I’m getting my boa in a few days and my enclosure is nearly set up and done. I have a few more questions about their care that I can’t find a consistent answer for online. First, should I give him a dish of water? I prefer to give any living things fresh water but because of the aspen bedding I worry that it would just cause more problems like mold or if I used a ceramic dish that has a lip the snake could drown.
Second, when I feed the snake should I put it on a plate (in the enclosure) so the snake doesn’t eat the substrate or do I feed it in the substrate and hope the snake doesn’t eat substrate? I would dry the mouse off if it was wet before feeding.
Third, what should I set the night temps to? I have the ability to set both daytime and nighttime temperatures on the thermostat. Some things I’ve read say to keep it at low 70s (which after I checked is the same as in their natural habitat), but I worry they wouldn’t be able to digest their food at those temperatures.
Also, if anyone’s interested I took a picture of the enclosure with a thermal imaging camera, here’s the picture of it: The max temp shows 97* but that’s because it’s reading some of the heat tape. I’ve been consistently measuring the hot spot as 93-95* with 3 thermometers.
I give all of my sand boas a small water dish located at the cool end and sitting on top of a piece of paper towel in case of any spills. I prefer the flat bottom, straight sided, heavy ceramic bowls. I like to add a rock or two to act as a paperweight too. Here is an example of one of my tubs for a baby.
With feeding, I would first feel out how you can get the snake eating consistently. I’ve got various different eaters in my group: some that strike straight from the tongs, some that I put on a plate, and one stubborn boy that only eats live. I personally choose to not put a thawed feeder directly on the substrate to avoid ingesting as much substrate as possible. Some of mine also needed to be started container feeding in a small container before they ate consistently, but all outgrew that within a handful of feedings.
I do not utilize a night drop and have not noticed any ill effects. I do offer a gradient though so they can move freely to their desired temp.
Here are a couple of 2020 future breeder males that I don’t think I’ve posted before. Both were produced by Scott Miller and received in trade.
This is Little Boy Blue, a Hypo het Anery. He just keeps getting lighter and lighter.
This is Papyrus, sold to me as an Albino Splash Stripe het Anery, but as he matures, I’m not totally sure he is a Stripe. He definitely looked like a Stripe when I first got him. I guess I won’t be sure until he’s big enough to breed.
I’m no expert as I only have the one sand boa, but here’s what I do (it’s been working for the past year).
I give my girl a water bowl that I keep clean and full at all times. I know some people say not to do this with sand boas, but I’ve just never felt good about the notion of not giving any animal free access to water. I use one of those fake rock bowls that’s shaped to fit in a corner, on the cool end. It’s very sturdy and I haven’t had any issues with spills or mold, even when she burrows under it (though I live in a very dry climate; if it’s more humid where you live, mold might be more of an issue, I’m not sure).
I feed her by putting her mouse on a plate or paper towel…though I’m honestly not sure how much good that does, since she usually just drags it off the plate to swallow it. 
Still, so long as I make sure the mouse is dry, I don’t really see any aspen sticking to it, so I don’t think she’s ingesting much if any substrate.
I don’t do a temp drop at night, I just make sure she has a good gradient so she can cool off if she wants. The ambient room temp gets cooler at night, so the cool side of her enclosure does get cooler at night, but I try to make sure it doesn’t drop below 70F on the cool end, with the warm end nice and toasty if she wants to warm up.
I got him about a half hour ago. He’s super cute and super calm (but he was likely cold from shipping). I got a couple pictures but didn’t have time to put the pictures on my computer, I should be able to add them tomorrow. The snake looks much better than the listing pictures and is a very high quality, dark, anery.
That’s so awesome, congratulations! I can’t wait to see him!
Can’t wait to see him! Congratulations on your very own snake Riley!
Thank you both @jawramik and @lumpy. I am super excited about him. It is very difficult to wait that week before handling, lol. I’ll probably wait about two weeks for handling until after he takes his first meal (since I’ll likely get mice at an expo in a bit over a week).
Here he is:
I originally had the paper towel down to help with insulation against heat but since the snake moved under it I just took it out and adjusted temperatures.
Nice contrast on him!
Thank you! His colors are super nice too, though you can’t tell from the pictures. I’ll try to get more accurate pictures once I start handling him, so probobally 1-2 weeks. I was very surprised how good he looked in person.
I just got in two new additions, kind of an impulse buy. No names yet.
This is a 2018 male Cinnamon Russian Sand Boa. He is four years old an weighs 45g, which is not out of the ordinary for this species, which I believe is the smallest sand boa. His color is lighter in person.
This is a 2017 female Super Black Russian, weighing 250g, which is breeding weight for Russian females, and more than 5 times the weight of the male. She is solid jet black with a few white speckles on the sides and under her chin. She is simply stunning. A few years ago, I would have had no idea that jet black sand boas existed.
Russian Sand Boas are still pretty rare, with only a few breeders that work with the species. However, they possibly make even better pets that Kenyans do, since they are smaller and need less space, and because they are often out in the open above the substrate. I only have 4 of them, but they seem to eat well too.
Kenna - nuclear meltdown cross
Tesla - Saharan Sand Boa
Kenna again
Frodo - Cal flame cross, het paint pos het blonde albino
That’s a great looking group you’ve got there. I like the reduced pattern on Frodo. Welcome to the community too!
Thanks a bunch! This isn’t everyone, just the first few decent pics I figured I’d grab lol. Thanks for the welcome! Glad to be around 
He’s beautiful, congratulations! I hope he’s settling in well. I think you’re going to enjoy sand boas, they’re awesome snakes. 
I’m not sure if I’ve ever posted a picture of this one, but this is Dawn, a medium-expression Snow Splash. She is freshly shed in the photo. This is a pretty small female, being only 200g at nearly five years. She has some rufescens blood though, which can make them smaller.
I like snows with a lot of contrast like this one has.
Those are both really gorgeous snakes. Is their care similar to KSBs and other sand boas?
Those are some really gorgeous sand boas! They’re all beautiful, but I think Kenna is my favourite. The orange on her is crazy! And she has such a crisp, clean pattern, really striking. Thanks for sharing, and welcome to the community!
There care is similar to a Kenyan or Rough-Scale, except that they tend to be better feeders. I keep them in the same rack as Kenyans. They are significantly smaller as adults, so they don’t need as much space.
Thank you! So far he’s doing good. I noticed him above the substrate last night and it was neat to see him move around. I can’t wait until I can start handling him, but I’m planning on waiting a few days after he eats to handle him.