Kenyan Sand Boa

We are continuing our blog series “The Hidden World of African Rift Valley,” where we introduce you to special animals who take the “hidden world” part quite literally.

This time, we’ll focus on Kenyan sand boas.  These beautiful snakes live in east Africa and are fossorial, which means they like to burrow underground. They do this to hide from predators (large birds, monitor lizards and jackals), to thermoregulate (cool off or stay warm), and to ambush their rodent prey.

Kenyan sand boas are a small boa species.  In this species, females are larger than their male counterparts, generally reaching about two feet long.  As is true with all boa species, Kenyan sand boas are not venomous. Instead, they are constrictors and kill their prey by suffocating it.

Guests can see our Kenyan sand boas bury themselves into the sand during our keeper talks held daily at 11:30 & 2:30 throughout the summer months in African Rift Valley.

Next time, we will meet another reptile from east Africa that is especially good at hiding.