#breeding plans

[sandelion]

Kenyan Sand Boa Breeding Pairs (2025) Pt. 2

These two lovely ladies have been starting to show, so I figure I'd go into a similar deep dive as I did with my first pairing! (warning: very long)

TLDR: Pretty sand boa babies on the way! I believe they are due late August or early September. Under the read more I talk a lot about morphs and genetics with picture examples. If you wanna keep tabs on moms and babies, I post frequently on my >>IG<<

The two girls above are Cricket and Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup. They were both paired with Count Chocula. I'll first go into detail about him and what morphs are involved before getting into the girls and the outcome of their pairings.

This is Count Chocula! He is an Anery Splash, possibly het for albino. Let's talk about what that all means.

Mutations

Anery / Anerythristic

Simple recessive trait meaning lacking red pigment, it results in a black or brown and white snake. It only affects the color, pattern is natural variation. Young snakes of this mutation will start out much darker and turn brown as they age. Linebreeding can affect the retention of the dark color. Cricket and Count Chocula are both visual examples of Anery.

Splash

Simple recessive pattern trait similar to Piebald in other species. Both referring to patches of white and/or sometimes other color. In other animals it can be much more random in its placement, but in sand boas it is generally limited to the last 1/4 to 1/2 of the animal. It usually favors a low-expression, though line-breeding does affect the possibility of higher expression! It creeps up the sides and will meet on the back, in extreme examples they can be missing a third or half of their pattern. Chocula is a low to mid expression. Below are some high expression examples to show you what the gene is capable of.

© sandboa69 on Instagram

Albino

Like all the rest, this is a simple recessive trait that is the most recognizable in name. Unlike a lot of other animals, Albino sand boas are not white animals with red eyes. They come in a wide range of colors but are most commonly orange with light eyes (usually green). There are a few different lines of albino in KSBs--Paradox Albino, Bell Albino, and Blonde Albino. Albino without specification is the Bell line, which is the line in this case as well. The second splash picture is an example of albino. Campbell's is also albino, but she's a very yellow example.

Snow

Anery and Albino expressed at the same time is what's called a snow. It is a visual double recessive. Snows are yellow and white animals with dark eyes. They can be pale yellow to a mustard yellow with stark contrast. The third splash picture is a snow.

Predicted Offspring Mutations

Cricket x Count Chocula Anery het. albino, splash x Anery Splash pos. het albino

Since Cricket and Chocula are both visual Anery, all of the babies will be Anery at base.

Visual Splash to het splash will result in each baby having a 1 in 2 chance of being visual Splash.

Now, you may have noticed Chocula is pos het albino, or possibly heterozygous for Albinism. His parents were both carrying one copy of Albino, meaning they weren't visually Albino. This means that because Chocula isn't visually albino, he has a 66% chance of that gene being passed to him. The only way to prove that he carries it is through breeding. He has two opportunities to prove himself. I'll take you through the probability for both instances.

If het albino:

If Chocula proves het albino, every baby will have a 1 in 4 chance of being visual Albino (Snow). The rest will be either het albino, or will not inherit it at all. This is most commonly referred to as a pos het, as there is a sub-100 chance of inheriting the gene. Het to het non-visuals are referred to as 66% pos hets.

If not het albino:

If Chocula does not prove to be het albino, each baby will have a 1 in 2 chance of inheriting one copy of albino from mom. This makes all of the babies 50% pos hets. There is no chance of visual Albinos (Snows) in the litter.

In essence, if there are visual snows in Cricket's litter--Chocula will be proven as het albino.

Here are the full odds of every possibility in the litter.

If Count Chocula proves het albino:

If does not prove het albino:

© MorphMarket calculator

Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup x Count Chocula Albino het splash x Anery Splash pos het albino

This pairing is slightly different in the main fact that there is the possibility of normals. Albinos may appear if Chocula again proves to be het for albino. Anery and Snow are not visually possible in this litter.

