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I might be getting one of these... Does anyone have one, and do you have any tips for them?
Kenyan Sand Boa
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I had one...he was awesome! His name was Corona...he died very unnexpectedly of unknown causes 
I believe my husband also had them before we met. At any rate.....they are adorable little snakes, some can be on the nippy side when you pick them up, but they usually settle down when you hold them. They do like to hide too, and will spend most of their time buried. When I was researching before I bought Corona I found that most people use Aspen for them, which is what I used. They're usually pretty easy care, and good eaters...and they stay nice and small....which is great if you have limited space. The males stay significantly smaller than females. Do you have any specific questions about them?
I believe my husband also had them before we met. At any rate.....they are adorable little snakes, some can be on the nippy side when you pick them up, but they usually settle down when you hold them. They do like to hide too, and will spend most of their time buried. When I was researching before I bought Corona I found that most people use Aspen for them, which is what I used. They're usually pretty easy care, and good eaters...and they stay nice and small....which is great if you have limited space. The males stay significantly smaller than females. Do you have any specific questions about them?
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Not really, just general tips would be nice. I have a ball python now, and since he's 4-5 feet long, I was looking for something smaller than that. They only get up to two feet, right? The one I'm looking at is male, pretty orange and black with a cream-white belly. He's about a year and a half old, perhaps 6-9 inches long. I'm thinking about calling him Harry, after Harry Dresden, a character in a series by Jim Butcher (total nerd, I know, but I LOVE those books). I was told that the one I'm looking at could eat a fuzzy, or maybe a couple pinkies at a time.
How big of a cage do they need? And more of a horizontal cage than a vertical one? The guy at the shop told me that sand is good for them, but feed them somewhere else because they could eat the sand by accident. Will an adult be able to eat full-grown mice? Pet type mice, not show mice.
How big of a cage do they need? And more of a horizontal cage than a vertical one? The guy at the shop told me that sand is good for them, but feed them somewhere else because they could eat the sand by accident. Will an adult be able to eat full-grown mice? Pet type mice, not show mice.
Definitely a horizontal cage since they are a burrowing snake. When I was researching it definitely seemed like the majority of Kenyan hobbyists used aspen instead of sand.....but I don't recall why. It's usually best to feed snakes out of their enclosure regardless of bedding...it keeps them from associating the cage opening with food (not as big of an issue with something like a ball that won't bite anything...lol...but with a potentially nippy snake like a kenyan you don't want them to think your hand is food!...not that they're mouths are big enough to do much damage anyway though...lol). An adult male generally wouldn't eat adult mice...though an adult female probably would. A male can be housed in a 10 gallon aquarium its whole life.
6-9" for a 1 1/2 year old male sounds a bit on the small side to me....but then its been awhile since I've looked at any info about them....I would check that out. They are definitely smaller than ball pythons...lol
6-9" for a 1 1/2 year old male sounds a bit on the small side to me....but then its been awhile since I've looked at any info about them....I would check that out. They are definitely smaller than ball pythons...lol
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The guy said that he was small because he's kept in about a 9" round plastic container now, since pretty much last April. The guy said also that he might grow up to 30", and need a 20 gallon tank. I don't have a lot of room, but could a bigger cage make him grow bigger? The goldfish principle?
The guy doesn't know what he's talking about. Enclosure size does not prevent a snake from growing...not feeding it or something wrong with it does. A male kenyan will NEVER reach 30"....I don't think the largest kenyan on record (which would be a female) even reached 30"... I would not get that particular snake....find a reputable breeder and get one from them.
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He was in a reptile store. They had a lot of snakes there, and bred some of their own. I think he just doesn't know about that kind of snake. Most people have corns and balls, and I wanted something smaller than a ball, and different from a corn. Nothing against corns... Can you recommend anything?
Being a reptile store and breeding some snakes of their own doesn't necessarily mean they know much of anything.... Enclosure size not affecting a snake's growth is something ANYONE working with snakes should know. He either didn't know (which in my book, for someone working in a reptile store, is innexcusable), or lied to you in an attempt to make a sale (also inexcusable). I love Kenyans...you're just better off one, or any snake for that matter (or any animal in general...lol), from a reputable breeder. You would also generally end up spending a LOT more for an animal from a store than from a breeder.
There aren't a whole lot of species smaller than balls that are readily available and easy to care for/handle. Ringneck snakes and hognose snakes generally stay small, but can be hard to feed. Rosy boas are nice, but they all get larger than the kenyans...not sure on exact size ranges for the different species. The only other thing I can think of off hand is house snakes...but I'm not sure how handleable they are.
There aren't a whole lot of species smaller than balls that are readily available and easy to care for/handle. Ringneck snakes and hognose snakes generally stay small, but can be hard to feed. Rosy boas are nice, but they all get larger than the kenyans...not sure on exact size ranges for the different species. The only other thing I can think of off hand is house snakes...but I'm not sure how handleable they are.
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House snakes are beautiful! Kinda thin and fragile-looking though. I've never held them but I've seen them. Really beautiful.
Male kenyans won't pass 20 inches, usually staying around 16 inches or so. Females can grow up to 36 inches, but mostly stay under 30 inches.
