Facts about Emerald Tree Boas
The emerald tree boa (Corallus caninus) is a species of bright green snake. The emerald tree boa lives in the rainforests of South America. It appears very similar to the green tree python (Morelia viridis), from southeast Asia and Australia, but they are only very distantly related, and are an example of convergent evolution. Emerald tree boas are typically a shade of emerald green in color. They have a white irregular zigzag stripe down their back. The emerald tree boas have a yellow underside. Juveniles are extremely variable in color, and are often orange or yellow, with irregular spotting. The bright coloration and markings are very distinctive among South American snakes. The overall average size of emerald tree boas is closer to 6 feet (1.8 m). Specimens from the Amazon River basin tend to grow the largest, attaining lengths of 7-9 feet (2.1-2.7 m). The emerald tree boa is a nocturnal carnivore. In the wild, the emerald tree boas diet primarily consists of small mammals, but they have been known to eat some smaller bird species as well as lizards and frogs. Emerald tree boas from the southern end of their range in Peru tend to be darker in color. During the day, the snake typically coils itself on top of a branch, with its head perched at the center. At night, the emerald tree boa will remain coiled on its branch, then will extend its neck pointing beneath it, curled as if about to strike. It will then hold still in this position, waiting for prey to approach directly underneath it. This snake catches food with its long frontal fanged teeth, pulling its prey in and constricting to asphyxiation. Like all boas, it swallows its prey whole, head first. The boa's top and bottom jaws are attached to each other with stretchy ligaments, letting the snake swallow animals wider than itself. Snakes don't chew their food, they digest it with very strong acids in the snake's stomach. The emerald tree boa is ovoviviparous, having up to 20 young at a time. In captivity, the adult emerald tree boa's diet should be closely monitored. Unlike other boas that can easily take food items many times the size of its head, the emerald tree boa should be fed a small rat or mouse. |
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