If he proves to be het albino, all the babies will have a 1 in 2 chance of being visual Albino, and a 1 in 2 chance of being normal coloration.

If Chocula does not prove to be het albino, all of the babies will be normal coloration-- 100% het albino and anery.

And like Cricket and Chocula's pairing, there are the same odds in terms of Splash. All babies have a 1 in 2 chance of being a visual Splash.

And here are the full probabilities of each outcome!

Parent Info and Variable Expression

Splash is one of my favorite genes due to its random expression.

Count Chocula is a low-mid expression Splash and comes from an extremely variable litter. His splash markings are extremely difficult to photograph because he will never sit straight enough to get the majority of it in frame. His markings start showing up all the way up to the first 1/3 of his body purely on his sides. It's also hard to see because he is only two colors. Splash is so much easier to see on normal and albino versions because there is a third color to tell the difference between the belly color and body color. Here you can hopefully see what I mean. Watch the lower portion of his sides close to the bottom and how the pattern starts disappearing and more and more white starts growing.

Chocula was produced by a very good friend of mine and has some of the most extreme examples of splash I've ever seen as his littermates. Below are his parents and the litter he was born into.

You can see the extremely variable nature of the splash gene when good lines and linebreeding has been put into it. All of Chocula's siblings are splash, and you can see the lower expression of the dam. Even though Chocula was one of the lower expressions of his litter, he still nicely expresses the gene and has the potential to pass along this high expression lineage.

Count Chocula is intermediate in terms of cleanliness. I've seen much cleaner and I've also seen much muddier. In sand boas a "clean" background is desirable as it makes the animal appear higher contrast and the borders are more crisp. Chocula does have some of what I call grittiness to his whites, and on his brown there is quite a bit of white tipping. This is something you won't always see when they're young and develops as the age. The splash markings can look unclean but as of right now I believe is it just random variance.

He looks the most like his dad in his color and pattern (besides the splash markings) as both have busy patterns that leave very little background. His mom on the other hand has lots of white background present. Mom has a small amount of splash markings and dad has a beautiful chunk of splash markings. Chocula doesn't appear to have much splash markings but most of it is all along his sides. His mom has that grittiness to her white. I'm not sure if the grittiness has a part to play in the oreo milkshake-like appearance to the splash markings, but a lot of Chocula's siblings have this trait in their splash markings, as well as his dad. Time will tell!

Now, Cricket and Campbells came to me together and their history is a bit unclear. They have been through a few homes and I've been told they originate from Warren Treacher and come from high expression Splash lines. Obviously because they aren't visual splash, and I have no true parent/pairing information I have nothing but word to go off of. It is kind of a gamble but even if it doesn't turn out the way I'm hoping I'll still be able to prove out Chocula and make some incredible hets. Since I know Chocula comes from high expression lines, and I was told that Cricket and Campbells do, I'm hoping for some real stunners from these litters.

One last minor thing is even though Campbells and Cricket came to me together and originate from the same breeder, I am not sure if they are related at all. They came to me about the same size (not fully grown) and as I've had them--Cricket has gotten significantly bigger and Campbells has stayed about 100g smaller. I was unsure if they were related at first but this makes me sort of believe they are not related, and if they are they must not be same parent siblings. The other factor that comes about with this lack of knowledge is that Cricket is an Anery het for albino, but Campbells was not sold to me as being het anery, just Albino. Some breeders do not sell animals as possible hets if it is a low chance, some will but some won't. It may be the case and just got lost in translation between homes, or was not something that got disclosed from the original breeder. If somehow she turns out to be het anery and it is reflected in the litter, I will be ecstatic but I am not expecting that to happen. If it does happen it will be more likely that these two are related in some way.

