Building the Observation Rack: The Animals Come First

Breathitt and Dad have been busy building the physical side of The Surface Sand Boa Project.

Before we bring the founding snakes into the study, we want the observation system built, tested and ready. That means assembling the rack, testing temperatures, building our custom equipment, setting up cameras and making sure the experiment gives every snake a safe and appropriate environment.

One decision we made early was that this wasn’t going to be a breeding project designed around fitting as many snakes as possible into the smallest space.

Our observation habitats measure approximately 14.75 × 10.5 inches, providing about 155 square inches of floor space. Compared with a representative small 6-quart breeder-style tub at about 69 square inches, our habitats provide approximately 125% more floor area, about 2.25 times the space.

Each snake will also have approximately three inches of substrate and will be completely free to burrow.

That’s important because we’re studying whether some Kenyan sand boas naturally choose to spend more time above ground. Making it difficult for them to burrow would defeat the entire purpose.

We want to give them every opportunity to behave like normal sand boas and then measure the ones that choose differently.

So far, Breathitt and Dad have acquired the rack, 20 clear pre-ventilated observation habitats, five 42-inch heat strips, five temperature/timer controllers and 20 water bowls. Dad is also 3D-printing our custom weekly retrieval system, and cameras and the computer-assisted observation system are coming next.

Every snake will eventually have its own QR-linked identity and individual record containing its weight, feeding, sheds, health, environmental conditions and behavioral observations. The cameras will allow us to measure surface activity continuously rather than relying only on the moments when we’re standing in front of the rack.

There aren’t any behavioral results yet, and that’s exactly where the project should be right now. We’re building the laboratory, testing the equipment and establishing the experimental parameters before we begin collecting the data that will answer Breathitt’s question.

And throughout the project, one rule comes before everything else: if an animal’s welfare and the experiment ever conflict, the experiment changes, not the animal.

That’s the kind of science Breathitt and Dad want to build together.

Update, October 2026: this note first described a plan to fund only the research environment through Experiment.com. We have since moved all fundraising to our own Founders’ Fund on this site, and Round 1 helps bring home the founding snakes too. Every dollar is shown in the open books on the Support page.