# Pic of "Zelda" my Kenyan Sand Boa and new BP



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

I snapped a couple pics of my female anery Kenyan sand boa the other day and thought I'd share. She right at 150 grams now, so much larger than she was last July when I got her at only 19 grams. I know many are afraid of snakes, but I think she's quite "cute" for a snake...if you can call a snake cute. 

Zelda was "helping" me sew my new cage set for my boys.


And a closeup
 

Also a pic of my new female pastave BP (she is nameless as of yet). I just got her a couple weeks ago. She's my first BP and is far prettier than these pics... They are a little "blue" for some reason. She weighs 134 grams but is a baby compared to Zelda.


----------



## RexRat (Nov 29, 2013)

Awesome markings on your snakes


----------



## Hollizard (Apr 25, 2014)

Both of them are very cute. I've got a corn snake myself. It's nice to see others on here with a love for both snakes and rats.


----------



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Thanks for the comments!
I'll post some pics of my others below.

I'm glad there are folks here that like snakes too. They make a good compliment to the "fuzzies" because the rats and my cat are "cuddly" while the snakes are more interesting from a behavior standpoint and aesthetically speaking (they're just so neat looking). I also have crested geckos. Being able to feed the snakes f/t really makes keeping them possible for me. Several years ago I looked into keeping them but thought you had to feed live, which I wouldn't do, but since feeding f/t has become so prevalent, it makes keeping them so much easier for more people that don't want to or can't feed live. 

Here's a pic of my BCA male "Jax" (south Brazilian boa constrictor amarali) He's a little over 3 feet and 399 grams. He's the most laid back and outgoing snake I've ever seen. No hissing or striking even straight out of the bag when I got him.
 

My male western hognose "Roger". He's been on a hunger strike and will only eat once every 2 months if I'm lucky...I may be looking for a new home for him locally as I believe he needs a keeper with more experience to get him feeding. he weighs the same 19 grams he did when I purchased him last July at the same time i got Zelda.


I also have another female KSB, Serena, who is a nuclear (line bred for super bright orange and black markings) but I don't have a pic of her.

Thanks for looking at my scaley babies!


----------



## RexRat (Nov 29, 2013)

Wow! Great pictures! Do you have any pics of their cage setup?


----------



## Vegn (Jan 2, 2014)

I had a checkered garter for a while but he would eat fish like they are supposed to like and I just couldn't stand feeding baby mice to him, even f/t. It's hypocritical, IMO. I mean, it's the same thing as feeding live, as far as your snake eating a rat that was once alive goes.


----------



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

RexRat- Haven't taken many as of yet.. 
Here's a couple pics of the boa's tub. It's on a 4' table for reference
Outside
 

Part of the inside. You can see the hides on the warm / cool ends here


The sand boas are in either 10 and 20gl glass tanks (Zelda is in the 20gl) with a screen top, crushed walnut shells for bedding (similar to sand), with water bowl, hides, and a small branch if they feel the urge to climb (but they almost always stay buried). The hognose is in a similar 10gl setup with shredded aspen bedding and a larger branch. The BP is in a very simple quarantine setup with paper towel bedding, cork bark log, water bowl, and two plastic hides. The geckos have a more elaborate planted viv setup at my classroom (I'm a teacher). 

When I move into a house I plan to invest in good racks for the BP, sand boas, and hognose, and get the boa a nice 4'x2'x18" pvc cage. The racks really won't be much to look at similar to these. But they hold in heat better and many snakes are more comfortable in them. The boa's cage will look more like one of these, but from a different manufacturer... Boas are great, but due to how large they get and how active they are, you have to invest some serious $ to get a proper setup. Jax will be "small" when it comes to boas.. max out at maybe 5.5 - 6' and about 15lbs, but he'll need a good sized cage. 

Here's a bonus pic of Jax... He is very photogenic. He's on my husband who is not as "concerned" as he looks, he was just trying to get a good viewing angle at Jax.


