boas

[Minkness]

As most people on here know by now, I am the surprised owner of 2 rough scale sand boas. They are tiny, but mighty! And also still a bit nameless.

I would really like some input on these guys from people who have had them or currently have them.

This is only a little bit that I have learned about these guys in the very short time I have had them...


Mean as ****
Voracious appitites.
While having a relatively small head, they still slam down food items as wide as their middle.
While they remain burried most of the time, these snakes are bold. (See them burrowing, then peeking up periscope like all the time!)

I have heard that they calm down with age. Is this true, or will I always have tiny, perpetually pissed off snakes? If I feed more often, will this slake their anger?

Clearly they are serious burrowing snakes but sand is bad. I currently have them on sanichips which they seem to like just fine. Can I use ecoearth instead? Why ir why not?

I have researched basics but theres quite a bit of conflicting info about these snakes. Like...how big do they get? One sourse says females reach 36 inches and another says 26.

Any extra info or experience would be greatly appreciated!

For now, enjoy a few pics of the demon spawn!

[EL Ziggy]

Fierce little beasties huh Mink? They're cute though. I hope they settle down for you :).

[Minkness]

I like them now while small, but as thick bodied as they are, a 3 foot female would be pretty intimidating. O_O

[Tiny Boidae]

My sand boas, after they eat their first meal, NEVER miss a meal. Ever. All but one will still eat even when they're in shed, and after a long, fourteen hour trip they'll eat a meal the second the car stops moving. They'll eat until their stomachs explode if you let them, so I don't think they'll ever give you any fuss over that.

I use eco-earth with mine, and it works great. A pain in the tush when you buy the bricks, took two weeks for it to dry out I'm 90° weather. It's practically odorless though and it looks a lot better than sani-chips. I used to use sand for a short time when I was experimenting with substrate, and my two biggest complaints are that it's expensive and that even though I did not feed them in the enclosure while on this, it still got stuck between their teeth and lips. I'd have to get a q-tip and manually clean out their mouths when I noticed it, and I'd hate to think how much damage it'd do if I did end up feeding in the enclosure.

Also, these snakes love to get under anything and everything they can, which is why I would avoid having anything heavy in there, even if it rests on the very bottom of the cage. These guys are persistent and might dislodge it and crush themselves. On the same note, I lay a few pieces of cork flats (with little pebbles adhered on to the top for a small boost in weight) on top of the substrate and almost every time I go in there, they're under those. I've also heard of people laying out a thin sheet of acrylic on the substrate to see them, as they'll crawl under that too.

Another note I'd like to make is you want to do substrate changes more often with these guys than most other snakes, simply do to the fact that it's nearly impossible to spot clean, especially in Eco-Earth. The feces blends in with the substrate and it's like a crappy Easter egg hunt. I just prefer to clean the cage every two to three weeks and be done with it.

One more note, I've had sand boas for six years in April, and while these tend to not make great display snakes, I absolutely love these bite-sized morsals of attitude. My snakes tend to hang out in one spot all day (usually on the edge of the heat pad. The temp is 95° on it but they still don't ever lay directly on it), but they're very curious and eager little things. Never gave me any feeding problems, never had an escape (even though I left the lid off once all night when I got side-tracked), and when being handled they're all over the place. Very curious little buggers, and it's especially cute when they persistently try to dig into your palm. I don't know how rough scales are compared to Kenyans, but I'm sure a lot of my advice can still be applied to them. Good luck on your little earthworms (as I like to call them) :)

[Minkness]

Thanks!that's some great advice! I will look into getting something light but flat for them, and once they pass their quarintine time, I'll probably switch to eco earth.

Also, trick to frying it out...Bake it for an hour! ^_^

The little bit of research I have found regarding their attitude is about 50/50 wether they calm doen...but even a more calm rouhscale isn't exactly a 'calm' snake.

Anyone else have anything to add about their personality and potential to be more easily handled? (I currently pull them out with tongs, which they seem to prefer to fingers. If I grab them with my hands, I get bit. If I grab them with tongs and put them in my hand, they stay pretty calm)

[chairman]

My rough scale is a calm adult. He was a little snappy when younger, the key for me was to always pick him up from below, let him sit on me vs gripping him, and not make sudden movements. I don't think that they see well. Getting grabbed and yanked from the dirt scared him into biting. Digging him out and then scooping him produced a happier snake.

I experimented with substrates, tried sand, dirt, ecoearth, pea gravel, and cypress mulch. He actually seemed to love the gravel but his second favorite was cypress so I went with that (I'm not a fan of gravel).

