page_title: Boa constrictor
section_title: Coloring
hierarchical_section_title: Boa constrictor / Description / Coloring
caption_attribution_description: English: A two-year-old Boa constrictor at the Belize Zoo, west of Belize City, Belize.
context_page_description: The boa constrictor, also called the red-tailed boa or the common boa, is a species of large, non-venomous, heavy-bodied snake that is frequently kept and bred in captivity. The boa constrictor is a member of the family Boidae, found in tropical South America, as well as some islands in the Caribbean. A staple of private collections and public displays, its color pattern is highly variable yet distinctive. Nine subspecies are currently recognized, although some of these are controversial. c. constrictor.
context_section_description: The coloring of boa constrictors can vary greatly depending on the locality. However, they are generally a brown, gray, or cream base color, patterned with brown or reddish-brown "saddles" that become more pronounced towards the tail. This coloring gives B. constrictor species the common name of "red-tailed boas." The coloring works as very effective camouflage in the jungles and forests of its natural range.
  Some individuals exhibit pigmentary disorders, such as albinism. Although these individuals are rare in the wild, they are common in captivity, where they are often selectively bred to make a variety of different color "morphs". Boa constrictors have an arrow-shaped head with very distinctive stripes on it: One runs dorsally from the snout to the back of the head; the others run from the snout to the eyes and then from the eyes to the jaw.
  Boa constrictors can sense heat via cells in their lips, though they lack the labial pits surrounding these receptors seen in many members of the family Boidae. Boa constrictors also have two lungs, a smaller (non-functional) left and an enlarged (functional) right lung to better fit their elongated shape, unlike many colubrid snakes, which have completely lost the left lung.
caption: Head shape of B. imperator
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