Kenyan Sand Boa Care Sheet

The Kenyan Sand Boa makes a great choice for a snake, these exhibit interesting behaviour as they will burrow themselves under the sand and wait for prey to walk by before striking. This is helped by their eyes, as they have slightly higher eyes to peer out from under the sand.

Kenyan sand boas do best with a large terrestrial vivarium for their enclosure. This is because wood is an excellent insulator of heat and so a wooden vivarium will make it easier to control the crucial temperatures required inside the habitat. The wooden vivarium should have good ventilation to allow good air flow in and out of the enclosure.

Kenyan sand boas aren't very big so but they will need an enclosure large enough to maintain a warm end of 88°f while still providing a cool side. For this reason we would advise a wooden vivarium at least 3ft wide.

Kenyan sand boas require a daytime temperature of 85°F with a basking spot of around 88°F. The best way to achieve this is to use a ceramic heat emitter on one side of the enclosure being controlled by either a pulse proportional or on/off thermostat. This will keep temperatures steady throughout the day and night whilst also creating a slight temperature gradient in the enclosure. A basking light can also be used but is not necessary, if one is introduced the temperature should not exceed 90°F and the basking light should only be on for 10-12 consecutive hours per day. All basking lights and ceramic heat bulbs must be guarded to ensure the boa cannot come into contact with the bulb.

If a ceramic is being used as the sole heat source it is advisable to use LED lights to light the enclosure for 10-12 consecutive hours per day. This provides the boa with a good day/night cycle.

Temperatures should be monitored daily using a thermometer.

Kenyan Sand Boas do not require UVB to use the calcium in their diet like other reptiles but it is still a beneficial addition to the enclosure. The snake would naturally be exposed to UV from sunlight in the wild and as we are trying to emulate nature in our enclosures we recommend providing some UVB.

A 5% T8 UVB tube, 2-5% T5 UVB tube or more powerful but smaller unit should be sufficient. The UV tube should be mounted to the ceiling at the back of the enclosure to provide a light gradient running parallel to the temperature gradient. There will be times when the snake will want less or no UVB so partial and full hiding spots should be placed all along the width of the enclosure.

Whilst any loose substrate has the small potential to be accidentally swallowed, we have found this to not be a problem with coarse beech woodchips and that is what we keep our Kenyan sand boas on. It is also very easy to clean. This snake is quite fond of burrowing, if you would like a loose substrate to allow this we would recommend a fine sand.

It is essential to decorate a Kenyan sand boas vivarium and provide a couple of hiding areas. This will help the boa feel more secure and also allow it to use the entirety of it's enclosure confidently. The vivarium should be decorated with various pieces of wood and artificial plants to achieve this.

A Kenyan sand boa's diet consists of frozen thawed mice.While small the boa will be eating frozen mice roughly once a week. The size of the prey increases as the snake gets bigger starting with a pinky mouse.

Water should aways be available for both drinking and bathing. To achieve this we provide a bowl large enough for the snake to submerge itself inside on the cool end of the vivarium. Water should be changed daily to ensure it remains fresh.

If you keep a male and female together, they may breed. You do not need to do anything to encourage this, providing they are healthy and the conditions are good, it will happen naturally. You need to consider whether you want this to happen. What will you do with the babies?

A gravid female should have access to a nesting box to help her with the livebirth. We would usually use a plastic container containing soft moss like sphagnum moss. Once the babies have been born we would advise taking them from the enclosure and introducing them to a separate enclosures.

Kenyan Sand Boa, as with most pets, require a clean environment to thrive. We recommend a spot clean as often as possible (every day) and a full clean every 4 weeks or so. If you are keeping the snake in a bio-active enclosure you can spot clean and monitor the enclosure. It may still be a good item to change out the bedding a few times per year.

When cleaning the enclosure you should remove your animal, all decorations and all of the bedding. Once the enclosure is clear you can spray it all over with a reptile friendly disinfectant. These usually work very quickly and only need to be left for around 30 seconds, instructions can normally be found on the disinfectants packaging. Once the disinfectant has done its work it can be wiped away from the surfaces with a paper towel. In some cases, you might want to repeat this process a second time to ensure that the enclosure is thoroughly cleaned.

Your decorations can be cleaned in a similar method, simply spray them down with the disinfectant and rinse thoroughly with water before drying them off and putting them back into the enclosure. We recommend this process is done during the day time to make sure that the snake will be going back to a warm vivarium for at least an hour before the basking lamps are turned off for the night.