Hello all, I am thinking about starting to breed snakes, and I believe that sand boas are the easiest for my current state. I am new to breeding snakes, as I have never done it before, and I was wondering if there is anywhere that you recommend to start. I only have one sand boa currently, and he is breeding ready. I just need to find a female. But when that happens, I am curious to know how to tend to the snakes once they are ready. Are there certain traits that cannot go together? Are there common mistakes that occur when breeding them? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
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Your best bet would be to befriend an experienced breeder and ask them how to go about breeding. They aren’t difficult but there’s still a decent amount you should know before you attempt this. For your snake and the sake of your snake.
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I have been breeding East African (Kenyan) Sand Boas for three years now, and I have found it rewarding and not very difficult. The most important aspects, in my mind, are proper conditioning of the breeding stock and cooling. It’s very important to make sure that your breeding stock are in great shape. Breeding animals that are undersized or underweight can be stressful and potentially dangerous for your animals, and you will not get good results. On the flip side, obese animals suffer from low fertility, and again, you will not get good results. So, make sure your animals are at a proper weight for their length. Regularly record weights for your animals and keep records. Females can be bred at 300g, which usually takes 3-4 years to achieve. Males can be bred at a much smaller weight, and are usually mature enough to produce sperm at 2 years of age. I used to own a proven male who was only 60g. A couple of months of cooling is also important for reproduction. Don’t feed your animals during cooling, but make sure they have access to water.
As for compatibility of morphs, I’d like to point out that the (Bell) albino and paradox albino morphs are not compatible, and breeding the two together will produce normal double hets, not albinos.
What morph is the animal you have now? What kind of mate are you considering for him?
All in all, I believe that sand boas are an excellent choice for anyone considering breeding snakes for the first time, since they breed readily, stay small, give live birth (so you don’t have to worry about incubation), have small litters (so you don’t get overwhelmed) and are generally easy to care for. Plus they come in so many exciting colors! I am more than happy to answer any other questions you have.
-Elena
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