I first saw a Sand Boa in my childhood in a snake exhibition. And I was fascinated by it. Its stout body and asymmetrical patterns on back was really beautiful. But then for long I have not seen one.When I started studying about snakes, again it captured my interest. I found that it is one of the best snakes to learn handling snakes. most of the Sand Boas are timid in nature. but a few are aggressive. So I started searching the inventory of the snake charmers to get a Sand Boa but with no luck. Once I found a Red Sand Boa, which was also a good snake to learn handling, have bargained for it but the charmer was unwilling to sell the snake.
Now a few days back, in the morning when I was going for work, I found a small dead snake inside the factory premises.And it turned out to be a Sand Boa, the snake I was looking for years. Most probably it was killed by the security when it came out at night for hunting. It was sad. Being a non-venomous snake, it did not pose a threat to the well being of any person working inside the premise. Though it had to die. Only because it is a snake. Lack of knowledge or should I say wealth of mis-conception is so prevalent among the people that most of them dont even hesitate once to kill a snake at the first sight. They don't seem to understand that snakes are an important player of our eco-system. Without it the eco-system will collapse.
So on that morning, I felt responsible. I went to the General Manager of our Human Resource Dept.and talked with him on this matter. he seemed to understand.I have given him my no to call me on any animal-human conflict inside factory. I am still waiting for the phone call. But for the time being there are no dead snakes in the factory anymore.
But then today afternoon when I was walking on the streets in our residential area, I found another dead Sand Boa. It was a road kill.The condition of it was telling that it wasm killed last night. Another interesting thing is that both the Sand Boas are approximately of same size of about 8"-10". That means they are juveniles. This Shows that this area supports a healthy population of Sand Boa. I think I should look for live ones personally.
Natural History
Common Sand Boa (Gongylophis conicus) is a member of the family Boa-constrictor. They are stout bodied muscular snakes. Being heavy bodied Common Sand Boa is a slow moving snake. It is a nocturnal snake. So it hunts at night. It catches prey by ambush. It waits for the prey and constricts the prey to death by making coil around the prey. It is a non-venomous snake. Common Sand Boa generally hunts lizards, frogs, calotes, skinks,small birds and small mammals. It is found all over India except the north east region. Common Sand Boa prefers dry habitats like arid scrub lands, coastal and sandy areas. it lives in burrows and crevices. Average length of Common Sand Boa is about 1'8" but it can reach a length of 3'3". It is a ovo-viviparous snake. That means it gives birth to live young snakes and does not lay eggs. Delivery of young snakes happens generally in July August.
