Calabar Burrowing Boa

Common Name: Calabar Burrowing Boa
Scientific Name: Charina Reinhardtii

Description:

The scientific name of Calabar Burrowing Boa is Charina Reinhardtii. It is a non-venomous snake species. It belongs to pythonidae family. It has a relatively large size because adults attain a length of one meter. It has a skull that contains a prefrontal bone. This feature distinguishes it from other snake species. An additional distinguishing feature is the lack of thermal receptive pits and shields that cover the head. Calabar Burrowing Boa has a tail that resembles the head, this serves as an adaptation strategy to keep off predators that target the head. It has distinct small red eyes that have round pupils. It is brown with red and yellow shades.

Geographic Range:

Calabar Burrowing Boa is widely distributed in Africa particularly west-African countries. This includes Liberia, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and Gabon. One may find this species in some parts of Democratic Republic of Congo.

Habitat:

Calabar Burrowing Boa is adapted to live in rain forests. It lives underneath thickets and trees.

Behavior:

Calabar Burrowing Boa is a very docile snake species. When confronted by an enemy, it defends itself by elevating its tail in the air and burying its head in the soil. Other forms of defense include coiling and hiding its head within the coils. Calabar Burrowing Boa feeds on rodents, birds and other reptiles.

Reproduction:

Calabar Burrowing Boa exhibits an oviparous form of reproduction where it lays few large eggs, which range from one to two. It takes six weeks for eggs to hatch. Hatchlings start feeding on solid food after three days of development.

Captivity:

Many people do not keep Calabar Burrowing Boa because of complicated environmental requirements. When in captivity, one has to provide loose equatorial rain forest soil and leaf litter. To rear Calabar Burrowing Boa, one must keep the cage at within an average temperature of 25 to 29°C. This process consumes a lot of energy and is therefore uneconomical.