East African Sand Boa

Eryx colubrinus is a heavily-built snake with a small head, small eyes, vertical pupils, and a short tail. Scale texture is extremely smooth, except on the tail, which tapers off into a keeled scale pattern. Adult female specimens of G. colubrinus are rarely more than 91 cm (3 feet) in total length (tail included). The average Egyptian sand boa grows no longer than 12-32" (30-80cm) long, with males being significantly smaller than females. The color pattern usually consists of a yellow or orange coloration overlaid with dark brown splotches. The belly is white or cream-colored. E. colubrinus is readily available in the pet trade due to its small size, docility and ease of care. In recent years, there have been a number of new color morphs made available by both commercial and hobby breeders. Some of the more popular morphs available include anerythristic (black and white lacking orange/red simple recessive trait), albino (lacking black pigment simple recessive trait), snow (double recessive combination of an anerythristic and an albino), stripes (normal-colored, anerythristic, albino and snow), hypo/ghost, paradox albinos (simple recessive trait), paradox snows (double recessive trait), splash (recessive trait), paint (recessive trait) and stripe combinations with any of the listed recessive traits. …

Eryx colubrinus is found in North Africa from Egypt as far west as Niger (Aïr), including Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, and northern Tanzania. A single specimen has been reported from Yemen. The type locality given is "Ægypto".

Eryx colubrinus is most active at night, but may be irregularly active during the day. This species is fossorial and spends roughly 80% of its time underground. During the hotter times of the year, E. colubrinus seeks refuge beneath stones and in the burrows of small mammals. However, they have also been known to occasionally climb trees.

The subspecific name loveridgei is in honor of British herpetologist Arthur Loveridge.