I just went down to bother him and he was hanging out on the cool side of his enclosure at 72. I only offer a hot spot in the high 80s via uth, he doesn't appear to use it. I also provide a water dish and a humid hide, I don't know how common that is among sand boa keepers.

My boa only eats every 6-8 weeks at around 5 years old. I wish he'd eat more frequently but when I try he'll turn down food.

Size-wise, I'd put my adult male at around 16".

Here's some pics for size reference, and his enclosure (a 10 gallon turned on its side).
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/ad77/chairman_tfo/Jack/IMG_20151030_1930322_rewind_zpsxsvc6cfd.jpg (http://s923.photobucket.com/user/chairman_tfo/media/Jack/IMG_20151030_1930322_rewind_zpsxsvc6cfd.jpg.html)
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/ad77/chairman_tfo/Jack/IMG_20160101_1303302_rewind_zpsa7c2sf1s.jpg (http://s923.photobucket.com/user/chairman_tfo/media/Jack/IMG_20160101_1303302_rewind_zpsa7c2sf1s.jpg.html)
http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/ad77/chairman_tfo/Jack/IMG_20160101_1304080_rewind_zpsbmtjqgck.jpg (http://s923.photobucket.com/user/chairman_tfo/media/Jack/IMG_20160101_1304080_rewind_zpsbmtjqgck.jpg.html)

[Minkness]

Oh he's nice!!! I hope my guys chill out. Maybe they are just stressed and underfed? No telling what kind of noise and jostling they dealt with in the store's rack. It's always busy in there. They also bite when handling outside of their enclosures, not just when being picked up. They are either SUPER defensive or SUPER agressive. Not sure which honestly.

Also, that is a neat idea about the tank! What made you decide to do that?

[Tiny Boidae]

That boy is beautiful. I have to agree though that they are incredibly jumpy, and my snakes will usually flinch and huff and puff if I uncover them too suddenly. That's something they probably won't grow out of, their skittishness, but I think they'll calm down with time. You haven't had them a while, give it time and have some faith in them. They'll come around :)

I only offer the humid hide when they're shedding, as that's the only time they ever use it. The water bowl I leave right between two cork flats so they don't have to venture too far from the hide to get a drink. Still, they hardly ever drink from the bowl. Some people will say not to offer water 24/7, that it raises the humidity too much, and while I very rarely see them drink and most of the water does evaporate, I still offer it. It doesn't hurt anything and they do, sometimes, drink from it.

Oh and fair warning, my snakes are nightmares when it comes to shedding. They despise moisture and that makes it difficult to let them voluntarily take any advantage of their humid hides. I have to be the big bad wolf and spray the Eco-Earth directly for them to have somewhat complete sheds, although they hate me for it. So just keep an eye out for any signs of dehydration and stuck sheds. Chairman's post just reminded me of my snakes' vendetta against water.

[Minkness]

Yeah, already experienced that with my little male. Full body STUCK shed. Soaked him a few times and worked it all off, but yeah, he was NOT impressed lol.

I saw somethong where one guy actually has some lava rock, like for aquariums, in their tubs to aid in shedding, so I may do that.

Thanks for the heads up!

[chairman]

My guy doesn't like water but I did catch him taking a drink once. He doesn't mind humidity, though. I think that they might experience more humidity in the wild than the Kenyans. If you run in to shedding problems in the future then I'd go for crested gecko style sauna.

My inspiration for the cage is a combination of not liking top opening cages, vertical aquarium conversions, and the accidental accumulation of 10 gallon tanks. This particular conversion hits all the high notes, a small acrylic wall across the front to hold substrate for burrowing, a screen front to allow humidity to escape, and that convenient little door to access the cage.

[Tiny Boidae]

Oh I've tried so many things as far as shedding goes. I'd very rarely get any decent results though. It'd usually come off in patches (and then I'd have to assist them). What works best for me though is just a good spray of the Eco-Earth. It's more stressful for them, but it's probably not traumatic as me restraining them for an hour just to ease some stuck shed off.

They probably do, as Kenyans usually come from the scrublands, but sand boas tend to be fickle about moisture in general. They just don't like it, and that's what leads to shedding problems. I have one male who will not drink if the water goes up to his eyes when he goes to drink. He'll dip his face in and kinda flinch back. I've had to get a super shallow bowl and I constantly watch for shedding problems and dehydration. I don't know if rough scales are any better with this, but it's probably the biggest problem with the sand boas if you ask me.

[chairman]

I always get clean, one piece sheds off my guy. Maybe it is all the edges that he has to work with in the mulch? I do a minimal amount of spraying the enclosure to keep the dust down but it is just enough to keep the mulch from turning to kindling, nowhere near what I do for species that need substrate that is moist at depth.