It kills by constriction, feeding on small and medium-sized mammals, birds and lizards.
From Red-tailed Boa
It has vestigial pelvic spurs, evolutionary remnants of its lizard ancestors' hind legs.
From Red-tailed Boa
It is ovoviviparous: the young are born live and completely independent, measuring 38 to 60 cm.
From Red-tailed Boa
Its skin throws rainbow iridescence, produced by the microstructure of its scales.
From Rainbow Boa
Its iridescence is not pigment: microscopic ridges on the surface of the scales diffract the light like a prism, breaking it into every colour of the spectrum. In direct sunlight the snake looks as though it were covered in oil on water.
From Rainbow Boa
The effect is only visible in individuals whose skin is in good condition, and it disappears just before a moult, when the outer layer turns opaque.
From Rainbow Boa
It lives in the trees of the Amazon, its deep green hiding it almost completely among the leaves; the young are born orange or red before they change colour.
From Emerald Tree Boa
Its resting posture is unmistakable: it coils its body into stacked, perfectly symmetrical loops over a branch, with its head resting in the centre, an image that has made this species an icon of nature photography.
From Emerald Tree Boa

Ecosystems