A few months back, a friend told me about someone they knew who was looking to re-home their adult Kenyan Sand Boa. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance, as I’ve been in love with the species since seeing a pencil-sized hatchling in a pet shop as a kid. They’re such unique-looking snakes, and I think their colouring is absolutely gorgeous.
Phoebe is a good girl. She’s about 9 years old and just under 3’ long. She was fed live by her previous owner, but made the switch to f/t relatively easily. She’s a great eater and will chow down on f/t mice even when she’s in shed. She can be a tad defensive when burrowed, but is a dream to handle once she’s out.
Apologies for the less-than-awesome photos, it’s hard for me to photograph her while I’m holding her. Most or all of those were taken soon after I got her. She’s on aspen bedding now, and we’re eagerly awaiting the arrival of the larger, custom, front-opening PVC enclosure I ordered for her.
Thanks! I think I took that the very day she arrived. She poked her head out of the sand and was looking around, checking out her new digs and I was snapping some quick photos…so I was ready when she opened that glorious maw, haha. I’m not much of a photographer, but sometimes you just get lucky.
Whoops, just realised that I referred to a KSB neonate as a “hatchling” in my OP, but they give live birth, so “newborn” would have been more accurate. Mea culpa!
I’ve been doing so much research lately on blood pythons that I brain farted on boa biology.
Just got Miss Phoebe into her new, bigger enclosure! I ordered it months ago, but…I’m sure most of you know how slow the turnaround time can be with these nice PVC enclosures made by small companies. It finally arrived last week, and I took advantage of the long weekend to get it set up once I’d aired out the plastic-y smell.
She came to me with a 30"x12"x12" glass tank with a screen lid, which I kind of hated. It was too small for a big active female, it was heavy, it let heat escape, and having to remove the entire lid to gain access to the inside was a pain in the butt.
So I decided that both Phoebe and I deserved better. I ordered her a nice 36"x18"x12" PVC enclosure with two swing-down doors on the front from All American Cages.
It was worth the wait! It’s SOOOO much nicer than her old tank! She has way more space to move around, she probably feels more secure with the black sides, and getting into the enclosure is so easy with the front-opening doors. And even though it’s a good deal larger, it’s SO much lighter and easier for me to lift and carry. Plus I was able to simply burn a couple holes in the top with a soldering iron to accommodate the temp probes for her thermostat and thermometer. The construction on the enclosure is great, it seems very sturdy and well-made. I’m quite impressed with it.
Best of all, Phoebe seems to love it! I thought she might be stressed by the move and expected her to immediately burrow into hiding, but she cruised around and explored her new digs for a while before settling under her warm hide. I love that she finally has more space to move around.
