Kenyan Sand Boa's

Well I got a KSB, and I was just wondering what the BEST way was to keep these guys. Right now I'm about to transfer her over to a 10 gallon with a couple heat lights. Right now the basking spot is going form like 95-97, i had to add a 40watt red heat light to keep the ambient at 77 as well. Using aspen, and have a small water dish and little hide as well for cosmetic purposes mostly. Although i did catch her using it a couple times already. So yeah if any of you have one and are a sucessful keeper let me know!! Thanks!

Whoa. A heat light is pointless, as you will probably very very rarely ever see your kenyan. You need to get an UTH controlled by a thermostat, or a dimmer switch, and set it to a certain temperature, somethign not to hot, because your kenyan will either lay on it or around it at the bottom of the tank. The heat lamp & red heat light are a waste of money(not sure who told you to get them). Aspen is fine, It's alot better then sand as sand gets really irritating to clean, and really hard actually, because the kenyans will defecate at the very bottom of the tank. Get rid of the lights definately and get an UTH, you can even do an UTH like I did on both sides, a bigger one for warm, smaller one for cool, set both on a dimmer switch(seperate) and keep the smaller one turned down more then the warm one. Make sure of the temperatures though as you don't want your snake to get burned. If it's a baby kenyan then your 10 gal is fine for now. Also just keep the tank up higher and the temperatures should regulate themselves.

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Originally Posted by Neal

Whoa. A heat light is pointless, as you will probably very very rarely ever see your kenyan. You need to get an UTH controlled by a thermostat, or a dimmer switch, and set it to a certain temperature, somethign not to hot, because your kenyan will either lay on it or around it at the bottom of the tank. The heat lamp & red heat light are a waste of money(not sure who told you to get them). Aspen is fine, It's alot better then sand as sand gets really irritating to clean, and really hard actually, because the kenyans will defecate at the very bottom of the tank. Get rid of the lights definately and get an UTH, you can even do an UTH like I did on both sides, a bigger one for warm, smaller one for cool, set both on a dimmer switch(seperate) and keep the smaller one turned down more then the warm one. Make sure of the temperatures though as you don't want your snake to get burned. If it's a baby kenyan then your 10 gal is fine for now. Also just keep the tank up higher and the temperatures should regulate themselves.

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Uh oh, you mean my going on three generations of kenyans who have NEVER had bottom heat, ONLY heat lights, well, heck, what do you mean?

They eat. They breed. They're nice. They're pretty. They're healthy.

What is the big no-no about heat lights?

What is the non-big no-no about heat lights? Who uses heat lights, out of all the people who keep all species. Generations change. Also he said he had a few heat lights, not just one. Best option for a kenyan is a UTH. Ask the people who have been breeding them, and have kept them for a long time.

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Originally Posted by Neal

What is the non-big no-no about heat lights? Who uses heat lights, out of all the people who keep all species. Generations change. Also he said he had a few heat lights, not just one. Best option for a kenyan is a UTH. Ask the people who have been breeding them, and have kept them for a long time.

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Let me just do that, the asking that is.

"Self," I say to me, "what would you think of using lights to heat sand boas?"

"Well," I'd say back to myself, "I think it would be just fine. In fact I've been using them on my sand boas for many years."

"But Self," I'd then say to me, "there are some out there who say it won't work, that you can't do it, that it's bad for the snakes."

"There were those," I would then say to myself, "who once were so sure that the earth was flat, that they killed those who disagreed. Ever hear of anyone falling of the planet?"

"You see," I would then advise those who are smart enough to listen, "there are few things that can only be done one way. You will, however, find many a narrow minded expert who will insist, even in the eye of incontrovertible proof to the contrary, that theirs' is the ONLY correct and universally accepted method for whatever subject has mounted them on their soapbox. Generally and specifically I would advise against paying them any more mind that you would a knarly booger."

"Huh?" I'd say to me.

"Just pick it and flick it but don't go getting your fingers all goopy. Lights are just fine."

LOL, ok you're so right, let me tell you, NOT! A lot more people with more experience then either of us, don't recommend lights. Yes he can use lights, but its not necessary, and it's a waste of money. UTH is the best way to go, so why not recommend it?

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Originally Posted by Neal

LOL, ok you're so right, let me tell you, NOT! A lot more people with more experience then either of us, don't recommend lights. Yes he can use lights, but its not necessary, and it's a waste of money. UTH is the best way to go, so why not recommend it?

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I wonder what those sand boas evolved to do in order to heat themselves.

Did they delve ever deeper into the earth's very crust in search of the needed warmth?

OR......

Did the lay in the sand, sufficiently buried in the shallows so that they could both absorb the heat from ABOVE and be hidden from potential predators as WELL as potential prey?

Thor Hyardal (?), the world wants to know, are there sand boas at the Center of the World?

