Rainbow Boa

Epicrates cenchria
Range: Central and South America

Habitat: They live on the floor of humid woodland

forests, but are occasionally found in open savannahs.

Diet: Mostly rodents and birds, and possibly aquatic life

and lizards.

Lifespan: They can live up to 20 years in captivity.

Description: Rainbow boas have a medium build and will grow to be between 4 to 6 feet in length.
They are reddish-brown in color with black rings that go down their back. They also have iridescent
scales which gives them their name.

Breeding: These snakes don’t become sexually mature until they are 2.5 to 4 years old. Gestation
lasts approximately 5 months long and the female can give birth to an average of 25 young. Rainbow
boas are ovoviviparous, meaning that instead of laying eggs on the ground or in a den, the eggs stay
inside of her body, hatch, and then they leave her body during birth.

Behavior/Adaptations: Rainbow boas share similar adaptations with most other snakes. They are
unable to thermal regulate, so they rely upon external sources of heat to maintain an appropriate body
temperature. They also require moisture to successfully shed their skin. They are constrictors and
when they are feeding, they will wrap their body around their prey until it dies, and then ingest it
whole.

Predators: Birds of prey, small carnivores, and humans.

Conservation: Although they have no special status and are common through many parts of their
range, habitat destruction and human encroachment threaten the species.

The Zoo’s Rainbow Boa: Skittles is female and hatched in 2009.

Interesting Facts:
• Boas have pits on their face that allow them to sense heat.
• They are one of the most sought after snakes in the pet trade business because of their
iridescent scales.
• Rainbow boas have eye spot markings along their side. Perhaps this is an adaptation to confuse
and frighten predators with multiple “eyes” staring back at them.
• Rainbow boas are good climbers (but are not truly arboreal). Their light underside resembles a
ray of sunlight shining through the branches.

Empathy Stories/Messages
What is the snake doing when it sticks out its tongue? Smelling! Do you smell with your
tongue? The snake knows you are a person and not food because it can tell each of you
apart by how you smell. Can you imagine if you were on a walk and you had to find your
way home with your tongue?
 Snakes are really important because they help control populations of animals like mice.
This helps reduce the spread of diseases. Raise your hand if you have ever found a tick
on yourself or on a pet. Ticks need to drink the blood of mice when they are very young.
When a snake eats a mouse, they are eating dozens of ticks. Without snakes eating mice,
there would be so many more ticks. I have never been bitten by a snake, but I have been
bitten by lots of ticks! Whenever I see a snake, I always thank it for eating so many mice
and ticks!

Lake Superior Zoo Conservation Message

Story (ages 6 and up): Snakes are a very important part of the food chain. They help
people by keeping rodent populations low, so people don’t have to control rodents using
chemicals. Some rodents can carry diseases that can spread to humans, which is why
you should never touch a wild animal. If we have predators like snakes to keep rodent
populations down, we don’t have to worry as much about spreading disease.

What you can do: Spread the word! We can help conserve snakes by teaching people
how important they are and to not harm them when we see them, but instead let them
slither by.

Story (ages 6 and up): Some people who get pets can’t take care of them anymore, so
they release them into the wild. This is never a safe thing to do because pets may not
know how to survive in the wild and they could die. It can also be dangerous to release
pets because if they’re not native to the area, they can start to harm the wildlife that does
live there by eating them or destroying their habitat.

How you can help: Always do lot of homework before you get a pet, including how
much it would cost to feed it and take care of it, how much space it needs, and how long
it will live. If you can no longer take care of a pet, find a new owner for it; never release
pets into the wild.

Information taken from the following sources:

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/animal-
bytes/animalia/eumetazoa/coelomates/deuterostomes/chordata/craniata/reptilia/squamata/brazilian-rainbow-
boa.htm
http://www.saczoo.org/document.doc?id=362
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/ReptilesAmphibians/Facts/FactSheets/Brazilianrainbowboa.cfm