Boa
Boa is the common name for about 6 genera and 50 species of snakes that constitute the family Boidae
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Updated On: 10/16/2007Print

Boa is a common name for non poisonous snake of boa and python family. Boa and python family contains some 70 species. Like pythons boa too kill their prey by constricting them to death and then swallowing it whole. They can stretch their jaws wide appart more than the size of their head to swallow a large animal. While a large boa might easily kill an average-size person, it would have difficulty swallowing the body, and is generally not considered a threat to humans.

Boas give birth to their young, while pythons lay eggs; pythons are confined mostly to the Old World, whereas boas are found worldwide.

In the jungles of Central and South America boa constrictor is a reddish-gray, with a ladder of broad, dark stripes.

Tree boas are brightly colored tree boa, live in trees. With their triangular heads, elliptical eye pupils, and long, curved front teeth, they resemble the venomous vipers.

Rubber boa, found throughout the southwestern U.S. The rubber boa, whose shiny brown skin actually resembles rubber, is a burrowing animal. With its blunt head and tail, it is sometimes called a two-headed snake.

Boa constrictors are found from northern Mexico to Argentina.

Of all the boas, this snake thrives in the most varied habitats. It shows, however, the least inclination toward water. It lives in deserts, wet tropical forests, open savanna, and cultivated fields, and from sea level to moderate elevation. Boa constrictors are both terrestrial and arboreal.

This snake feeds on large lizards, small or moderate-sized birds, opossums, bats, mongooses, rats, and squirrels. It is a nocturnal hunter and uses its heat-sensitive scales to locate its prey. The boa constrictor’s preferred prey is bats, which they catch by hanging from the branches of trees or the mouths of caves, grabbing them out of the air as they fly by, and killing them by constriction.

Name for a member of the Boinae , a subfamily of non poisonous constrictors snakes that includes the anaconda and is closely related to the python. The boa constrictor of South America is rarely over 12 ft. long; those of Central America may reach 15 ft..

Most West Indian boas are valued as rodent killers. Tree bowers are indigenous to tropical America, but 1 species occurs in Madagascar. Burrowing, or sand boas are found in Africa , India, and West North America.

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