What I'm hoping to achieve from both pairings:

Proving out Chocula to be het. albino

Prove Campbells unique coloring to be inheritable

Create high expression normal Splash to holdback

If Chocula proves het albino, holdback high expression Albino Splash

If particularly impressive, holdback high expression Anery and/or Snow Splash

Create even tempered offspring

Create offspring with voracity for frozen/thawed

Chocula has an extremely docile temperament. He also eats frozen/thawed, but does not have the biggest appetite. He does eat reliably, his food response is not very strong and usually doesn't strike prey off tongs and prefers to be drop fed instead.

Campbells and Cricket are very similar to each other in that they both have the same temperament and voracity for food. They both can be a bit defensive in their cages but calm down right away after being taken out. They also both are extremely food motivated and never miss meals. They slam any prey whether I give it motion or not. I actually have found that they behave a bit less bitey after I started drop feeding them. It seems to have lowered the anticipation of having to catch food, making it nicer for me when I have to clean :)

I feel Chocula and the girls compliment each other very well in these regards, and I'm hoping the babies will be a perfect balance of having the moms' voracity but the dad's temperament.

Will Offspring be Available?

Cherche did not have a very large litter so I did not have enough to offer publicly. Having two gravid snakes at the same time gives better odds that there will be enough to offer when they are ready for new homes. I may keep back several from these litters depending on what exactly comes out. All of the high expressions may be kept back if there are any, but non-splash and lower expressions may be available. But yes, I am hoping there will be individuals available!

I am the most active and update most frequently on my Instagram. If you were interested in these litters, keep tabs over there. My DMs are always open as well, on both Tumblr and IG. I don't have a waitlist in place, but if you are in the United States and may be interested in a baby please privately message with me. I live in Northern New Jersey so if you are in my area I am happy to do a local pick up to avoid the price and stress of shipping! Please note if you are living in New Jersey, a permit is required to own exotic species which is info I can provide for you and help with. If you are not in NJ please make sure this species is legal for you to own or if you live in a permit or restricted state!

In my previous deep dive I went into depth about the prices I would be placing on the few morphs I was expecting. Splash is one of those can-be-pricey type morphs that are very variable in price and no two seem to ever be in the same price range. Their price is generally directly correlated to the expression of the gene and is a case by case price. Ballpark pricing would be too wide and doesn't really make sense to put here. It might be a deep dive of its own and can be very subjective, not everyone agrees on the price. I've seen so many posted on Morph Market that I found to be extremely overpriced. Its especially subjective when it comes to labeling the expression of the splash gene. Many people will label individuals as high expression when to me they are medium or low. Obviously higher expressions come with higher price tags.

If you were interested in hearing my opinion of Splash pricing/want a ballpark, just DM me I'm happy to detail it outside of this already super long post.

If you read this whole thing here are some snakes for you

⊹ ࣪ ˖⋆⑅˚₊𓆙𓆙𓆙𓆙𓆙𓆙𓆙₊˚⊹♡ ˚ ⋆｡˚

[sataraborzoi]

Look who I picked up today! Miss Georgia Peach from @starswift-borzoi. She has claimed a spot on the sofa :)

[dergindotcom]

Some of my future breeding plans

[hearts-of-fire]

So I have four new snakes and I really want to introduce them all to you but I also want to give them the appropriate amount of time to settle in. I'll briefly tell you about them instead: Alohamora: 2014 female Cinnamon Wolfsbane: 2015 male double het Pied Axanthic Polyjuice & Verita: 2016 females double het Pied Axanthic I'm excited to incorporate the last three into my existing Pied project with Horcrux and Hallow, and eventually make Super Pastel Axanthic Pieds 😁

[dracowilko]

Yesssssss

[sandelion]

Kenyan Sand Boa Breeding Pairs (2025)

Cherche x Creamsicle Paradox Albino x Paradox Albino Stripe

Read a brief write up about the pair and expected offspring (here) or continue below for a very extended version.

This is more for my record keeping but may be a fun deep dive if you're interested!

