Sand Boas for beginners

Hello

-Do KSBs make good pet snakes for beginners?
-Are they tameable/handleable or jumpy/bitey? I have heard very conflicting info on this
-Are thier any big behavioral or care differences between males and females?
-What is the best substrate for them? (plan on feeding them in different cage)

Thanks, any and all comments will be greatly appreciated.

Kenyans are awesome snakes! I have 7 Kenyans and 2 Indian sand boas. The Kenyans were the first snakes I ever bred. My 13 year old daughter loves them and has been handling them for years. I keep mine in Aspen bedding or sani Chips because I do feed them in there tubs, I would only suggest sand if you are going to feed them in a separate container. The only thing with Kenyans is that they hide in the substrate and are very aggressive feeders. Your finger can look just like a pinkie to them. I always hook them first or at least know were there head is first then once they are out they are great. No difference in male or female except size. Females get 30" and males around 18". Any other questions please ask.

They are fairly easy/hardy snakes and so typically do well in the care of beginners. My Kenyan I got from a guy that was getting rid of her because she was biting a lot. I have never had a problem with her. When I went to get her he presented me with a large slotted spoon to get her out of the tank. I chuckled, ran my hand through the sand and scooped her out much to his astonishment. I found it pretty humorous. Sometimes she gets a bit flighty when I'm getting her out, but she doesn't bite. Any snake can potentially bite, usually either because you smell like food or they're defensive. As a beginner the more experience you get the more you'll realize when your snakes are grumpy and should be left alone (usually when they're shedding or after eating, one of my male corn snakes gets pretty testy during breeding season). The more you handle any snake, the more docile it will be. As far as male vs female there isn't any difference in their care, males can be housed in smaller enclosures. I use aspen for my Kenyan and I prefer the shredded type aspen over the chips. These are ambush hunters in nature so as has been stated earlier careful where you put your hands in the tank or you could induce a feeding response. Enjoy! Any particular species/morph that you're considering?

Dan

Originally Posted by ellisjp42

Hello

-Do KSBs make good pet snakes for beginners?
-Are they tameable/handleable or jumpy/bitey? I have heard very conflicting info on this
-Are thier any big behavioral or care differences between males and females?
-What is the best substrate for them? (plan on feeding them in different cage)

Thanks, any and all comments will be greatly appreciated.

I absolutely love all My Kenyans and my Paradox Albino Sand Boa! Mine are extremely handeable, the only time i've been nipped is when my 2 year olds were neonates, and they'd mistake my fingers for pinkies, lol.
I keep my 3 males together in one enclosure, with no problems whatsoever, but that means i have to feed them separately, which is no big deal for me. I also keep my 2 females together in a 20 gallon enclosure, again i feed them in separate tubs, and have had no problems with them.
I would not recommend keeping males and females together, unless you have a plan in place for babies
I keep my Sand Boas on shredded aspen, after having them on Sand. With Aspen, the neat thing is you can see the tunnels they make when they burrow
The one downside to Kenyans, is that they do stay hidden and out of sight most of the time, though mine do make appearances in the evening.

great beginner snake , small,easy to feed(takes dead rodents easy) and dont need much space.i have 3 adults 1.2 and keep them in a rack set up.they calm down with frequent handling and the females are the larger ones . cant find an easier snake to care for.