I have a Kenyan sand boa for almost 2 1/2 months now. I got her at the age of three and her previous owners have kept her using sand as substrate. They gave me the last of the bag they had been using so I used that for the first 2 months. Yesterday I completely cleaned and washed the enclosure. Instead of using sand I used Repti chips coconut bedding the micro size. It’s been more than 12hours and she still seems very stressed and hasn’t even tried to burrow. I’m really stressed and I was wondering if you had any advise to get her to burrow or another option.
Here’s a pretty good thread about this: Best substrate for sand boa
My vote is for sani-chips or shredded aspen.
1 Like
Shredded aspen is best in my experience with sand boas as well as rosy boas.
Edit to add: she is more than likely having trouble burrowing in the new substrate which is causing her stress so she is swimming around instead……
1 Like
I use shredded aspen for my sand boa. She was kept on play sand for 10 years before I got her, and seemed to have no trouble adjusting to the aspen. It’s lightweight and allows for airflow and it holds tunnels well. Perfect for a fossorial species.
1 Like
I would like to say that if you want a more natural substrate than aspen, I would recommend a 60-40 organic topsoil to playsand. Both aspen and the topsoil mix work great it is really up to you and your preferences
2 Likes