Amazon/Garden Tree Boa

ANIMAL:
Amazon/Garden Tree Boa Corallus hortulanus/hortulana

Type of Animal:
Boa/Python

Habitat:
Tropical forest, flooded forest, dry forest, woodland, scrub forest, savanna, riversides, plantations, sugarcane fields, fruit orchards, grassland, river/oxbow edge trees

Location(s):
S Colombia, S Venezuela, Guiana Shield, Brazil, E Ecuador, E Peru, N Bolivia

Appearance:
2 main phases-garden phase boas have drabber coloration (usually brownish, olive, olive-brown, black, gray, or mix of these), colored phase boas have combo of red/yellow/orange or one of these colors dominates, coloration highly variable, cream to reddish brown ventral area but fairly variable, slender thin build, proportionally large head (often striped) w/ large bulging eyes, long prehensile tail, several different color morphs
 
Food/Diet:
Birds, bats, rodents, mouse opossums, frogs, lizards, insects

Status in Wild:
Stable

Conservation:
Breeding in zoos, wildlife centers, & herpetoculture

Lifestyle:
Solitary

Additional Info:

Called:
Male
Female
Young: Snakelet
Group: Solitary

Weight:
Male: 1 lb
Female: 3 lbs
 
Gestation:
6-8 months 

Life Span:
15-20 years

Body Length:
Male: 5 ft
Female: 6-7 ft
Young: 2.95 ft

Tail Length:
Adult: 11.4-12 in
Young: 4.69-4.96 in

Main predators of adults are raptors, boa constrictors, felids, crocodilians, & monkeys. Smaller monkeys eat young.
 
Like most boas, they’re ovoviviparous, w/ eggs hatching internally, resulting in 5-20 live young.
 
Most active at night but occasionally hunt during the day.
 
They’re highly arboreal.
 
They’re ambush predators.
 
Like all boas, they kill prey by constricting/swallowing whole.
 
Use thermal receptor pits around mouth to detect prey.
 
Males sexually mature at a year old, females at 2 years old.
 
When hunting at night, they use heat pits. On daytime hunting occasions, they use vision.
 
1st shed occurs 1-2 weeks after birth.
 
Often seen in curled position in trees.
 
Variation in patterns may be due to variety of habitats they live in serving as camouflage.
 
Males highly combative w/ fights sometimes resulting in death.

Fun Fact(s):
Often called ATBs in herpetoculture.
 
Also called Common Tree Boa & Macabrel.
 
These snakes can be quite defensive & often aggressive, not hesitating to strike/bite w/ long needle-like teeth. Another defense mechanism is to whip tail/release musk. Not a snake for 1st time snake owner or the faint of heart. Males sometimes use vestigial pelvic spurs in defense. Spurs more often used in mating.