There are many snake lovers all over the world who love pythons and boas, and since I’ve been writing for kingsnake.com, many of them have contacted me to ask that I write about Indian pythons and boas. So this post is for my python and boa-loving readers!
In India, you can find all kinds of snakes, from the smallest 20 cm worm snake to the largest reticulated pythons, from sea snakes to flying snakes.
India is home to three species of sand boa, and the common sand boa, Gongylophis conicus, is one I frequently encounter on rescue calls. The other two are the red sand boa (Eryx johnii) and the Whitaker’s sand boa (Eryx whitakeri), which is named after the renowned Indian herpetologist Romulus Whitaker.
The common sand boa is also called the rough-scaled sand boa because of its rough, scaled body. If you’re a touching a common sand boa’s tail you can get a feeling of rubbing a crocodile’s back.
A common sand boa’s body is thick and fat. It has small, keeled scales on head, and the tail is short, blunt and rough. Eyes are small with vertical pupils, and nostrils are placed high on the head. Ventral scales are narrower than the width of the body. It is sand coloured or brown with darker brown blotches. The old time rescuers who did not have a book or Internet to refer to used to mistake it for a young Indian rock python or Russell’s viper.
Found in sandy areas, it prefers to live in crevices and burrows. A short-tempered snake, it coils and hides its head under its body when disturbed, and when provoked strikes with a jerky movement. Otherwise, it’s a slow moving snake. 100 cm is the maximum length. Sand boas are viviparous by nature.
Once I had rescued a female adult sand boa snake and was carrying it in a snake sack to the releasing area . When I opened the sack to release this snake, I see to my surprise she had given birth to eight young ones! They were so cute and fat, as if they were working out in their mom’s womb. It was really a new and unforgettable experience.
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