Rainbow boa

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Species of snake

title: "Rainbow boa" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["epicrates", "snakes-of-south-america", "reptiles-described-in-1758", "animal-taxa-named-by-carl-linnaeus"] description: "Species of snake" topic_path: "general/epicrates" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_boa" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of snake ::

Boa cenchria Linnaeus, 1754
[Boa] Cenchria Linnaeus, 1758
Coluber tamachia Scopoli, 1788
Boa Cenchris — Gmelin, 1788
Boa aboma Daudin, 1803
Boa ternatea Daudin, 1803
Boa annulifer Daudin, 1803
[Epicrates] cenchria — Wagler, 1830
Cliftia fusca Gray, 1849
Epicarsius cupreus J.G. Fischer, 1856
Epicarsius cupreus — Brown, 1893
Epicrates cenchris — Boulenger, 1893
Epicrates cenchria — Griffin, 1916
Epicrates cenchria var. fusca — Griffin, 1916
Epicrates cenchria cenchria — Amaral, 1930
Epicrates cenchria cenchria — Stull, 1938 | synonyms_ref =

The rainbow boa (Epicrates cenchria) is a boa species endemic to Central and South America. A semi-arboreal species (not only do they climb in the wild but also proven in captivity), it is known for its attractive iridescent/holographic sheen caused by structural coloration. Five subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.

Distribution and habitat

The rainbow boa is found in lower Central America (Costa Rica and Panama), and farther south into South America. It occurs east of the Andes, roughly reaching northern Argentina (in the provinces Chaco, Córdoba, Corrientes, Formosa, Salta, Santiago del Estero and Tucumán).

The rainbow boa's habitat generally consists of humid woodlands and rainforests, but it can also be found in open savannas.

Description

The rainbow boa is typically orange, brown, or reddish brown, with a paler belly and black markings: three parallel stripes on the head, rings down the back, and lateral blotches with a crescent over them, although there is a great deal of natural variation that may be heightened by artificial breeding. It is 4 to 6 feet in length and sexually dimorphic, as females are slightly longer and have wider abdomens. Males are stronger when compared with females of the same length and more resistant to handling.

Behavior

Rainbow boas are nocturnal and most active in the middle of the night.

This species is semi-arboreal, spending time both on the ground and in trees. They are also known to spend time in bodies of water, and are considered capable swimmers.

Mating habits

The rainbow boa reaches sexual maturity at 1.2 meters for males and 1.4 meters for females, or when they're approximately 2.5 to 4 years old. Females need to be the correct size otherwise they could have complications during and after birth. Males can mate with multiple females which can be beneficial for reptile breeding.

Eating habits during breeding season

Males generally go without feeding during the mating season and females tend to eat smaller portions during the breeding season. In order to decrease the probability of birthing issues, females should be fed smaller rats/mice in order to save space for proper ova development.

It is not unusual for both sexes to go without eating during the mating season.

Captivity

The most common type of rainbow boa found in the pet trade is the Brazilian rainbow boa, E. c. cenchria. During the 1980s and early 1990s, substantial numbers were exported from Suriname. Today, however, far fewer are exported, and most offered for sale are captive bred. With good care, a captive Brazilian rainbow boa can be expected to live for up to 30 years, but most live up to 20.

Subspecies

::data[format=table]

Subspecies	Taxon author	Common name	Geographic range
Epicrates cenchria barbouri	Stull, 1938	Marajo Island rainbow boa
Epicrates cenchria cenchria	(Linnaeus, 1758)	Brazilian rainbow boa	the Amazon Basin and in coastal Guiana, French Guiana, Suriname and southern Venezuela
Epicrates cenchria gaigeae	Stull, 1938	Peruvian rainbow boa
Epicrates cenchria hygrophilus	Amaral, 1935	Espirito Santo rainbow boa
Epicrates cenchria polylepis	Amaral, 1935	Central Highlands rainbow boa
::

Etymology

The subspecific names barbouri and gaigeae are in honor of American herpetologists Thomas Barbour and Helen Beulah Thompson Gaige, respectively.

Gallery

File:Rainbow boa peruvian.jpg|Peruvian subspecies (E. c. gaigeae) File:Rainbow Boa (Epicrates centria).jpg|Brazilian rainbow boa at the Vancouver Aquarium

References

(2021). "''Epicrates cenchria''".
[[:fr:Roy Wallace McDiarmid. McDiarmid RW]], [[Jonathan A. Campbell. Campbell]] JA, [[species:T'Shaka A. Touré. Touré TA]] (1999). ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1''. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. {{ISBN. 1-893777-00-6 (series). {{ISBN. 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
{{ITIS
"Brazilian rainbow boa".
Lourdais, O.. (June 2006). "Sex differences in body composition, performance and behaviour in the Colombian rainbow boa ( Epicrates cenchria maurus , Boidae)". Journal of Zoology.
[http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/ReptilesAmphibians/Facts/FactSheets/Brazilianrainbowboa.cfm Brazilian Rainbow Boa] at [http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ Smithsonian National Zoological Park]. Accessed 12 November 2008.
(2016-04-25). "Brazilian rainbow boa".
[[species:Bo Beolens. Beolens, Bo]]; [[species:Michael Watkins. Watkins, Michael]]; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN. 978-1-4214-0135-5. (''Epicrates cenchria alvarezi'', p. 6;
''E. c. barbouri'', p. 16; ''E. c. gaigeae'', p. 96).

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::