My only expected pair for 2025--and my first breeding of any snakes ever! A childhood dream of mine coming to fruition :)

Mutations

Firstly, I want to break down their genetics (and possible genetics) for those not familiar.

Paradox Albino

Paradox Albino is a simple recessive mutation. There are two lines of Albinism in Kenyan Sand Boas--Bell and Paradox. Albinism is attributed to the lack of melanin in an animal's body. Paradox Albinos are aptly named because they are lacking melanin, while actively displaying it in the form of black patches and spots. In other species of snakes, Paradox is a random trait and cannot be bred for, in Kenyan Sand Boas that is not the case!

Stripe

Stripe is a dominant mutation that originates from Rufescens Sand Boas, which have been heavily mixed with Kenyan Sand Boas. Unfortunately, there are not many purists that have preserved "pure" East African Sand Boas. Majority, if not almost all of them being sold in the United States are heavily mixed. Stripe is true to its name and individuals that possess this mutation will have one long, solid stripe from neck to the tip of their tail.

Stripe, being a dominant trait, only needs to be passed down by one parent to be visually expressed in the offspring. Offspring that do not get that gene from their parent do not possess the gene at all. Dominant genes are best described as 'you have it or you don't.'

Stripe, when combined with Paradox Albino, will reduce the size of the Paradox blotches to tiny specks.

Anerythristic

Anerythristic is a simple recessive mutation, attributed to the lack of Erythrin which is responsible for red and orange coloration. Animals that possess two copies of this gene will be black/brown and white in coloration.

While neither of them show it, both Cherche and Creamsicle have the possibility of being heterozygous (carrying 1 copy) for Anerythristic. I'll get into their parents' genetics and predicted offspring in a bit, but the likelihood is about a 66% chance that Cherche carries a copy and about a 66% chance that Creamsicle carries a copy. There is no way to tell if either individual in my pair actually carry this gene unless it is proven in their offspring. The likelihood that they both carry this gene is very small but if they somehow did, none of the babies would be black and white. We shall also get into this in a bit!

Paradox Snow

Snow refers to the combination and expression of both Albinism and Anerythristic. This means that both parents must pass down one copy of both genes (for a total of 4) to be properly visually expressed. When Paradox Albino and Anery is combined in this way, a Paradox Snow is produced! A yellow and white individual with dark blotches in their pattern. Gorgeous!

Predicted Offspring Mutations

Since Cherche and Creamsicle are both visual Paradox Albinos--all of their offspring will be Paradox Albino as well. Because Creamsicle has the dominant mutation Stripe--their offspring each have a 1 in 2 chance of being stripe themselves. In short, sweet, and simplified terms half of the litter will look like Mom and half will look like Dad!

Now, into the more confusing probability. Both snakes are each 66% possibly heterozygous for Anerythristic. That number does not relate at all to their offspring, just the specific chance that individual snake might contain that gene. In realistic terms, they either carry a copy of that gene or they don't. The only way to find out if they carry it is through proving them out by breeding and the outcome of the offspring. The chance that they both carry 1 copy of Anery is unlikely--but its still possible!

If neither of them carry Anery, or either one of the pair carry Anery--the babies will all be Paradox Albino and Paradox Albino Stripes.

If they so happen to both be carrying the gene for Anery, each baby has a 1 in 8 chance of being a Paradox Snow or a Paradox Snow Stripe. So the litter would contain Paradox Albinos, Paradox Albino Stripes, Paradox Snows, and Paradox Snow Stripes.

The reason that none of them would be a visual black and white Anerythristic is because both parents are Albino. Albino to Albino creates all Albino--genes can be added but Albino can not be taken out of the equation. Snow is Albino + Anery! :)

Parent Info and Variable Expression

Paradox Albino is one of the more exciting mutations in that the expression of the Paradox spots are extremely variable. Even when line-breeding, offspring can be few-spotted and they can also be extremely spotted! High Expression Paradox (more spots) are more desirable. The color vibrance is also something that is variable, with a more vibrant/neon orange being more desirable.

