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Atlas / Library / Boidae / Kenyan Sand Boa
BeginnerCrepuscular · waiting for duskCITES II
Boidae

Kenyan Sand Boa

Gongylophis colubrinusงูโบอาทราย

Part of this is not on the page we cite. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and some of the degrees above are not stated there. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. reptifiles.com

Photograph: Viki at German Wikipedia · CC BY-SA

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. Kenyan Sand Boa is crepuscular, so what it is doing changes with the light.

Burrowing · warm · dryFrom the sheet: warm end 32–35°C, humidity 30–40%

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

CITES II is a global listing and holds in every country. National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/gongylophis-colubrinus

‹ All husbandry guides
warm end32–35 °C
cool end24–27 °C
Humidity30–40 %
Enclosure75×30×30
Diet7–10 days

The numbers

Thermal gradient

152025303540 °C
24–27°Cool side
32–35°Warm side

A real gradient, 32–35°C warm against 24–27°C cool, so the animal chooses. The sheet states no separate night figure.

Why

Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet stateswarm 32-35 °C (90-95 °F) / cool 24-27 °C (75-80 °F) / night Heat off at night

Humidity

30–40%Target RH

The sheet states30-40% + one humid hide

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m40–80 cm ♀
1520100400 cm
40–80 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal. This sheet gives a figure per sex; the one drawn is marked.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Family / Order
Boidae (Erycinae) / Squamata
Distribution
Kenya, Egypt, Sudan; arid sandy soils
Adult size
♀ 40–80 cm · ♂ 30–45 cm
Lifespan (captivity)
15–20+ yrs
Activity
Crepuscular; fossorial (burrower)
Temperament
Very docile, small, easy

Morphs

7 morphs, with how each one is inherited. 1 of them carry a documented welfare cost, and those are listed first. A morph list that hides this sells a pattern and says nothing about what it costs the animal.

ParadoxanomalyMosaic anomalySuper form: Caution
AlbinoRecessiveSuper form:
AnerythristicRecessiveSuper form:
NuclearDominantSuper form:
Snow (Albino+Anery)comboSuper form:
SplashCo-dominantSuper form:
StripedLine-bredSuper form:

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

substrate32–35 °Cwater30–40 % RH75 cm30 cm
warm sidewatersubstrate
50100150200 cm
75 × 30 × 30 cmWidth × depth × height
23dm² of floor
Hides: not in our dataUVB: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet states75 × 30 × 30 cm (30×12×12 in) adult

Warm side / hot spot
32–35 °C (90–95 °F)
Cool side
24–27 °C (75–80 °F)
Night
Heat off at night
Humidity
30–40% + one humid hide
Ventilation
Important — species is RI-prone if cold/damp
Min. size
75 × 30 × 30 cm (30×12×12 in) adult
Substrate
3–6 in aspen / ground walnut for burrowing
Water
Small bowl (they rarely soak)

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Feeding rhythm

Juvenile
every 5–7 d
Adult
every 7–10 d
4Meals in 28 days · adult

Twenty-eight days, one row. Each band is a meal window. This sheet states a figure for each age, so each age has its row.

Why

The windows widen as they go because the interval is a range: four meals after a 10–14 day cycle land anywhere between day 40 and day 56. A young animal's row is drawn only where the sheet gives one: working it out by dividing the adult interval would be inventing a ration.

The sheet statesMice (adults may take weaned rats) · Every 7–10 days

Staple
Mice (adults may take weaned rats)
Prey size
≈ girth of the snake
Method
Frozen-thawed or live
Juveniles
Every 5–7 days
Adults
Every 7–10 days
Feeding note
Ambush feeder — strikes from under substrate

Behaviour and handling

HandlingDocile; spends most time buried
BurrowingHighly fossorial: deep substrate essential
CohabitationHouse individually (cannibalism risk)
DefenseShy; may musk; rarely bites
ChildrenGood, small & calm, supervised

Reproduction

Sexual maturity
♀ 2–3 yrs · ♂ 1.5 yrs
Reproduction
Live-bearing
Litter
6–20 neonates
Gestation
~4–5 months
Breeding trigger
Winter cooling

Common health problems

Respiratory infection
Signsclicking, open-mouth breathing
Preventkeep warm hot spot + dry + ventilation
Scale rot
Signsbelly lesions
Preventkeep substrate dry
Retained shed
Signsstuck skin
Preventprovide a humid hide
Impaction
Signsfrom loose substrate ingestion
Preventfeed in a tub / correct prey size

When to see a vet

This is not veterinary advice. If red flags appear (open-mouth breathing, months of weight loss, 'stargazing', persistent regurgitation) consult a qualified exotic (herp) veterinarian. Quarantine new arrivals 30–90 days.

Good to know

  • Spends ~90% of life buried, eyes on top of the head to ambush from sand.
  • One of the smallest, most beginner-friendly boas.
  • Popular morphs include anery, albino, paradox and snow.

Common questions

Why do I never see it?

It's a burrower: normal to stay hidden in substrate.

Does it get big?

No: one of the smallest pet boas.

Deep substrate really needed?

Yes: essential for welfare.

What it needs

Enclosure at least 75 × 30 × 30 cmbecause enclosure75 × 30 × 30 cm (30×12×12 in) adult
A heat sourcebecause tempwarm 32-35 °C (90-95 °F) / cool 24-27 °C (75-80 °F) / night Heat off at night
A thermostat to regulate itbecause tempwarm 32-35 °C (90-95 °F) / cool 24-27 °C (75-80 °F) / night Heat off at night
A thermometerbecause tempwarm 32-35 °C (90-95 °F) / cool 24-27 °C (75-80 °F) / night Heat off at night
A hygrometerbecause humidity30–40% + one humid hide

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation.

  • Enclosure 75×30×30
  • Heat mat + thermostat
  • Deep aspen substrate
  • Humid hide
  • Small water bowl
  • Thermometer/hygrometer
  • F/T mice

Sources

Others in this group

What this sheet states

100%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

Every field this product runs on is stated here. That is not a claim that the values are right: it says what the sheet states, not whether it is true. Whether a human has read it is the badge at the top of this page.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.