Boa constrictor (Boa constrictor )
Personal information
Our boa constrictor was born in 2005 and arrived at the Zoo in 2009. His name is Colossus and while there are many kinds of boas, he is a Central American boa constrictor.
Status in the wild
Humans are the adult boa constrictor's only enemy. They are hunted for their skins, killed for food or simply out of fear of them. They are also killed by farmers, as the boa kills chickens and other livestock.
Habitat
The boa constrictor can be found throughout Central America: eastern Ecuador, northern and eastern Peru, northern Bolivia, Brazil, central and eastern Columbia, Venezuela, the Guianas and Trinidad and Tobago. The preferred habitat is wet tropical forest but it can also be found in deserts, open savanna and cultivated fields.
Diet
Boas feed on large lizards, small or moderate-sized birds, opposums, bats, mongooses, rats and squirrels.
- When threatened, boa constrictors hiss so loudly that they can be heard 100 feet away!
- Females are significantly larger than males in length and girth. Males usually have much longer tails.
- Coloring patterns can greatly vary between different boas, usually depending on the location.
- These snakes actually have two lungs (although one is non-functional), unlike a lot of other snakes which have lost the left lung completely.
- Snakes have no eyelids, but have a clear scale over each eye for protection.