Sand Boa
Eryx jaculus
- Other names: Spotted Sand Boa, Turkish Sand Boa, Greek Sand Boa, European Sand Boa, Blind Snake, Javelin sand boa, Old world sand boa.
Geographical Locale
- In North Africa it is found from Egypt, west into Morocco.
Appearance
- A stout-bodied snake that is a competent burrower.
- Small eyes and hard small scales to protect their skin from grit and sand.
- Recognizable by its shovel shaped head with small eyes set high on top. This small stocky yellow and brown snake spends most of its time buried in the sand.
- Rarely larger than 120 cm in length. Most grow to around 60 cm.
- Females generally grow much larger than males.
Behaviour / Habits
- Eryx is a genus of non-venomous boas that use constriction as a method of subduing their prey.
- It is hardly ever seen but is found in sandy deserts.
- These snakes spend much of their time basking below the surface of the sand, with only their eyes or head exposed on the surface.
- It is nocturnal and spends almost all of its time under the sand where it can glide without surfacing. Its eyes and nostrils, by necessity, are on the top of its head, allowing it to lie in wait for its prey. When a potential prey item approaches, they erupt out of the sand, bite and employ constriction to subdue it, before swallowing it whole.
- Their primary diet consists of rodents, but they have also been known to prey on lizards and birds.