Cherche and Creamsicle are from the same parents, but two different litters. Inbreeding in moderation is an acceptable practice for many snake species. Their parents are unrelated, sourced from different collections. Cherche and Creamsicle were produced by Leslie Miller of Miller's Exotics.

Their mom is a large Paradox Albino het. Anery, pictured below. She was produced by Evan Stahl. Photo credit Miller's Exotics.

My favorite things about her are:

High Expression Paradox spotting.

Bigger blotches of Paradox spotting, instead of smaller dots.

Very light off-white background color (No silvering/green appearance)

Reduced/lifted side patterning.

Their dad is a Paradox Albino Stripe het. Anery, pictured below. He was produced by Scott Miller. Photo credit Miller's Exotics.

My favorite things about him are:

High Expression Paradox spotting

Thick dorsal stripe

Now let's take a look at Cherche and Creamsicle again!

Obviously there are differences in lighting between their parent pics and the ones I have taken.

They have taken heavily from their mother, especially Creamsicle. Creamsicle has a much lighter background color, you can see the difference when compared to Cherche. They have both taken that brighter orange color from their mother as well. Cherche has more of her dad's background color. The vibrance in their color is one of my favorite things about them!

Taking a look at their side profiles gives some different insight about their traits. Cherche has inherited those reduced/lifted side patternings. You can see a lot of her beautiful orange background color from the side than you can from the top. From inheriting mom's white background color, you can really see the gorgeous orange specking on Creamsicle's sides. They creep up from his belly scales like little embers. This speckling is something his dad has too but is very hard to appreciate because he is a very similar colored orange all over!

While they are not as high expression Paradox as their parents, this does not mean that their offspring will not be high expression! The variability of the mutation and lineage plays a major part. Their parents and some of their siblings being higher expression bodes well to the chance for them producing same or high expression offspring.

One other thing I would like to note is color change over time. Kenyan Sand Boas go through a slight color change as they get older. Let me show you Cherche and Creamsicle's baby pictures!

Creamsicle is a bit older in his photo and overall doesn't seem very changed--but look at Cherche! They do start out quite a bit paler and get vibrant with age!

These pictures are also a great example of what their babies will mostly look like!

Temperament

Both Cherche and Creamsicle are hands down my friendliest snakes. Their good temperaments are what I am hoping to pass down in their offspring.

I always feel its important to note how you handle snakes will directly impact their reactions to you. If I pick up either of them the wrong way they will get very wiggly and try to run away. Kenyan Sand Boas prefer to be supported in your arms rather than be grabbed or slither through your fingers, especially the big girls! That all being said, these two are extremely curious and love to interact with me and their environment.

They are both extremely chill and have never struck at me defensively or mistakenly identified me as food. Cherche loves to be held in my arms like a baby and will rest her head over my shoulder and sniff around my hair. Creamsicle is a sleeve/hood snuggler. Creamsicle's favorite interaction activity is sniffing my hands after I get home from work and will do so for hours if I let him. I sit at my desk with my hand in his tub lol. If I don't he will sit towards the lid at the front of his tub waiting for me to open it.

Whoever said Kenyan Sand Boas are boring or are just pet rocks doesn't try to interact with them much or listen to what they like!

I will be raising the babies for hopefully a few months before they go to new homes, so they will be fairly well started on some choice based handling and positive interactions. And I will have some good inclinations on their individual personalities.

Voracity

Both Creamsicle and Cherche are fantastic eaters on frozen thawed mice. I am expecting their offspring to have just as good of appetites. There's always the chance that a few babies will come out not willing to eat, or only want live--these animals will not be sold.

The only time I've ever noticed refusal of food has been recently with Creamsicle due to him being a bit desperate for ladies. At the time of writing this they have already been paired and there has been a visual lock!

