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Hi all!
I got a baby Kenyan Sand Boa as a graduation gift His name is Marssseluss Wallasssse and I love him already
I actually do not know if it is a girl or boy, the person who sold it it me did not either - she also said that Marssseluss had not eaten since January. I knew he would be a challenge but I couldnt leave this little baby all alone and hungry
She said that they could only feed their snakes frozen mice - and Marssseluss (Mars for short) would not eat those and she thought it was because it would prefer an alive pinky ... so I got one
So i have a tank that right now has sand, a cardboard box so he has a little dark house to hide in, and a heat rock.. he's in the sand now just chilling
But when i try to feed him, he wont eat the pinky I put him in a cardboard box then dropped the pinky in, but nothing ._.
Also it looks like he is about to shed (his tail is discolored), and i read that they dont eat around there.... but he hasnt eaten since january according to the pet shop clerk so im just really worried.
also - i saw somewhere that aspen is better for the snake?
First off, what's your husbandry like? The temperatures, what heating element you're using, that sort of stuff. I know you mentioned that he's on sand I'm not going to tell you that it will kill your snake. It typically won't, but I think a dirt and sand mixture would probably work a little bit better for you, and maybe with a little bit of excavator's clay to hold the burrows. Straight sand is heavy, expensive, and I found whenever my animals ate or shed, they would have sand stuck between their lips that I'd have to help remove. It won't be the reason your animal isn't eating though, so I wouldn't worry about it just yet. (And just saw this- yes aspen works great. I kept mine on it successfully for a few years but switched it out simply because I didn't like the smell. It's entirely up to you though).
Another thing that I should mention is that you will not have a great amount of success feeding this animal with the food item in a dish and leaving it. These are ambush predators that bury themselves in their substrate and wait for the prey to come to them. This means that you'll typically get the best response by dragging the mouse on the substrate on top of them, but considering this is a live pinky you could probably just drop it in there and let it wonder to the snake by itself.
Now, I don't think this is the case since you mentioned the snake is a baby, but I'll mention it anyways because every animal is an individual and things could happen. My males typically go off feed in the spring every year because what they're thinking about is getting lucky and that's it. A lot of snake species do it, it's typical. Mine went off feed a little early this year, one going off in February and the other in late March. However, the first one fed in April and the other just ate a few days ago. Given the age of your sand boa, I don't think that's the case.
Like you said, you took on a big responsibility by taking in an animal that won't eat. And don't take this the wrong way, I'm really not trying to be mean but I'm not going to sugarcoat it. If I were you, I'd take it to the vet. Especially given its a baby. I don't normally recommend this since it is stressful on a new snake, but a baby that hasn't eaten in five months is a little bit concerning to me. Would you be able to provide a picture of it so that we could see the body shape? How does it feel when you hold it (is it limp? how responsive is it to stimuli? does it feel muscular?). I'd also recommend getting a scale that reads in grams. I consider it a necessary part of husbandry and all of my animals are weighed monthly to monitor health.
Now, bare in mind that this is a six year old adult male animal that ways about 80 grams. I took these pictures to help someone else who was having similar concerns and I'll repost them here to help you. He's going to be a little more filled out than most babies, but I consider this an ideal body weight where he's filled out but not obese.
For my sand boas, I use a ceramic heat emitter wired to a thermostat to keep a hotspot of about 90* while the ambient temperature of the rest of the enclosure is close to 78*. I keep them in eco earth currently that's about four inches deep and I provide a lot of cover. I lay hanging vines on top of the substrate in addition to some cork flats. They're not terribly active, but I almost always see their heads on the surface of the substrate and their usually in or fairly close to cover. Humidity isn't something to monitor, but make sure to provide a clean water bowl, especially since your animal isn't eating as they need it to metabolize fat reserves.
Last edited by Tiny Boidae; 05-12-17 at 03:41 PM..
Don't worry too much, just try and feed a defrosted pinky every 7-10 days during spring for your sandboa. It also helps to not feed them out of the enclosure. Just move it about a bit over the substrate, and leave it in there overnight in case he doesn't take it immediately. Sandboa's are rather shy, and can be finicky eaters.
They can go very long without food. My adult male easily skips 2 months, especially in spring. Some people have them gone off food for 5 months straight, yet the animal itself is healthy as it can be. It's not a snake that will starve easily
Important is not to stress it out by offering food every day or other day. If he doesn't take it, fine, just wait another week and try again. I had no success whatsoever feeding a sandboa outside of its vivarium. It may strike and coil, but it wouldn't eat afterwards. Something to keep in mind, they get easily disturbed when eating (and as a result being exposed) that they will drop the food at the first sign of trouble.
Contrary to what Tiny Boidae said, my Sandboa's will not take the mice off the forceps or when doing the "zombie mouse show", one took it exactly once, but that's it. I have to leave them in overnight, and kind of in a hide, so the snake finds it himself. I guess you'll have to work out what works best for your snake.
