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Today I picked up a pair of Kenyan Sand Boas (Gongylophis colubrinus)... An '04 normal female and an '04 anerythristic male. I got the cage (a nice 24" Neodesha cage), everything in the cage, and both the snakes for only $100. It was a deal I couldn't pass up - the snakes alone are likely worth at least $150 each. CraigsList is amazing.

They were kept on newspaper previously, but on the way home I stopped and got 20 pounds of play sand for them to enjoy (snakes don't really have complex emotions, but I swear these boas were excited to be on sand for the first time in years). They are currently living together, but I'm probably going to eventually separate them to prevent any stress on the female from the male (from being pressured to breed).

Anyway, here are some pictures of them:

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

they're cute.

any reason why their eyes are different? the larger one's eyes look smaller (and have visible pupils) over the smaller one (who's eyes just look black).

How big do these get?

The size of the eyes is just due to the differences in body size - their bodies keep growing, but their eyes stay pretty much the same size. The female is at least five times as massive as the male, so her eyes appear smaller (in reality they are about the same size as the male's).

The dark pigmentation is just part of the anerythristic phenotype. I'm thinking the normal snakes might have dark pigment underneath the orange in their eyes, and in anery snakes this gets exposed (anerythistic means they lack red pigment, though in this case they also lack yellow pigment).

Here is a picture of the male I already had, and and you can see his eyes are about the same size as those in the new male.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Also, the females can reach about three feet in length (average is just a bit shorter), and the males stay around eighteen inches.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Nice.
Someone over here just had some saharan sand boa eggs hatch..

Very nice colors on them boas! I've only kept Boa constrictors and even though they have some nice intrincate patterns, their coloration is nowhere as intresting as yours...

Good luck with them, hope they provide you with a long life of enjoyment and company.

Watch for those fangs now! They can get pretty sharp. Lol

J.

Sand boas always look like they are smiling...

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

Watch for those fangs now! They can get pretty sharp. Lol

Primitive snakes like boas and pythons don't have fangs per se, but they do have numerous small teeth (or numerous large teeth, in the case of some larger species). That's not to say snakes without fangs can't to damage... Here's a (feeding response) bite I sustained last night from my Mexican Black Kingsnake who's just under five feet in length:



He managed to latch onto my thumb after I had fed him and I opened the feeding container to get him out with the hook. I just stuck his head under some cold tap water and he let go immediately and was fine after that (it wasn't a defensive bite). I like how you can clearly see all four rows of teeth.

Sand boas always look like they are smiling...

Indeed, I've even seen people who were "afraid" of snakes admit that sand boas are at least a little bit cute.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

i got bit by my red tail when he was about 6ft long right on the back of my hand -- also a feeding response bite. one of his teeth got stuck under my skin and i didn't notice for almost a week. one day i was sitting in class and noticed that the back of my hand was itching. when i went to scratch it, i felt something very hard under the skin. i realized it was the snake tooth and figured out how to stand it up point first and tried to push it through to get it out. i can tell you that is the only time in my life when i've felt pain so intensely that i almost passed out. but luckily the tooth came out and i didn't get an infection...

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

snakes don't really have complex emotions, but I swear these boas were excited to be on sand for the first time in years)

What a thrill to have their needs better met. I am glad they came to your house... and I bet they are too!

The little girl is just so pretty.

I LOVE the photo of the guy you already had. His tongue at a jaunty angle.

I'm really grinning at the thought of them enjoying the sand.

(a good buy too but mostly it's great that they are being cared for so well by someone skilled and knowledgable. Although I adore reptiles I am not knowledgeable enough to care for them)

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Moondog, that's pretty crazy... Could you not feel the tooth in there when you cleaned the wound after it happened? I hope I don't have any kingsnake teeth in my thumb, though since the bite is on a joint I'm sure I would have felt it already.

Wish-ga: Are you interested in keeping herps at all? Spotted]http://www.antaresia.com/antaresia_spotted_python.html[/link] and [link=Children's Pythons are some of the easiest snakes to care for in the hobby, and not just among Australian reptiles.

Here's a picture of the female boa in her cage - when they have it their way, this is pretty much the only thing you'll see of them all week:

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Congrats on the acquisition Natalie! Those ARE beautiful snakes!

i thought i felt a tooth in there at first, but it seemed to go away so i didn't think anything of it again until it started itching. and i didn't realize it was a tooth until i went to scratch it and not only did it feel hard, but i got it to stand up under my skin

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

Wish-ga: Are you interested in keeping herps at all?

I wouldn't rule it out long term but I live in a country that communicates very clearly (through licensing laws and education) that care of exotics is very specialised. Example; pet shops cannot stock reptiles/frogs, must come from a licensed breeder (proof of licence for both individuals in transaction is needed, renewal annually).

I do know someone who's daughter keeps a few snakes and a lizard. So it is possible here but quite rare. I would feel more comfortable and prepared to care for a snake if I could observe another reptile owner.

Even as a three year old I LOVED snakes and at a reptile show had to be discouraged from squeezing them too tightly with excitement and joy.... now *that* is a dyed in the wool reptile lover.... a love one is born with huh?

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~