Cherche is quite a ham and may be a bit over conditioned (mostly due to getting Creamsicle's uneaten extras). But hopefully a nice healthy litter will use all those extra nutrients. Plus it'll give Cherche a nice buffer in the case she has a larger than expected litter.

I prefer drop feeding over tong feeding. Drop feeding is essentially I put the food item in their cage and walk away and they will come and find and eat it. Kenyan Sand Boas are not always the best at this and will wait for the food to come to them. But I like to encourage a bit of enrichment and I feel it detaches them from associating me with food--I find that they will usually have less of an immediate food response when I open their tub when I feed this way. For most of mine I can reach in their tub without worrying I'll get bit or thought of as food.

Will Offspring be Available?

This firstly depends on how many babies Cherche has. Average litter size is 6-15 babies but it can be more and it could be less. As a first time mom, her litter is more likely to be on the small to average size.

In Warren Treacher's The Sandboa Book, from several years of testing he found that the female's weight before breeding has some merit in what the average litter size may be. He found for every ~28-32 grams of body weight, it equals one baby. Cherche's pre-breeding weight was 410g. Dividing that number by 28 and by 32 we get an average litter size of 12-14 babies. Cherche's litter that she was born in was a size of 13 babies, Creamsicle's litter was 14 babies. So this estimation is just on par with the size of their mother's litters.

I do have a few people locally who are interested in getting a baby. If you are in the United States and may be interested as well please privately message with me or ask to be put on a waitlist. I live in Northern New Jersey so if you are in my area I am happy to do a local pick up to avoid the price and stress of shipping! Please note if you are living in New Jersey, a permit is required to own exotic species which is info I can provide for you and help with. If you are not in NJ please make sure this species is legal for you to own or if you live in a permit or restricted state!

I will be posting to here and Instagram with updates about Cherche's pregnancy and all of the babies. If she ends up with an extremely small litter I will probably not have any to offer. But if everything goes well they will be paired again in another year or two. If you are looking to get a Kenyan Sand Boa sooner than that I can recommend some great breeders who are wonderful to work with.

Price

Price is extremely variable when it comes to Kenyan Sand Boas and it depends on sex, mutations, gene expression/attractiveness, and availability. If you have never browsed on MorphMarket, I would give it a look! You can get a pretty good idea of what people price their animals for.

Female snakes, high expression, more genes, and less available genes are always priced more. Price can go down for animals that aren't fit for breeding--whether its fertility issues, minor deformities, runt of the litter, etc. The other thing that can effect price is new breeders vs experienced breeders, or breeders that value the work they put into the lines they work with.

As of November/December 2024:

For Paradox Albinos, the average price I see is between $100-250 with the higher end or more for very nice looking animals.

For Paradox Albino Stripes, the average price I see is between $150-300, with again, the higher end or more for very nice looking animals.

For Paradox Snows and Paradox Snow Stripes I see an average price of anywhere from $175-350 or more depending on expression.

As of right now its hard to say what I will be pricing any offspring at until they're actually here and doing well but the above should give you a good inclination if you think you may be interested. Until I get established as a more experienced breeder I will happily accept offers within reason.

Please keep in contact with me while we wait to see if Cherche takes for her first year! My DMs are always open!

Update! 12/11/24

I brought Cherche and a few of the girls to work with me to do some experimental ultrasounds. Cricket and Campbells did not have any follicles as expected which was a good comparison for Cherche--

Look at those gorgeous follicles! Look forward to an update in a month or so when I bring her back to compare and see if they've grown or have evidence of life!

[sataraborzoi]

Felixx heads back to Virginia tomorrow - I’ll miss you, you big grinning beasty! Now we, impatiently, wait to see if puppies are a GO! 

[sataraborzoi]

Managed to get some nice stacked shots of Georgia today! Now we wait for her to come in season...

@starswift-borzoi