| Boa constrictor (Boa constrictor (Linnaeus, 1758)) |
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Scientific name: Boa constrictor (Linnaeus, 1758) Common name: Boa constrictor French name: Boa constricteur Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes Family: Boidae Size: The total length is highly variable depending on sub-species, from 2 to 4.5 metres. The weight varies from 12 to 16 kg. Females are larger than males. Habitat : Very various habitats, from tropical rainforest to semi-arid deserts. Food: Carnivorous. Small mammals, birds, lizards, amphibians. The size of the preys increases with the age and with the size of the Boa. The Boa first attacks the prey with a bite and then kills it by suffocation, using constriction. Digestion is very slow, the Boa will eat again about one week later or even more. Reproduction : The Boa constrictor is ovoviviparous. The eggs hatch out inside the female and this last one will directly give birth to small Boas, from 10 to 65 with an average of 25 young per brood. Geographic area: South of North America up to northern Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean. |
The Boa constrictor shows a large triangular-shaped head. The eyes are small and bears a vertical pupil. The scales on the head are very small and you can count more than twenty of them between the eyes. The neck is clearly marked. The body is thick and ends with a short tail. The general colour is pale brown with darker geometric marks which get brighter towards tail. The head bears a thin dark median line running from the front of the snout to the neck. There is a black triangle on each side of the head, one angle of the triangle hiding the eye. There are ten identified sub-species. |
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The owner of the hut, where we hung our hammocks during our short stay in Saül, captured this young Boa constrictor while clearing bushes less than 20 metres from the hut He told us that he was hesitating between releasing it in the wild or keeping it in captivity alongside another adult Boa Constrictor that already stands as his pet. |
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The young Boa has been put down on the grass for the picture. The next day, one of its brothers or sisters has been very unlucky because he was fatally wounded by the mulcher. |
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Here is a closer view. The sub-species found in French Guiana is Boa constrictor constrictor. |
André Bon October 2014