Boa c. constrictor

(Linnaeus, 1758)

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Boa c. constrictor distribution area Brazil              (so called "redtail boa")

 

Distribution: Northern part of South America (including Trinidad and Tobago) to the center of South America east of the Andes.

Boa c. constrictor from the distribution area of the Amazon and Orinoko flow often have a shining red tail. They are therefore called "red-tail boas". Except the green tree pythons (Morelia viridis) they are the most desired boids.

Boa c. constrictor and Boa c. occidentalis are the largest members of the Boa constrictor - family. According to the literature,  specimens longer than 17 feet are found in the wild. But meanwhile it turned out that these datas are based on an Anaconda (Eunectes noteus) who was mistakenly described as a Boa constrictor. According to todays knowledge Boa constrictor can grow to a maximum length of 12 ft.

In captivity boas remain smaller as in the wild. A redtail boa of 10 feet in length is a rarity in captivity (Average size of the females is about 7 ft. in length).

The most important signs of Boa c. constrictor are the bat-shaped, brown to dark-brown middorsal blotches ("widows-peaks"), yet  we saw also hour-glass shaped saddles on wildcaught Surinam redtails from the region around the village of Pokigron. 

High in demand are the ivory colored Brazilian redtails. They are then nicest and rarest of all Boa c. constrictor because Brazil practiced a stringent export prohibition as yet.

An aberrant saddle pattern is frequently found in Brazilian redtails.