Snakes House

Description

The Boa Constrictor is a reptile, which can be found on the continent of South America. It lives in the rain forest biome. The boa has many different color patterns of yellow, brown, green, and black. The boa has a long skinny figure. It can grow to about 3-4 meters and weighs about 60 kilograms. It has scales that feel like a leather basketball and it doesn’t move very fast. The boa feeds upon little rodents. At the zoo it gets fed two medium size rats once a week. The boa kills its prey by coiling its body around the victim and then suffocating it. Then it swallows it whole. The Boa Constrictor lives to 25 years or more in captivity, but in the wild it lives fewer years. It also bears live young. The boa usually lives alone, not in groups.

Status

The Boa Constrictor is listed on CITES Appendix II, except for B.c.occidentalis, which is list on Appendix I. In many parts of tropical America, Boa Constrictors are valued as destroyers of rodents. In some areas, these snakes have been “domesticated” for this reason. Many are bred or captured for the pet trade. Thousands of dollars are made importing them to the United States.

Anatomy

Like all snakes, Boa Constrictors are cold-blooded; they are the same temperature as the environment. They continue to grow all their lives, getting bigger and bigger each year. Adult Boa Constrictors average about 6 to 10 feet (1.8-3 m) long and weigh over 60 pounds (27 kg). The largest Boa Constrictor ever found was 18.5 feet (5.5 m) long. Boa Constrictors have coloration that camouflages them; they have varying paterns of cream, brown, tan, gray, and black with ovals and diamonds. The scaly skin glistens but is dry is to the touch. It has no fangs. The forked tongue senses odors. There are heat sensors under the upper lip; these help the snakes locate warm-blooded prey, like mammals and birds.

Breeding

The Boa Constrictor has appendages resembling claws on each side of its vent (genital opening). They are the remnants, or vestiges, of the hind limbs inherited form the boa\s lizard-like ancestors. The appendages are generally larger in males than females and are thought to be used by the male to stimulate the female to mate.Boa Constrictor After fertilization, the eggs remain in the female’s body, where they develop over several months inside thin membranes. Unlike its close relative, the python, the Boa Constrictor gives birth to live fully formed young. The protective membranes rupture as the young are released. As many as sixty snakes are born at one time, each measuring 17-20 inches.

Diet

Boa Constrictors easily populate areas where there is food such as rodents and songbirds. Boa Constrictors will also feed on lizards, small mongoose, bats, rats, sqirrels, iguanas and other small mammals.

Behaviour

The Boa Constrictor has no poison unlike many other snakes, but when threatened they will hiss and strike their opponent, their bite can be very, very painful. Boa Constrictors use constriction to suffercate their prey. When the prey has been suffocated the Boa eats it whole. It can take several weeks for a Boa to digest its’ food completely.

Boa Constrictors use ‘heat sensitive pits’ on their heads to sense their surroundings because they have bad eyesight.

Description

There are some debates about the maximum size of these snakes. Mehrtens (1987) states that the average adult length for the green Anaconda, E. murinus, is 18 to 20 feet (5.5–6.1 m), with 25 feet (7.6 m) specimens being very rare. He sets a more conservative maximum at 23 feet (7.0 m). Estimates of 35 to 40 feet (11–12 m) (see Giant Anaconda) are based on vague data and should be regarded with caution.In a study of 1,000 specimens captured in Venezuela, the largest was 17 feet (5.2 m) long and weighed 100 pounds (45 kg).

The Wildlife Conservation Society has, since the early 20th century, offered a large cash reward (currently worth US$50,000) for live delivery of any snakes of 30 feet (9.1 m) or more in length. This prize has never been claimed. In any case, measuring a snakes that is stronger than the person is not an easy task. It was found that two scientists independently measuring the same 12-foot (3.7 m) plus snake showed a variation of more than 20% in their results.

Hunting and Diet

Anacondas are carnivores (meat-eaters). They mostly hunt at night (they are nocturnal). Anacondas kill by constricting (squeezing) the prey until it can no longer breathe. Sometimes they drown the prey. Like all snakes, they swallow the prey whole, head first. The Anaconda’s top and bottom jaws are attached to each other with stretchy ligaments, which let the snakes swallow animals wider than itself. snakes don’t chew their food, they digest it with very strong acids in the snakes’s stomach. Anacondas eat pigs, deer, caiman (a type of crocodilian), birds, fish, rodents (like the capybara and agouti), and other animals. After eating a large animal, the Anaconda needs no food for a long time, and rests for weeks. The young (called neonates) can care for themselves soon after birth, including hunting (but are pretty much defenseless against large predators). They eat small rodents (like rats and mice), baby birds, frogs and small fish.

How Big Is an Anaconda?

Anaconda (an uh KAHN duh) is the name of two well-known kinds of constrictors. One kind is the largest snakes in the world. It can grow to be more than 30 feet (9 meters) in length. All adult Anacondas are more than 15 feet (4.6 meters) long. An adult snakes this size can weigh over 220 pounds (100 kilograms).

