Class: Reptilia

Order: Squamata Serpentes

Scientific Name: Corallus caninus

Range: Amazon Basin: Peru, Ecuador, Brazil & Bolivia to the Guianas

Habitat: Trees & bushes adjacent to water courses, swamps & marshes in rain forests

Diet: Wild: Small mammals & birds Zoo: Mice, rats

Gestation: Unknown. Eggs are hatched within the female, and the young born live.

Litter: varies

Description: The Emerald Tree Boa is a brilliant green in color on top, patterned with white or yellow triangular blotches. The under side is yellow. Juveniles are orange rather than green. Adults can reach nearly 8 feet in length. Huge, fang-like teeth assure rapid penetration and a secure grip through the feathers and/or fur of their prey.Arboreal and nocturnal, they spend the day draped in symmetrical coils over branches, the prehensile tail assuring a firm grip. The long, flat head rests atop the body coils. Prey is constricted and often ingested while the boa is suspended from a branch, which is gripped by the tail and posterior body. All species of Corallus have well developed labial thermoreceptors. Sensitive to minute temperature gradients, these thermoreceptors aid the snake in locating its prey and aiming its strike. This boa is said to be mean-tempered in captivity.Emerald Tree Boas give birth to living young, the size of the litter and neonates varying with the size of the female. Neonates are terra cotta, or occasionally bluish-green in color, patterned with white. As they grow, green flecks appear over the body increasing in size and number until the emerald green of the adult appears.

Where in the Zoo? I can be found in the Reptile Exhibits at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.