That's interesting and something to keep in mind. None of mine have ever had a problem eating off the tongs and more often than not if I simply leave the mouse in the enclosure, it goes untouched. Of course this is all suggestive and she's free to use whatever works for her.
Yea, don't know why exactly.. but I have many animals besides snakes/lizards... and 2 little kids jumping around. Not very ideal for a species as secretive as a sandboa. Or, maybe I'm just lucky and happen to have just those specimen that like absolute silence and no movement when eating...
Oh yes. And I agree that they're easily disturbed. I often don't even close the doors back until after they're done eating. They're not the most voracious guys, but once you get them started I generally find them reliable with a few exceptions.
Yea they aren't your general ball of "FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" colubrid that bounces through his vivarium with open mouth striking at everything (including glass, plants, or just a rock) when there's a mouse dangling off a forceps ...
When my male KSB did strike and coil around a mouse (he's ~40 cm/15.7" and 110 gram, quite large for a male) you certainly realize they have quite a bit of strangling power in them though.
it's a nice anery you have, I'm not much into morphs, so mine are all natural colored. My gf really wants a morph, but it's not easy to find all those spectacular KSB morphs in Europe (Eastern...) that you have in the US. Likely we will get a E. tataricus at the end of summer... must be awesome, a 90cm/3' sandboa.
Ooooh nice sand boa. I kind of miss having one. As for mine he/she ate pretty well for me. I didn't think it was terribly shy. But yeah not very active.
I really appreciate all the help!
Mars ate!!! He was just a little shy i just left him in the box with the pinky (inside of the tank) and covered it upside he had some privacy- I looked back over and there was a little bit of liquid where the pinky was but Mars had already started to digest it. I still see the pinky in him but not as much as before.
I had a heating rock for the time being... i just recently got a heating pad for reptiles and put it where the heating rock was. However - the temperature is reading about 74 (( and its closer to the hot side of the tank as well....
Humidity level is right below 70.... I don't know how to control that tips?
Also, do you recommend a light as well as the heating pad? I just know that he likes the dark so I chose the pad but I do have a light specifically for reptiles.
I also placed a little plastic container of water on the cold side, along with a clay skull hide. Is it possible he could drown in it the water??? Or scratch himself on the skull :/ he seemed to like it when I first put it in though
What are you using to monitor the temperatures (analog or digital)? Where's the probe at if it's digital? What you're probably seeing is the ambient temperature, which heating pads don't do jack for. I switched all of my sand boas over to ceramic heat emitters dialed up to a thermostat and they do much better with that than they did heating pads.
Now, a lot of people will tell you that they don't need light. And I agree, they don't. I've had them without it and had no issues. Now I give them all UVB and hook it up to a timer to give them an accurate photoperiod. I've had no I'll effects with it. They don't avoid it, and if anything I do catch them directly beneath it a lot (well, most of them is buried, but their heads are exposed). In short, do you need it? No. Will it hurt to provide it? So long as you give plenty of cover for them to hide from it, then also no.
Also- no he won't drown in the water or scratch himself on the hide. So long as it's not too deep and he's able to get out of it easily, then you're fine. I've never even caught my sand boas in their water dishes. They usually just take the secretive drink and then pop back into the dirt. Otherwise, they want nothing to do with water. As far as the skull is concerned, I wouldn't be worried. If you're not able to cut yourself with it, then he's fine. They have those scales for a reason!
I really appreciate all of your help! Mars does too
Im using an analog temperature reader. I have been waiting for Mars to poop to send a picture of him but he has not seemed to poop yet.. however it looks like the pinky was fully digested. Should i be worried that he hasnt pooped?
also tomorrow will be a week since I last fed him. since he's a baby, and before last time he had not eaten since January, do you think i should feed him tomorrow again? or wait a couple more days... especially since he hasnt pooped!!
also, ive been waiting to switch to aspen until after he's pooped... but again.. nada
he seems to like the heat pad since he's always on top of it. i have yet to see him go to the cold side. usually he'll be right on top of the pad with his head poking out of the sand ... he's such a cutie but since he doesnt go to the non-heated side ever, do you recommend switching to the light?
I am just worried because it looks like he needs to shed soon, and i dont know if its hot/moist enough for him to feel comfortable enough
Mars is not nearly as big as your sand boa, but he's getting there!!
also some photos of my temperature readers. not sure if its clear but the top humidity one is a little over 60 and the lower temperature one is at about 70. stays at this temperature for the most part
Please get rid of the heat rock. They can be very badly burned if they wrap themselves around it. You should be using a temp gun to check the temp of the heat pad, it reads surface temperature of whatever it's pointed at. Also, those thermometers are very inaccurate, go get a cheap digital one with a probe. Everyone else covered almost everything else. Congrats on your little one.
New Kenyan Sand Boa owner need HELP :(
His name is Marssseluss Wallasssse and I love him already
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