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Q: Kenyan Sand Boa Growth Rate?
Posted By:

Tsuhei

In Relation To:

Hera

Hello iHerpers!

I have recently acquired a very cute female Kenyan Sand Boa. I won her from this year's Phoenix Reptile Expo through a raffle drawing on 11/20/2011. When I asked the raffle workers how old she was and who donated her, they did not have an answer...so I have no idea how old she is. Since she's relatively small, I gave her a birth date of 11/05/2011. She's about 8 inches long and weighs a healthy 15 grams.

Now for my question:  How quickly do Kenyan Sand Boas grow? Should I expect her to be full grown at a year old? Or will she be half of her full grown length at one year? I understand it's hard to give a definite answer, but anything vague or examples from other owners would be very helpful (in inches and/or grams, please). :)

Thanks!

(As for the included picture, she's just been switched to aspen bedding. I don't feed her in her enclosure - I feed her in a seperate sterilite tub. Her tank is also a temporary 10 gallon tank until she grows a little. When she does grow, she will be upgraded to a 20 gallon.)


Attached Photos:


Points: 100
Topics: General Health
Tags: Sandboa
Species: Boas > Small Boas > Gongylophis colubrinus
Administrative: Show/Hide

Accepted Answer 12/11/2011 7:00:22 AM

abi21491

Unfortunately there is no way to know how old she is without being told by her breeder. She could very well be 1 month old or up to a year old. Feeding schedules have more to do with size and growth than age. I've had Kenyans born at 9 grams and get to 15 grams in a couple weeks and I've also bought Kenyans from other breeders who were 1+ year old and still only around 15 grams. 

On a good feeding schedule (and if she is definitely female) you can expect her to get around 50-75 grams in a year. In 2 years she will be around 200-300 grams more than likely. Female Kenyans are known to get up to 500-600 grams normally and some as big as 1000 grams. It takes several years to reach those sizes though. Males on the other hand top out around 100 grams, rarely getting bigger than 150 grams. Females are ready to breed at 300+ grams and males at 80+ grams. Hope this helps!

 
Author Comment 12/11/2011 10:17:09 AM

Tsuhei

Fantastic! She is definitely a female (I was able to catch a LLL Reptile worker still packing up and she confirmed that Hera is a female...I'm a tad irritated that she popped Hera at such a young age though. I don't think there has been damage done, but I'm keeping an eye on her). I wish I knew her age...but that's why I made up a birthday for her just for my own sake. :)

So far, I have been feeding her a pinkie every 7 days (leaves a nice bump in her belly, too...pinkie is 1 to 1.5x her belly width). She has gained 5 grams since I won her on November 11, 2011.

Thank you very much for your answer. :) However, do you know a rough estimate on length in inches for the grams listed above? I know it's extremely hard to throw out a number based on the grams, but a rough idea from ideal smallest length to largest length would be very nice.

 
Member Comment 12/11/2011 10:22:40 AM

abi21491

Popping is actually recommended to be done early on, the younger the better - of course some snakes shouldn't be popped early (such as Green Tree Pythons) but sand boas are fine with it as long as the person does it properly. So no need to worry :)

That feeding schedule sounds good, so you're on the right track. 

I don't make a habit of measuring any snakes since I do everything by weight, but if I had to guess I'd say at 50-75g the snake will be around 12-18". 100-200 grams 18-24", 300-500g 24-30+ inches. The largest sand boa female I've seen was around 1000 grams and 36" if I remember correctly. She was old too though, remember that snakes never stop growing (the growth rate just slows significantly as they reach larger sizes).

 
Author Comment 12/11/2011 10:28:13 AM

Tsuhei

Oh that's really good to hear that the early pop isn't going to be an issue! :) What a relief.

Sounds like she's got some growing to do! A 1000 gram KSB would be breath taking to see in person...were you able to take photos of her?

Thank you again for being my fountain of information. :)

 
Member Comment 12/11/2011 10:31:37 AM

abi21491

It definitely isn't common to get that large but it definitely is awesome to see. I actually didn't see her in person, but a photo of her. I've tried to find it but can't seem to (I saw the picture years ago). She was being held by someone in the photo so you really could get an idea of how big she was.

No problem, glad to help!

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