True Red Tail Boa

Common Name: True Red Tail Boa
Scientific Name: Boa Constrictor Constrictor

Introduction:

The True Red Tail Boa is non-venomous and belongs to the boa species. These snakes are common in the Caribbean regions, Central America and South America. People mostly refer to this snake by its scientific name rather than its common name; this is unusual because people normally refer to snakes by their common names. The patterns on the coats of boa constrictors vary depending on a number of factors such as age and subspecies. Mature True Red Tails are very large and they mostly have a brown coat.

Description:

The sizes of the boa constrictors vary depending on the subspecies though the ones found in South America are the largest. The greatest lengths ever recorded are thirteen and a half feet and fourteen feet; these two snakes originated from Suriname. The tails of these snakes are slightly prehensile and they have no thermoreceptive pits in their mouths. Most of the subspecies have brown coats apart from the tail, which is red in color. The True Red Tail Boa snakes have big tan-colored saddles, which fade to white towards the tail; the saddles form half rings that are cream in color thus creating a contrast with the red tail.

Common Names:

The True Red Tail snakes are the only species commonly known as ‘the boa constrictor’, though this is its scientific name and not its common name. Other terms that people commonly use to refer to these snakes are ‘the common boa’, ‘jiboia’ and ‘macajuel’.  

Geographic Range:

These snakes are common in Central America especially in regions such as Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Belize, Honduras and Nicaragua. Other places include St. Lucia and Dominica, which are in Lesser Antilles. They are also in areas such as Colombia, Peru, Equador, Venezuela, Suriname, Brazil, Uruguay, Guyana, French Guiana, Argentina and Bolivia.

Habitat:

These snakes live in a broad range of environments such as arid countries and tropical rainforests.

Behavior:

Hatchlings’ have a habit of climbing into the hollows of trees but this fades, as they grow older because they become heavier. The boa constrictors in Central America are the most irascible; they tend to hiss extremely loudly and they strike continually when agitated. However, the boa constrictors from the South American region are less irascible.

Feeding:

These snakes feed on a number of birds and mammals; some of them feed on rodents, lizards and ocelots.

Reproduction:

The female boa constrictors deliver live young boa constrictors that are fifteen to twenty inches long.

Captivity:

A person can tame boa constrictors by keeping them in captivity from a young age; the tamed boa constrictors are quite common in zoos. The captive longevity ranges between twenty and thirty years though some go over forty years. Proper husbandry is a significant factor when determining the lifespan of a boa constrictor in captivity. Most people breed boa constrictors in captivity taming them before selling them as pets.

Subspecies:

There are other subspecies of boa constrictors such as boa constrictor amarali, boa constrictor imperators, boa constrictor longicauda, boa constrictor melanogaster and boa constrictor occidentalis.