Eryx colubrinus
🔤 Taxonomy
Eryx colubrinus is the accepted name followed here for the Kenyan sand boa. Older hobby material may list the species as Gongylophis colubrinus.
English common names used in the hobby:
- Kenyan sand boa
📌 Description
Eryx colubrinus is a non-venomous snake kept for observation and careful handling. Adults usually reach 45-90 cm, with a realistic captive lifespan of 15-25 years. Correct heat, secure hides, escape-proof construction, and suitable prey size matter more than decorative complexity.
Handling should be calm and brief, especially for newly acquired or recently fed animals. Large constrictors require a realistic safety plan: do not handle powerful adults alone, and never let children manage them without direct adult control.
Kenyan sand boas are compact but not inactive. Much of their normal behaviour happens under the substrate, so a hidden snake is not automatically a stressed snake.
A good keeper should be able to explain why the enclosure is shaped the way it is: where the snake hides, where it warms up, where it cools down, how it drinks, and how it can move without being forced into the open.
🌍 Distribution
East and northeast Africa; dry savanna, semi-desert, sandy soils, and rodent burrows.
For captive care, the useful lesson from this distribution is to provide secure retreats, a real thermal gradient, species-appropriate humidity, and enough usable space for normal movement. Captive-bred animals with clear origin records are strongly preferable.
Range information should be used as a care clue, not as a weather-station copy. Look at the animal’s broad habitat, shelter use, seasonal rhythm, and access to moisture, then create stable choices inside the enclosure.
⚖️ Legal status
As checked against current official sources in April 2026, Eryx colubrinus is covered by CITES Appendix II through the Boidae higher-taxon listing. Under EU wildlife-trade rules, Appendix II snakes are normally treated as Annex B unless a stricter listing applies. The species is not relevant to the Bern Convention because it is not native to Europe. Local rules on ownership, import, sale, transport, breeding, dangerous-animal registration, and proof of legal origin may still apply; keep purchase and breeding records.
🧭 Life stage differences
Babies and juveniles should start in smaller, secure enclosures where feeding, shedding, and waste can be monitored closely. They still need a warm hide, cool hide, water, and cover, but oversized bare spaces often make them defensive or reluctant to feed.
Adults need more floor area, stronger fixtures, and a layout that lets the snake thermoregulate without constant exposure. For very large species, enclosure planning must happen before purchase: the adult cage, safe cleaning routine, and long-term prey supply are part of basic care, not optional upgrades.
🤌 Husbandry
Use an escape-proof enclosure with front access where possible, secure ventilation, and all heat sources controlled by thermostats. Minimum adult housing: 75 x 40 x 30 cm for an adult female; smaller males can use less but benefit from space. Bigger is recommended when it creates more usable movement, better thermal zones, and safer maintenance.
Provide at least two tight hides, visual barriers, and stable climbing or resting structure according to the species. Do not mix snakes. Quarantine new animals and track feeding, sheds, weight, and defecation.
Daily care should be predictable: check temperatures, water, locks, faeces, urates, shed condition, and behaviour before disturbing the snake. A simple written log makes feeding problems, weight loss, repeated bad sheds, or seasonal changes much easier to interpret.
💡 Lighting
A clear 10-12 hour day-night cycle is useful. UVB is not mandatory for survival when whole prey and correct heat are provided, but low to moderate UVB can support natural behaviour if shade is always available. Treat most of these snakes as Ferguson Zone 1; measure when possible because mesh, distance, reflector, and lamp age change real exposure. Avoid visible night lights.
🌡 Heating and temperature
Practical target range: warm burrow/basking 32-35 °C, warm side 29-31 °C, cool side 24-26 °C, night 21-24 °C. Measure warm surfaces with an infrared thermometer and ambient zones with digital probes. Every heat source must be controlled by a thermostat. Heat rocks and unguarded bulbs are unsafe; large pythons and boas can burn themselves or break weak fixtures.
💧 Humidity and water
Provide fresh water at all times. Target humidity: 30-50%, with a small humid hide for shed. Use substrate choice, water-bowl placement, partial ventilation control, and a humid hide to manage shedding. Chronic wet bedding causes scale and respiratory problems; chronic dryness causes retained shed and dehydration.
🌿 Enclosure and decoration
The enclosure should include a warm hide, cool hide, water bowl, rough but safe shedding surfaces, and enough cover for the animal to move without feeling exposed. Arboreal species need secure branches and elevated perches; heavy terrestrial species need floor space and furnishings that cannot collapse.
Juvenile enclosures should be simple enough to inspect but not bare. Adult enclosures must be built for strength: locks, cable ports, sliding doors, and ventilation panels are common escape points.
For burrowing snakes, substrate depth is functional furniture. It should allow the snake to bury itself while still letting the keeper spot-clean and monitor waste. Avoid dusty bedding and any substrate that stays wet in the warm zone.
🪳 Feeding
Feed appropriately sized frozen-thawed prey whenever possible. Prey should generally match the snake’s widest body diameter, adjusted for species build and age. Babies usually feed every 5-7 days, juveniles every 7-10 days, and adults every 10-21 days depending on species, temperature, season, and body condition.
Avoid routine live feeding, oversized prey, and handling for at least 48 hours after meals. Refusal to feed is often caused by wrong temperatures, exposure, shedding, breeding season, stress, or prey presentation.
Adjust feeding by body condition, not by appetite alone. A snake that always eats can still become obese, while a seasonal refusal may be normal if weight is stable and the enclosure is correct.
🥚 Breeding
Breeding should use healthy, mature, well-established animals with known identity and origin. Many pythons and boas respond to seasonal changes in temperature, light, or humidity, but cooling must never be attempted with underweight, sick, or newly acquired animals.
This is a live-bearing boa, so breeding plans must include space for newborn snakes rather than egg incubation. Keep the female in good body condition, avoid excessive moisture, and prepare secure small setups with shallow substrate for neonates. Keep records and avoid producing hybrids, unclear locality crosses, or more offspring than can be housed and placed responsibly.
🩺 Common problems
Common problems include retained shed, respiratory infection, mites, burns, mouth inflammation, obesity, dehydration, regurgitation, and injuries from escapes or unstable decor. Warning signs include wheezing, bubbles at the nostrils, open-mouth breathing, repeated soaking, patchy shed, refusal to feed with weight loss, swelling, twisting posture, or repeated regurgitation.
Consult a reptile- or exotic-animal veterinarian for severe weakness, injury, breathing signs, swelling, repeated regurgitation, or prolonged refusal to eat.
If a problem appears, first verify the basics with instruments: warm surface, cool end, night temperature, humidity, hide fit, and prey size. Guessing at treatment before correcting the environment often wastes the most important recovery window.
📌 Conclusion
Eryx colubrinus does best when the keeper plans for the adult animal, not only the attractive juvenile. Secure housing, measured heat, appropriate humidity, correct feeding, and honest legal records are the foundation of responsible snake keeping.
📚 Sources and further reading
- GBIF species backbone entry for Eryx colubrinus
- CITES Appendices, checked April 2026
- EU wildlife-trade references, checked April 2026