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Originally Posted by wilomn

I wonder what those sand boas evolved to do in order to heat themselves.

Did they delve ever deeper into the earth's very crust in search of the needed warmth?

OR......

Did the lay in the sand, sufficiently buried in the shallows so that they could both absorb the heat from ABOVE and be hidden from potential predators as WELL as potential prey?

Thor Hyardal (?), the world wants to know, are there sand boas at the Center of the World?

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Ok, so lets say.. Hmm... Are we in Africa? Well darn, I don't think we are, so we're not going to match the conditions to the 100% that they would be in their home territory. Another question... Hmm I wonder if the breeder used a heatlamp or belly heat, or even the tub system. I don't know but i'm sure willing to gosly gee put everything I own that it wasn't a heat lamp.

It's obvious you like talk due to that violation worth 50 points. Wow. Use that brain for something useful.

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Originally Posted by Neal

Ok, so lets say.. Hmm... Are we in Africa? Well darn, I don't think we are, so we're not going to match the conditions to the 100% that they would be in their home territory. Another question... Hmm I wonder if the breeder used a heatlamp or belly heat, or even the tub system. I don't know but i'm sure willing to gosly gee put everything I own that it wasn't a heat lamp.

It's obvious you like talk due to that violation worth 50 points. Wow. Use that brain for something useful.

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Trust me Sonnyjim, some have been amused. I am not alone in my mirth.

Thank you eversomuch.

Either way works, why try to argue a point that has so clearly been proven wrong?

Ahhhhh.....Youth today, I fear for the future.

...
They're not ball pythons. Much less humidity requirements.

I have to go with Wil on this one.. I use crushed walnut shells (understanding they are not the best), but even with aspen, it spreads the heat evenly over the top of the substrate, and giving more thermoregulation options deeper into the substrate.

Now I'm going to disappear and never look at this thread again.

You fear the future, lol. That is rather pathetic. I just said to use a UTH, its more useful, and obviously majority people use them aswell. Heat lamp isn't really useful, I mean don't get me wrong, for a basking spot, they're great, but you definately don't need more then 1 heat lamp, as he stated which is why I said what I did. However another proven statistic is that heating lamps kill humidity, not saying that the sand boa needs a ton of humidity.

The point is..

Either way, for a KSB, a heat lamp or UTH is acceptable because little to no humidity is needed except during a shed.

It's not worth an argument, because it doesn't matter. You can recommend UTH while others recommend a heat lamp..either one is fine and the UTH would probably cost more with a T-Stat.

With a BP a UTH is never desired because a higher humidity range is needed. I however use a heat lamp with my BCI alongside a UTH because he spends so much time in branches above the UTH. I end up spraying plenty extra for humidity too. The world had not ended because I used a heat lamp. ;)

and I am apart of this youth?!?!?! NAY I say, NAY.........

LOL


Yeah Wes....if you had some EXPERIENCE....you would know!!!!! duh!

Neal:

I know people who keep, breed or have bred sand boas and use overhead heat. If you'd take the time to actually reads Wilomn's posts - it appears he breeds eryx and uses overhead heat and has no issues............what's the point in going around in circles on this?

I'm not a big fan of belly heat and use mainly radiant heat panels, but several of my older cages are still outfitted with heat lamps. I use heat lamps in my ackie enclosures and have no problems maintaining proper humidity or temperatures.

Does that mean that belly heat is worthless? Of course not. It's not my heating method of choice but I am not going to spend my time trying to convince people that use it successfully that they are wrong and I'm right.

Bottom line - heat lights aren't pointless. You may not like them, but your opinion of them does not negate the success other people have in using them.

I wasn't negating the success of other people using them. I've just seen more stuff go wrong from people using heat lights rather then UTH or the heat panels. That's what I was recommending. More then one heatlight does seem a bit un-necessary to me though. I'm not sure why you would need more then one light to heat a tank, unless its something huge?

holy crap people!!

RELAX!!

Take a breath...ok, feel better now?

Alright first of all. Reason for heat lamps is this, I live in upstate ny and the temp of my room is 65. Now hmmmm, does that sound a bit low to you? I know I'm not a reptile expert but I know Kenyan San Boa's are from like, Africa right? Ok so that means my ambient temperature is too low. Do you get that? Ok now here something you UTH fanatics don't seem to grasp very well. UTH's do almost nothing to ambient temps. They are very useful for basking spots, when you have something to regulate them but really don't effect ambient temps. So now your gonna say, "well why don't you use a uth and a red heat light instead of both?" Because the red heat light doesn't make enough heat by itself. With them combined I have a cool side of 77, a warm side 80ish, and a basking spot of approx 95. To me conditions seem optimal, to you probably not. Just opinion I suppose, but your method is by no means "better."