----------



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Vegn- you are entitled to your opinion, and I know it's not for everyone.. That said, I see nothing "hypocritical" about me keeping pet rats while feeding some of my snakes f/t mice or rats. It would be hypocrisy for me to say "People that feed their pets live mice are awful and I'd never do that!" and then feed my animals live in private. My earlier statement simply meant that I do not want to feed live and see the rat / mouse suffer and / or see a snake get injured as well. When they are pre-killed using CO2, if done correctly, it's more "humane" than being killed by a snake. it's similar to having "pet" chickens and yet eating chicken or feeding your pet dog food made from chicken. IMO, my rats are "pets" where I'm concerned and they are treated as such... I don't feed my rats to my snakes. 

Whatever animal you take into your care you owe it to the animal to treat it well and give it the proper habitat, food, and sanitation and it is no different be the pet rats, birds, dogs, or reptiles. Some would say that we shouldn't be able to keep snakes because of what they happen to eat, but if you take that argument to it's final limit, then we shouldn't be able to keep cats or dogs because they are predators too (yet no one ever talks about them in the same way). 

I had hoped not to get into this side of things on a post simply about my pet reptiles, so if you have any other qualms about what snakes happen to eat, please do not vent them here. I do not mean this to be rude, but given the subject matter of this forum, I did not want to go into this side of things as I knew some would be disturbed by it.


----------



## JessYep (Apr 27, 2014)

I had a pet snake while I had my rats. I don't see anything hypocritical about it! My snake ate live mice. It was tough the first few feeding and even tougher trying to switch her over to frozen. Unfortunately, she did not take to frozen and died when a sick mouse bit her on the tail. Lesson definitely learned. I might try owning another snake in the future. They are very interesting pets. 

R.I.P Prada the Spider Ball Python


----------



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

JessYep- Sorry to hear that. I love the look of spiders (especially bees and lesser bees) but dont' think I could deal with their neurological issues. I only buy snakes that have already been switched to f/t... At least that's my plan as of now.. The guy we bought the BP from at the last show in Atlanta said that all 1,000 of his snakes are on f/t (his business is kick'sballs). My hognose was eating f/t when I bought him but has not eaten regularly in months... I think he needs a keeper that can either assist feed him or that feeds live, neither of which I can or want to do.  

If you want a solid feeder, I'd recommend looking into a boa, even a small locality (tarahumaras stay 4' and under like a BP) so far my boa has a crazy high feeding response and has NO issues taking f/t, apparently this is very common with boas. I've only had the BP for one feeding so far and things went fine, but she's no where near as keen on eating as my boa.


----------



## JessYep (Apr 27, 2014)

artgecko- Yeah I've looking into boas recently. I just Googled the tarahumara boa...I think I'm in love! I've always loved red-tails but the size they can get makes me a little hesitant to get one since I do own small/medium animals (rats, cat, kinkajou). I would be absolutely heart-broken if it escaped and ate one of my critters. Now that I know about the tarahumara though I am seriously considering getting one. The only problem would be that I live with my parents and they would never let me keep frozen rodents in the freezer lol. I guess it's time to buy a mini freezer ;D. Thanks a ton!


----------



## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

No problem, just a couple things to consider though... 1. Go with a good breeder that specializes in localities so that you know you're getting the real deal (many are mutts and sold as a locality when they are not.. this is important because they will get larger than you want). 2. Ask specifically for a calmer one. The reason I went with a relatively small one instead of a tarahumara or one of the island ones is that the smaller localities can be more flighty / nippy. I know people that have calm ones, but they've asked for calmer animals from the breeder and worked with them to tame them down. 

Also, just another thing to think about, but if you get a good pvc cage (animal plastics, cserpents, etc.) you can request locks so that you can lock the cage when you are not opening it so that there is zero chance of escape (except for human error of course. ). 

I'll pm you with a couple boa-related links.


----------



## JessYep (Apr 27, 2014)

Thank you


----------

