Sanzinia madagascariensis

I have successfully kept and bred all 3 species of Madagascan Boa but always rated the Sanzinia above the others and now it is the only Madagascan boa I keep.

I was always fascinated with this Boa and it took me a few years to actually find a suitable pair and add them to my collection, mostly due to their relative lack of representation in private collections.

Having acquired my first pair of adults in 2000 I managed to successfully breed them for the first time in 2002 and have experienced great success ever since although I now rarely breed them due to a rather strange lack of interest in the UK but nevertheless they are still my personal Boa obsession.

They are a medium size Boa with a range across Madagascar with the exception of the extreme Southwest.

There are 2 colour variations.  Prevalent mainly in the eastern half of the range is the Green form which attain adult lengths of 5 feet or so and the Mandarin phase which is dark green/brown with yellowish and cream dorsal patterns and a yellow underbelly.  The mandarins in my experience attain greater lengths than the green phase will adults reaching 6-7 feet.

My collection comprises both forms.

The green phase neonates my line produces mature into lime green adults with pure white markings on chocolate brown saddles and have reddish belly scales.

This Boa has an undeserved reputation for being aggressive and eager to strike but I have found the reverse to be true.  They are generally calm and reluctant to bite and are easy to handle - unless there is food in the vicinity.

They are easy to care for and maintain.  They have fairly slow metabolisms and females can take more than a year to gain sufficient weight to successfully breed and produce viable young so I therefore have only bred them on a bi-annual basis.

There is little interest in this species in the UK but I do correspond with many other keepers around the world who share the same passion for this species that I do and I am always happy to receive emails on this species.

I prepared a care sheet for the species a few years back which you can find here:

Madagascar Tree Boa - Sanzinia madagascariensis