Sexing kenyan sand boa

[Trystan]

I was just wondering if there are any ways to tell the sex of a Kenyan Sand Boa when it is young. Besides probing. S/He is 9.5" right now and I would really like to know what sex it is. Thanx in advance for any help that anyone can give.

Trystan

[Freakkboy]

Best advice is to get it probed by a herp-vet or other experienced herp-keeper. Difficult to sex young snakes visually, sometimes impossible. Popping is another good way if the snakes are very young, first month or so maybe. But if the person doing the popping dosent know what they are doing it can damage the snake for good.

[Trystan]

I wish that I could just go to a vet but there is a by law against this snake here. In a year when I move things will be fine but for now it is a little bit taboo. Guess I will just have to wait it out. lol.

Thanx
Trystan

[telefrag]

well almost 10" isnt that young, since adult males sometimes only peg out at 18"

best way to tell on a sand boa is to look at the tail.

females have very short and stout tails, males have longer thin tails.

I wish mine would stay still for 2 whole seconds, otherwise i'd post a pic of the difference.

[Freakkboy]

edit: messed up on a quote, sorry
telefrag, is the difference big enough to tell even if you dont have two of them to compare, and is that true for the neos?
I am just curious because I am not real familiar w/ sandboas.

[Trystan]

I will try and get a pic of mine in the very near future and see if that helps with the determination. Hope so any way. Thanx for the help guys.

Trystan

[Trystan]

On an unrelated note. I noticed some lose scales around the nose area of my snake today and when I offered water he climbed right into it. i am assuming that this is a sign of sheding but would like a second opinion.

Thanx
Trystan

[Freakkboy]

Originally Posted by Trystan

On an unrelated note. I noticed some lose scales around the nose area of my snake today and when I offered water he climbed right into it. i am assuming that this is a sign of sheding but would like a second opinion.

Thanx
Trystan

Make sure you get a picture of the snake and its nose a.s.a.p. on the site. Loose scales could be either shedding (good thing) or nose rubbing, excessive dehydration, or other nasty things.
Not trying to alarm you, just since you said you cant take it into a vet there, you need to use this forum for all it is worth, which is a lot of info and experienced keepers advice.
Happy herping!

[telefrag]

sounds like it is starting to shed, its hard to tell with them sometimes, they spend so much time hiding, you can easily miss when the animal goes blue.

its really really hard to dehydrate a kenyan sand boa, you could probably withhold water for 5 months and they wouldnt dehydrate, similar to a rosy boa, or other arid species. (not that I would ever condone withholding water from an animal)

just out of curiousity, what are you using for a substrate?

your not using white silica sand are you?
that could cause some abrasions and scale issues, not to mention internal problems if ingested.

regular play sand usually doesnt cause any problems, but silica is totally different

[Trystan]

I am pretty sure that it is not dehydration due to the fact that water is offered and accepted every day to every two days. As for substrate I am using a thin layer of exo terra black desert sand.

How do I go about posting pics here?

Thanx
Trystan

[Trystan]

Here are some pics. You can see the lose scales that I had mentioned before if you look closely at the nose of the snake. Also a shot of the tail to try and identify the sex.

Thanx
Trystan

[RevMojo]

nice snake