
(You can refer to this CABI datasheet for details.) Widespread acceptance is still pending, but several publications have acknowledged the new name since the original research was published in 2009. imperator used to be classified as a subspecies of Boa constrictor until DNA sequencing identified imperator as a distinct genetic lineage with 5-7% sequence divergence from constrictor. constrictor.īoa imperator (Central American Boa/Common Boa)ī. melanogaster was recently reclassified as B. Specimens have been documented in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. constrictor is native to South America east of the Andes Mountains, particularly in the Amazon rainforest. constrictor average between 7-10’ (2.1-3.0m) - especially when allowed to grow slowly (read: naturally) rather than power-fed.ī. They have the potential to get up to 12’ (3.7m) long, but this is rare most B.


Some localities also have a brown or dark brown tail instead of the namesake red, and they experience a color change as they age: from grayish babies to yellow and brown tones developing later. They typically have bat-shaped saddle patches with dark spots in between, although the Suriname locality has more of an hourglass shape to its pattern. constrictor is what most people think of when they hear the name: big, thick, and bright red patterning on the tail - although they tend to be much more docile than most assume. Boa constrictor constrictor (“True” Red-Tailed Boa)ī.
