Common Name: Solomon Island Ground Boa
Scientific Name: Candoia carinata paulsoni
General Information: SIGB's are awesome snakes. They are very underrated in my opinion, and I'd love to see more being kept in the future. Contrary to popular belief these are very easy snakes to manage. WC specimens are generally feeding on small lizards/amphibians but can be switched to take rodents. CB specimens readily take rodents. These snakes come in a wide range of beautiful colors, they are hard not to like!
Colors: There are many naturally occurring colors in this species. No known "morphs" that I'm aware of but they can be selectively bred for certain natural colors. Below are a few example pictures of some of the colors, not all of them though.
RedTanGrayIsabel/WhiteLeucistic (a color morph that unfortunately passed away before being proven out)
Distribution: Found throughout the Solomon Islands archipelago, New Guinea and Indonesia.
Habitat: Paulsoni live in a variety of habitats ranging from the dry savanna to the wetlands.
Size: Paulsoni hatchlings are tiny, around 5-6" and thinner than a pencil! Adult females generally reach 4 ft while males are a bit smaller at 2.5-3.5 ft.
Lifespan: Not much is known, but I would suspect 20 years or more with proper husbandry in captivity.
Temperament: Paulsoni seem to be a very laid back species. Of course WC specimens may be nippy at first.
Captive Care
Diet: In the wild Paulsoni prey mainly on small lizards and amphibians. WC specimens can be switched to rodents with patience, and captive bred animals are usually started on rodents soon after birth. The few people who have bred paulsoni in captivity generally feed newborns lizards/amphibians, then they will start trying scented rodents, eventually getting to plain rodents. Once on rodents paulsoni do exceptionally well and rarely go off feed. Adults can be fed about every 10-14 days just fine, candoia as a whole seem to have slow metabolisms.
Temperature: Candoia should be kept at an ambient temperature around 80-85F. They can be provided a hot spot of up to 88-90F. They can have a nighttime drop down to 75F as a background temperature.
Humidity: 70-90%. I've had success with this species at humidity between 60-70%.
Housing: Paulsoni are fairly small snakes so housing is pretty simple. You can house them simply in plastic bins such as 41qt Sterilite tubs, or you can give them an elaborate natural setup in a more professional cage like Animal Plastics/Reptile Basics etc. I'd make sure your candoia have at least 36x15" of space. They are terrestrial, but they do enjoy hanging out on a branch on occasion.
Breeding: Breeding candoia is a bit different than other species because it is recommended to keep multiple males to each female. 2 males to every 1 female is recommended. Of course this does not mean a single pair won't breed - but your chances of babies are higher with multiple males. Breeding size occurs at about 2-3 ft for males and 3-4 ft for females, at around 3 years old. Breeding season ranges from December to April. You can cool the animals by giving them a night time drop of about 70-75F. Reduce photoperiod to 8-10 hours daily. Misting may help promote copulation. Candoia females are gravid for about 8 months, and paulsoni are known to give birth to about 20-30 babies on average. Up to 60 is possible I've read! Sexing these babies is very simple because only male candoia have spurs, females do not. Females should not be bred two seasons in a row. They need a break.
Special Note: C.c.paulsoni are some of my absolute favorite snakes. I would love to see them become more popular. There is much to be learned about this fascinating species.