These giant snakes live near rivers and other bodies of water in tropical South America. Anacondas are not poisonous. They belong to the boa family of snakes and are often called “water boas.” Anacondas prey on turtles, birds, mammals, and small caymans (KAY muhnz)—South American crocodiles.

Like most snakes, Anacondas are shy. They usually defend themselves from enemies by retreating. If cornered, Anacondas will bite. This, along with their great size and weight, can make Anacondas dangerous to people.

Anacondas belong to the family Boidae. The giant Anaconda is Eunectes murinas; the yellow, E. notaeus

Description
The average length is 15-20 feet, but can reach 32 feet. The head is triangular shaped; yet they are not venomous. Coloration is dark brown with light brown areas on the back with a wavy stripe outlined in yellow-gold along each side.

Breeding

Sexual maturity reached in the first 2 - 4 years. Refer to the snakes Sexing care card if sex is unknown. Males breed at 7′+’ and females 9′+. Breeding season in captivity: November - March. Stop all feeding at this time. Animals should have excellent weight and be established before any breeding is attempted. Breeding may be induced by reducing daytime photo periods to 8 - 10 hours and dropping nighttime temps. into the low 70Õsand day time temps. in low 80’s. Introduce the female into the males cage. Misting the animals with water may be beneficial. May lay clutch sizes of 20 - 80+ eggs, maternally incubates. Incubation temperature 88 - 90F(optimal), 70 - 80 days to hatch. Infrequently bred in captivity.

Behaviour
African Rock Python are highly dependent on water sources, and estivate during the hottest and dryest parts of the year, remaining deep in burrows made by other animals. They are opportunistic predators, and will consume almost any animal they come across which they can overpower with constriction. Young African Rock Python eat primarily small rodents, which makes them popular with local farmers for reducing the populations of species harmful to crops, like the cane rat, but adults are capable of taking very large prey, including crocodiles, goats and gazelles, making them a potential danger to livestock. The African Rock Python is noted for its bad temperament, and readiness to bite if harassed. In stark contrast to the Burmese African Rock Python which is typically docile except when food is near.

Reproduction occurs in the spring, and the female can lay as many as 100 eggs at a time. She guards her nest while they incubate for 2-3 months. Hatchlings are between 18-24 inches (45-60 cm) in length, and appear virtually identical to adults, only they are more contrasting in color.

Diet
Wild: hatchlings - small rodents, young mammals/birds • adults - small/young antelopes, warthogs, dogs, monkeys, water fowl, goats & crocodiles

Zoo: rabbits 1/week

Characteristics
This snakes is light brown with darker markings outlined in light gray or cream color. The entire body has an iridescent sheen. It has heat sensing pits in its upper and lower jaws for detecting warm-blooded prey. It is a heavy-bodied African Rock Python and may weigh over 250 pounds. They may occupy animal burrows or enter the water to escape the heat of the day.

Description

The blue indigo snake is the largest and longest non-venomous snakes in North America. The blue indigo snake is a large glossy blue-black snakes reaching lengths of up to 9 feet. It has a solid color with the exception of an occasional orange, pink white or reddish area under the chin, which may extend to the throat and cheeks. It is sometimes confused with the similar black racer or the black pine snakes, but is much stockier.

Historically

the blue indigo snake was found from southern Georgia to the Florida Keys and west to Alabama, but today, it is mostly restricted to Florida and southern Georgia, where it is often found in association with gopher tortoise burrows in well-drained scrub and sandhill habitats. This snakes, though, is not found just in dry areas. It readily moves through a variety of habitats, especially those that border marshes and swamps, in search of prey such as birds, young turtles, frogs, and other snakes, including rattlesnakes. Look for the blue indigo snake along both trails at the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center - Alligator Creek Site. As with all snakes, admire the indigo from a respectful distance.

Habitat

The blue indigo snake lives in pine - scrub oak woods , pine flatwoods, and forested sandhills and ridges in the northern part of its range . In the southern portions of its range, it can be found around wetland areas such as swamps , streams , and canals. The distribution and habitat preference closely overlap that of the Gopher Tortoise. Tortoise burrows are important retreats for the blue indigo snake. These large, diurnal snakes require from 50 - 100 hectares (123.6 - 247.1 acres ) for their home range.

Ecology

Indigos are found in the lower coastal plain along with the burrowing gopher tortoise. They use the burrows not only for refuge, but also for breeding and reproduction. Breeding season occurs between October and February. A female that occupies a burrow and is ready to be bred will attract numerous males to the burrow. Once bred, the female will use burrows as egg deposition sites. The eggs are laid in clutches of nine eggs per clutch, hatching 90 to 120 days later. After hatching, the young snakes move to low wetland areas and feed on small lizards, frogs and toads. Adult snakes feed on small mammals, birds, and snakes, with a preference for snakes. The blue indigo snake is thought to be the main predator of the eastern diamondback rattlesnake and data has shown the rattlesnake to be a preferred food item. Adult blue indigo snakes will eat smaller juvenile blue indigo snake.

Significance to Humans

blue indigo snakes are highly valued as pets, especially D. c. couperi. Some individuals now are being produced through captive breeding.