If that male is less than a foot long at that age, he is not being cared for or fed properly. Growth depends a lot on how much a snake eats. I have a columbian red tail boa that has been a picky eater and at one point, didn't eat for months. As a result she is a 2 year old animal that is only 3-4 ft long and weighs only 700g. He should be 2x the size he is, or just a little under.
My advice is to get one from a reputable breeder. Keeping a snake is a cup that is 9 inches in diameter is not proper housing. For a reptile show, sure, keeping them in those deli cups for shows is fine. Even for a day or two, that is fine, given they have the right amount of heat and can thermoregulate, but keeping them in it for months and months at a time is not proper care. I'd skip this male and move on to another snake from another source.
If that male is less than a foot long at that age, he is not being cared for or fed properly. Growth depends a lot on how much a snake eats. I have a columbian red tail boa that has been a picky eater and at one point, didn't eat for months. As a result she is a 2 year old animal that is only 3-4 ft long and weighs only 700g. He should be 2x the size he is, or just a little under.
My advice is to get one from a reputable breeder. Keeping a snake is a cup that is 9 inches in diameter is not proper housing. For a reptile show, sure, keeping them in those deli cups for shows is fine. Even for a day or two, that is fine, given they have the right amount of heat and can thermoregulate, but keeping them in it for months and months at a time is not proper care. I'd skip this male and move on to another snake from another source.
For some reason I thought the females stayed a little smaller....lol Like I said, its been awhile since I looked them up! But yeah, males definitely don't get that long.
I wasn't even thinking about how he was kept...but yeah, there is no way to allow proper thermoregulation in a 9" plastic container........that's a completely inappropriate!
I wasn't even thinking about how he was kept...but yeah, there is no way to allow proper thermoregulation in a 9" plastic container........that's a completely inappropriate!
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I just looked them up and wow those are TINY. My brother had a big snake... I think it was a Python, but not sure. But, my husband worked for a BOA breeder for years. I think they're so cool. When we visited the shop the owner tried to scare me by showing me the big ones. They were HUGE and gorgeous. I really liked them. The guy thought it was so weird that I wasn't afraid. :lol: Not that I'd hold one that big, but if they're in cages it's fine.
I kind of like these little snakes though. Very neat.
I kind of like these little snakes though. Very neat.
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Hehehe Kenyans are great! I've got an (admittedly undersized) adult of almost six years old who is about 13 or 14 inches in length. He is unusually small due to his awful (non) feeding habits as a neo.
He's now pounding down large fuzzies (yeah I know... a six year old KSB on fuzzies ) and growing width-ways if not longer!
I keep him in my lidless racking system in one of the old style contico boxes (the biggest ones... litreage evades me...). He is kept on sand, fed on a piece of cardboard to avoid over ingestion of sand, has three hides positioned in various places in the viv for thermoregulation and maintained with a hot spot of 31*C. Ambient temps in his section of the rack never drop below 28*C.
With most boids I make every effort to get them under a ceramic as soon as possible but I don't feel he is heavy enough to be at any remote risk of damage from a heatmat at his diminuative size.
Saying that, they like it ARID so using a ceramic as heating in a viv for one would actually be beneficial as it would dry the air out beautifully.
Kat
He's now pounding down large fuzzies (yeah I know... a six year old KSB on fuzzies
) and growing width-ways if not longer!I keep him in my lidless racking system in one of the old style contico boxes (the biggest ones... litreage evades me...). He is kept on sand, fed on a piece of cardboard to avoid over ingestion of sand, has three hides positioned in various places in the viv for thermoregulation and maintained with a hot spot of 31*C. Ambient temps in his section of the rack never drop below 28*C.
With most boids I make every effort to get them under a ceramic as soon as possible but I don't feel he is heavy enough to be at any remote risk of damage from a heatmat at his diminuative size.
Saying that, they like it ARID so using a ceramic as heating in a viv for one would actually be beneficial as it would dry the air out beautifully.
Kat
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I ended up getting a KSB today! Not the one I was looking at before, this one is younger, born this year, and already about 6-7 inches long! I brought him home, fed him two pinkies, and then watched him make pretty pictures in the sand. His name is Harry Dresden, and he was from another place altogether--the first guy wanted 70 for the male, and this male was 30. I'll get pictures after he digests the pinkies a bit!
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Do ceramic heat emitters, the ones like flat light bulbs, dry out the air? I have a ball python who has a hard time shedding, and when he's near shedding, I try to raise the humidity of his tank, but it's hard going, and he has a ceramic heat emitter.thamesvalleyexotics said:
Do ceramic heat emitters, the ones like flat light bulbs, dry out the air? I have a ball python who has a hard time shedding, and when he's near shedding, I try to raise the humidity of his tank, but it's hard going, and he has a ceramic heat emitter.[/quote]
What do you do to raise the humidity? I don't feel that ceramic heaters dry out the air any more than other heaters.
What do you do to raise the humidity? I don't feel that ceramic heaters dry out the air any more than other heaters.
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I have pictures! They are in the "Meet Harry Dresden" topic!
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i have heard a lot of good things about kingsnakes and milk snakes just make sure you get it from a good breeder as well. (theyre generally cheaper from breeders than petstores) I have a bp hes awesome i want to get a green tree python in a year or so though. i love gtp eyes and colors very cool but i hear some can have quite a temperament.
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