Animal Facts - Boa Constrictor

If you were to spend your vacation in the Caribbean for an adventure or nature trip, you definitely would like to know what things you can do there. You can actually enjoy the scenery but as well discover more about different creatures that live there. In Central America you can visit Costa Rica and get to know more about Boa snakes.

Boa Constrictors live in Central and South America and some islands in the Caribbean. Boa constrictor's habitat varies widely depending of environmental conditions, from tropical rain-forests to arid semi-desert country. However, it prefers to live in rain-forest due to the humidity and temperature.

Their diet consists of rodents, large lizards and mammals as big as ocelots are reported to have been consumed. Boa constrictors are ambush predators, as such will lie and wait for an appropriate prey to come along. The boa will strike at the prey, grabbing it with its teeth. Then it constricts the prey until death and consumes it whole. It will take the snake approximately 4-6 days to fully digest it. They are patterned with brown or reddish brown "saddles" that become more pronounced towards the tail. Their color can vary greatly depending on the locality. However they are generally a brown, grey or cream base color.

They are nocturnal however they may go out during the day. Boa constrictors are solitary animals, and will only associate to mate. They will generally breed in the dry season, between April and August. During breeding season the female boa will emit a scent to attract males, who may then wrestle for the right to breed with her. The gestation period is approximately 100-120 days. The female will then give birth to young that average 38-51 cm in length. The litter size varies but can be between 10 and 65 with an average of 25. The young are independent at birth and will grow rapidly.

They can leave 20 to 30 years, but there was a 40 year case. Females are generally larger, in both length and girth, than males Boas can reach lengths of anywhere from 1-4 meters depending on the locality and the availability of prey. Adults weigh approximately 60 pounds.

This type of snake is very large that they are more often compared to large snakes of different species. They are even at some time mistakenly identified as anacondas which is another species. Boas are very interesting and it is definitely worthwhile to discover more about them as you go on a trip for a great wildlife discovery.