Need some clearing up

[Bartman]

Alright, im going to ask some questions now about my kenyan sand boa. And please dont give me responses that i didnt do research or all that crap, because im telling you i did, for a month, to get all the info i thought i needed to care for these propetly. Problem is that after posting some pics and showing some thigns im starting to get the impression i have things wrong.

Right now i just need to know exactly everything in your guys enclosures.
More specifically i need to know
-what substrate you use
-what depth the substrate should be
-what should an 8 inch kenyan be housed in
-how should it be heated
-whats the best way to get it to eat and how would i go about doing it
-hes in shed now, what should i do to make it easier for him..make a humid hide or something?

what i have done now is
-sand
-now 2 inches
-10 gallon glass tank
-over head heat with a 50 watt white bulb on a 12 hour timer
-so far im not really expecting it to eat but ive tried live the day after i got him and an f/t about a week after..so two days ago. no success

thank you very much, and again..please to comments on how i should know more before buying...i truely never impulse buy and this wasnt one at all, but caresheets are very wrong..even though most were very similar. Im just getting the feeling that their really really wrong.

any info is great!

edit: Im also using 2 pieces of cork bark over the sand on each side as hides if the snake wants with a grass decor in the middle. Shallow water dish with the rim at the level of the sand. Ive seen him drink himself so he knows where it is.

also hes been unburrowed for yesterday and today...is it because hes in shed or is it not warm enough..im using a 75 w bulb and getting 98* above the sand. Hes staying on the warm side on top of the cork bark that is under the heat lamp.

[Bartman]

this is him shedding right? Hes very dull...
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1953shed_maybe.JPG
only asking because his eyes arnt blue, sorry im used to my ball python lol

[asphyxia]

If I am Not mistaken Roy Stockwell went through this already, as did I.

Perhaps some one knows more than Roy about KSB, But I sure dont know who.

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42645

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33928

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42812

Regards
Brian

[Bartman]

alright..thats a good summary on all the questions..they were just so scatered i figured i get all my answers on one thread..thanks for taking the time to find them all

So again..for the humid place..from what i understand and am going to do right now is, put the snake in a seperate much smaller rubbermaid, about a foot long and half wide. Im going to put half sand and half vermiculite with two hides and put that into the tank to still get heat but ill close it and make air holes in the rubbermaid..sound ok???

[Tigergenesis]

I'd use a UTH to heat. he's probably staying on top because you're heating the top of the substrate. They like to burrow and you should heat from underneath.

Yep, he's getting ready to shed. You might not need to give a humid hide, but I give my KSB a humid hide when in shed. I give him a small round rubbermaid bowl filled with damp spaghum moss and a lid with an access hole. I sit this on the warm side. He stays in until he sheds and then he leaves. I don't give one to my other sand boas, but my KSB is on crushed walnut shells and I figure it's easier for me to find his shed in the humid hide.

From your pic it doesn't seem that your substrate is even deep enough for your KSB to burrow, but I could be mistaken. I give my little guy just enough to cover him.

I shot for temps of 90-95 on the warm side (my guy likes it hot and even eats better then) and 80 on the cool side. I have my KSB in a 10 gallon tank with UTH. I do have a blue light for night viewing and a white light for day viewing. Hides aren't required since/if you provide substrate for burrowing.

You may have success feeding after the shed. Try feeding in a deli cup (that's what it took for my KSB to first eat) or in a paper bag (this recently worked for me with my new roughscale that hadn't eaten since 1/22/04). Even though they lack heat pits, I seem to have better luck feeding F/T if I had a little heat to the prey before feeding (sit on light fixture).

You can check out a pic of my KSBs tank:

My KSB's tank (http://www.ball-pythons.net/coppermine+displayimage-album-39-cat-0-pos-4.html)

[Bartman]

What kinda substrate is that? Is it the little brown, sort of bigger then sand bits. I forget what its called but i know i can get that really easily. The alpha or beta chips were a problem for me so i kept him on sand....

[Tigergenesis]

Yep, It's crushed walnut shells - ESU lizard litter desert blend. You can sometimes find in the bird section of reptile stores, but it is sold by Kaytee.

I don't feed on it just to be safe. I put a piece of carpet over it and my KSB crawls on top of it and waits for his food. I keep my Saharan and Roughscaled on aspen chips.

[Linds]

They are fossorial by nature so you don't need hides. Just a small container with enough substrate to burrow in is fine. It isn't normal for a Kenyan to be staying above the ground all the time, especially in shed when they are more vulnerable, they are extra reclusive, not sitting out in the open waiting for predators to come gobble them up.

If aquiring Beta-Chip is a problem for you, try Carefresh. I actually switched everyone that is on loose substrate over to Beta-Chip for a trial, but I am not satisfied with it. I still find it has some long pointy pieces in there and it sticks to prey like crazy. I'm switching back to Carefresh. It doesn't stick to dry prey, it holds burrows and is super soft so if it is ingested, it will pass easily. It is the only loose substrate I feel confident feeding on.

[Invictus]

NO SAND.

Ever see a kenyan in sand? They always have their noses poking above the sand because they can't breathe. If they can't breathe, why would you use it for a substrate?

I personally use aspen shavings for all of my kenyans. They are able to completely bury themselves with no breathing problems, there are no problems with heat traps (which sand is notorious for), and they are able to dig tunnels in it too. I put it about 4 inches deep.

Hope this helps.