Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

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Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

Postby Mr Jingles » Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:12 pm

I noticed something odd tonight in Daisy's behaviour. She is a Kenyan sand boa, not too sure about her age, but could be around 9 months perhaps. Normally I'll see her head poke out for short amounts of time and if I'm lucky she'll humour me and sail around on the sand in the evening. However, tonight she did something I've not seen her do yet. She came out from under the sand and it looked like she danced like a cobra for a few moments with the top part of her body lifted up, then she rolled herself up like she was constricting, stretched herself out and sailed off again. After a few moments she dived back underneath the sand. I got a pic of her just before she dissappeared again, not sure if that would help. Should I be worried? Should I take her to the vet?
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Re: Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

Postby Lillypod » Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:02 pm

It could be stargazing or something like that, but I'd rather wait for someone who knows more.
3-1-4 Leopard Gecko
1-1-2 Bearded Dragon
0-1 Brown House Snake
2-3 Ball Python
1-1 Western Hognose
1-1 Kenyan Sand Boa
3-2 Corn Snake
0-0-1 Bosc Monitor
0-1 Taiwanese rat snake
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Re: Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

Postby Mr Jingles » Wed Jul 24, 2013 5:39 am

Thanks Lillypod, what does stargazing mean? Is that something bad? I'm still very new with snakes, and don't know a lot
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Re: Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

Postby Lillypod » Wed Jul 24, 2013 7:17 am

http://www.anapsid.org/stargaze.html
http://www.petmd.com/reptile/conditions ... g_syndrome
http://savethereptiles.wordpress.com/20 ... in-snakes/

Here are a few sites you can read about it, but like I said, it may be wiser to wait for someone with more experience so that they can pinpoint the problem.
3-1-4 Leopard Gecko
1-1-2 Bearded Dragon
0-1 Brown House Snake
2-3 Ball Python
1-1 Western Hognose
1-1 Kenyan Sand Boa
3-2 Corn Snake
0-0-1 Bosc Monitor
0-1 Taiwanese rat snake
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Re: Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

Postby Bushviper » Wed Jul 24, 2013 5:40 pm

I would not worry about her. That was not star gazing. It could be that she has mites. Read up on them and see if that could be your problem.
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Re: Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

Postby Lillypod » Wed Jul 24, 2013 6:38 pm

Oh jeah! I forgot about mites, see I said to wait for someone who knows more.
3-1-4 Leopard Gecko
1-1-2 Bearded Dragon
0-1 Brown House Snake
2-3 Ball Python
1-1 Western Hognose
1-1 Kenyan Sand Boa
3-2 Corn Snake
0-0-1 Bosc Monitor
0-1 Taiwanese rat snake
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Re: Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

Postby Mr Jingles » Wed Jul 24, 2013 6:59 pm

Cool, thanks BV, do I need to take her to the vet?
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Re: Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

Postby Bushviper » Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:50 am

Not yet. Just have a look if you can see tiny black tick like invertebrates under the skin. You should see the skin lift where the mites are. In that case just search on the forum as to how you should treat them as it has been discussed a few times on here.
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Re: Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

Postby Mr Jingles » Thu Jul 25, 2013 11:13 am

Thank you very much BV, I'll look first thing when I get home later.
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Re: Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

Postby Mr Jingles » Thu Jul 25, 2013 8:34 pm

Ok, I've checked, there is mites. Small little blackish thingies that I can see on the top part of the body and lower part a few as well. She is irritated beyond belief, so I checked and let her go back into her enclosure. I will search and see how to treat, otherwise I'll just ask my vet to help me. Just for a quicky, the snakes are all in their own enclosures, what precaution do I need to take to make sure the others are not going to get them aswell?
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Re: Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

Postby Unforgiven » Fri Jul 26, 2013 4:29 pm

If they are all in the same room, they will most likely all already have mites.

Definitely don't handle them after handling the sand boa. Vapona works for repelling them I think.
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Re: Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

Postby Mr Jingles » Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:52 pm

Hahaha thanks Unforgiven, I don't handle them, I'm a real girl, too scared of them. My son is not visiting this weekend, so on Monday I will let him put them into containers and I will let my vet handle and treat them lol
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Re: Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

Postby Unforgiven » Mon Jul 29, 2013 11:29 am

Just make sure you get something to clear the mites out of their tanks. A good start will be getting rid of all the substrate and a deep clean. If you only treat the snakes, the mites will just come back
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Re: Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

Postby Mr Jingles » Mon Jul 29, 2013 4:38 pm

Ah, that makes sense, I will chuck away the sand that I have in the tanks and wash and sterilise the tanks and put new sand in the tanks. Thanks for all the advise
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Re: Kenyan Sand Boa, acting odd or not?

Postby Poepstring » Mon Jul 29, 2013 11:19 pm

You don't have to chuck your sand.

There is plenty products in the pet shops safe to use & specific to reptile enclosures / housings etc to disinfect & use as anti -mite spays

A little bit of bleach diluted in water works well to a washing aid for wiping the cage down.
Do it thoroughly, those little bastards get into every tiny little seam, crack or even in the light fittings if the infestation is severe.
It just takes two little $%^& or one pregnant female for them to take over the enclosure again.
As for the sand, I'd wash it in a stronger bleach solution, rinse it well with some fresh water, (use a coarse cloth to contain the sand while washing over a bucket as it works as a fine net)

Once dried & not smelling like a bleach factory, place in a steel pan and in an oven for a few minutes at 120-150deg (use a spoon to stir the sand in order to spread the heat in between). Just to ensure no living organism is still living in your sand.. for peace of mind, I do the "heat treatment" even with freshly bought sand. Sometimes those bought "sterilized" substrate packets were stored in dodgy corners of the pet shop.
I believe you can use the MW, but never tried it.

Mites can be brought into your tank by any ornament you place into the tank that has not been disinfected.
Wood & even older newspapers kept in storage for use later in the snake cages helped for a mite explosion in my experience.
I nuke all wooden objects with boiling kettle water before I disinfect with diluted bleach.

Also keep in mind that prey items, regardless of the "quality supplier" you purchase from when feeding live prey (opposed to frozen & thawed) can at some point give off mites.

Good Luck
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