Herpetoculture

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Herpetoculture

• Boa Constrictors
• Nathaniel McClain II
• Communication Physics
• Florida State University

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Boa Constrictors

• Temperament and Handling
• Housing
• Food and Water
• Growth
• Reproduction

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Boa Constrictors

• Boa Constrictors tend to be very easy-going
  snakes, although I have been told that first-time
  handlers should not choose a Red-Tail Boa for a
  pet!

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Temperament and Handling

• If a boa constrictor is in a bad mood, the head
  and neck usually are thrown back in an S-curve
  and the animal may hiss long and very loudly.

• It is not hard to tell when a boa constrictor
  wishes to be left alone. After biting, the snake
  may let go immediately or clamp down with its
  jaws and coil tightly around anything available.

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Temperament and Handling

• Here is a Red Tail Boa constrictor that has
  coiled its tail around itself. This boa looks
  to be no more than a year old.
• The boa in which we will see today is around 3
  years of age.

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Temperament and Handling

• Holding the animals head under a running tap may
  convince it to release its hold. Otherwise, a
  flat card or blade must be forced between one of
  the jaws and whatever it is biting.

• Boa Constrictors seem to become more familiar
  with people as a result of handling and so are
  less likely to bite if taken out of their cages
  every now and then.

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Housing

• Cages or aquariums made with wood, plastic,
  fiberglass, etc. serve well for boa constrictors.
  No screen should be used for the top or anywhere
  else in the cage. Some snakes may rub their
  noses on the screen until they develop abrasions
  and infections.

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Housing

• Much controversy exist over what to put in the
  cage besides the snake. In general, keep the
  interior of the cage as simple as possible, since
  it facilitates cleaning, changing water, and
  taking the snake out of the cage.

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Food and Water

• This snake swallowing this egg is the equivalent
  to a human swallowing a watermelon. A snakes
  jaws are only loosely joined to its skull by
  ligaments which are very strong---so the jaw act
  as one solid structure during the bite.

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Food and Water

• How big a prey can a snake eat?
• It is the diameter of the prey and not its weight
  that limits their edibility to snakes. Some
  snakes cant open their mouths very wide because
  their skulls are more solidly fused together,
  e.g., blindsnakes which can only eat soft or thin
  prey like worms and insect larvae.

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Food and Water

• Snake eating a deer. A snake is capable of
  eating such large prey because their (glottis)
  protrudes to the edge of their mouth.

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Growth

• Growth rates over time are a great deal messier
  than the length-weight relationship, since growth
  is affected strongly by temperature, amount of
  food, sex, and probably the snakes origin.

• Females continue to grow to much larger sizes,
  and their data points indicate that a maximum has
  not been reached by sixteen years of age.

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Growth

• Both snakes in this picture are about 6 feet long.

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Reproduction

• Males may be distinguished from females by their
  greater development of the spurs,
  proportionately longer and fatter tails. To find
  whether a snake is a male or female, you would
  have to use a certain technique. This technique
  involves catching the base of the tail between
  the thumb tip and index finger, applying light
  pressure, and pulling the tail through the
  opening. In males, blood seems to get caught in
  the hemipenes within the tail and the heads of
  the hemipenes can be palpated as they pass
  beneath the thumb tip. Nasty!

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El Fin