Reptile

CLASS: Reptilia
ORDER: Squamata
FAMILY: Boidae

SIZE:
Average length 9 - 10 feet but can reach 18 feet

RANGE:
Southern Mexico to Argentina

HABITAT:
Lives in trees and on ground in rainforests; can swim also

DIET:
Wild - Small mammals, rodents, birds
Zoo - Mostly rats, sometimes small rabbit or squirrel

ADAPTATIONS:
Camaouflaged for protection; No outer ear -- picks up vibrations; Far eyesight; no eyelid, only scale called spectacle over eye.

Tongue is used for combined sense of smell and taste. Tongue (Jacobson's organ) does the same work as our nose when we draw air into it.

Bites to catch prey and constricts to hold and kill it; swallows it whole, head first. Teeth point toward back of mouth; used to hold prey and guide it down throat; teeth not used for chewing.

Well-developed lungs, breathes air

Scales cannot be pulled off; each one is a fold of skin and is part of the entire snake's skin; scales on under side of snake are designed for traction and helping snake crawl and climb and are called scutes.

FACTS:
Non-poisonous; but could have serious bite. Cold-blooded adapts to air or water temperature surrounding it. Boas have vestiges of hind legs or hip bones near end of tail (not usually visible).

No two boas have same color patterns -- like our fingerprints.

Snakes shed skin because they are growing; number of times skin is shed depends on food supply; young snakes shed more often than adults; pigment is under many layers of skin and is not shed.

Many types of boas ranging from SW Asia to South America as well as the Western U.S., Africa, Madagascar, Fiji, Solomon & New Guinea.

NOTE:
Snakes have an important role in nature. They keep the number of rodents under control as well as other animals such as frogs.

YOUNG:
Born alive (ovoviviparous -- after fertilization, the eggs remain in the female body until babies are developed.) Up to 30 babies.

STATUS:
CITES App. II; To be added to the endangered species list because of loss of habitat and being killed for their skins.