I am out of the Sand Boa Hobby....

[Shmoges]

Our last sand boa died just like all the rest..... I don't know if it was husbandry or disease or what but they all died the same and quit fast once the symptoms started. It hasn't affected any other animals I have thankfully. I wish all of you the best with your sand boas and I hope you don't have the same bad luck that I did with them.

[CK SandBoas]

I am so sorry to hear your last Sand Boa passed away:( It's strange that whatever it was only affected your Sand Boas, and not any of your other animals.
I truly hope the rest of your animals continue to do well and thrive!

[SpOoKy]

Oh no, sorry to hear that.

[shaunyboy]

i'm sorry to hear the last one passed away mate

did you get them all from the same breeder ? (i'm thinking birth deffects)

or i'm thinking it could have been a disease that was species specfic to sand boas (if there is such a thing,sorry its only carpets i keep)

i'm glad all the rest of your collections doing well

all the best shaun

[Shmoges]

It always seemed to start with "stuff" gettign stuck in there mouths. Like a mix of saliva and fine bits of substrate. I would try to clean it out and even put them in a moist hide briefly to get it off easier and also to help with sheds and they would just not want to eat live or f/t even after being put in solitary over night with food. They would start to waist away way faster than what seemed normal for a fasting snake and turn into a stick. Very sad to watch. I tried vet treatments at first for our smallest newest snake the albino we got awhile ago but that proved a waist of money with antibiotics that just didn't seem to help then we tried nebulizations with f10 and albuterol and saline which seemed to help but would only delay death. Waisting disease??!! The only other snake we are having trouble with is our male green phase hognose who just so happens is housed in the same rack as the Kenyans were along with the female hognose and a baby corn snake, those two are doing very well.

[alessia55]

Sorry to hear it :sorry:

[Norm66]

Thats a bummer. Sorry about your sand boas.

[Shmoges]

Just goes to show not everyone can take care of everything.

[alessia55]

How old were they?

[Shmoges]

year and a half at most and very healthy when they started out. I am in no position to back up my next statement but I believe that the baby we purchased from a breeder that is imo still a very good kenyan breeder had something wrong with him and it transferred via substrate (we co-habitated same sex initially before our racks) and then for some reason it transferred via airborne. I know that sounds like bs and I kind of agree things happen and I can't say my husbandry was perfect though I don't know what I did wrong other than not spending hundreds at the vet on each snake.

[Kayla90]

That is very odd.. Do sand boa's have some kind of strain of something that could only effect them??
I'm sorry for your loss.. and happy it didn't effect any of your other animals..

[Shmoges]

That is very odd.. Do sand boa's have some kind of strain of something that could only effect them??

I have no idea, it has to be husbandy I only offer water one a week for a day, maybe thats to much? I had the temps at 95 on the hot spot. I have tried many different substrates and noticed they would get stuck in there mouths and aspen seemed the best but maybe that was there undoing?? maybe I shoudl have stuck with sand or the crushed walnut? My hot spots in the 10 gallons were like 105 maybe I didn't have it hot enough for them in the rack?

[jaleely]

I"m sorry hon! I just got my first sand boa and have been worried about the substrate. Of course i was stupid and i got calcium, at first, but that was just FULL of dust, i took him out after first putting it in and was like JEEZ he was covered in dust. So i switched it out and am trying sanichips ...with a little bit of sand leftover that i couldn't get out because i was lazy and didn't dump the tank ... both of these items claim if they are injested that it will be "easily passed" by the animals. My large ball python started sneezing when his coconut husk would dry out, and now he's doing the same thing with aspin...only does it when it's dusty and that's what it is that's doing it to him.
I'm just about to give up and go to the repti-carpet. I find that shredded newspaper is dusty, too, and the newsprint is nasty.

Anyway, my point is i'm sorry, and i wouldn't put it past the bedding to have been a problem. I think all constrictors can pass things on to other constrictors, but it would also be weird to just have all the sand boas become impacted and waste away from that, as well. It's possible, i suppose, but weird.

Did you have any of the bodies taken into the vet for a necropsy?

[Gungirl]

Wow.. that's very odd. I'm sorry you had to go through all that. I really hope all your other snakes stay healthy!!

[SnakeyJay]

Sorry for your loss mate... Hopefully you will find out what went wrong.

[Shmoges]

Did you have any of the bodies taken into the vet for a necropsy?

No I didn't....It had to be my husbandry specifically towards the Kenyans.

[marvelfreak]

So sorry to hear.

[jaleely]

No I didn't....It had to be my husbandry specifically towards the Kenyans.

no no, it didn't HAVE To be...it could have been something that just affected only them :(

aww i'm sorry. I can't imagine what you could have done husbandry-wise that would have caused it. It had to have been some sort of sickness from an outside source :(

[beardeds4life]

I have no idea, it has to be husbandy I only offer water one a week for a day, maybe thats to much? I had the temps at 95 on the hot spot. I have tried many different substrates and noticed they would get stuck in there mouths and aspen seemed the best but maybe that was there undoing?? maybe I shoudl have stuck with sand or the crushed walnut? My hot spots in the 10 gallons were like 105 maybe I didn't have it hot enough for them in the rack?

I have absolutely NO experience with any snake but I do know that sand is very bad for kenyans so maybe that had something to do with it?

[BarelyBreathing]

I noticed you were in Colorado. There was (over the end of summer) a disease going around with ball pythons in the pet trade here, and those sick pythons all exhibited similar symptoms. Can you PM me the breeder (or person) that you got those animals from? They could have been sick and not known it.