What's A Treeboa?
Visiting
this page you may have noticed that treeboas are not like other snakes
you may have seen before. This is because they are very special animals
that have learned to live in a very special way unlike many other
snakes. They have evolved to live in trees, this is called living an
arboreal lifestyle. Some treeboas may almost never come down to the
ground. The reason that treeboas have chosen to live up in the trees is
that up there, they have to worry less about other animals stepping on
them or eating them and they also have a better chance at finding more
food.
Tree boas come in many shapes and sizes but there are mainly only two
types of treeboas in the Amazon Jungle which is where most of them
live, deep in South America. There are other types of treeboas that
live in the jungles of Central America but we will talk about them
later on in another article. The first kind is called an Amazon Tree
Boa. Amazon Tree Boas are very long but thin treeboas. The second kind
is the Emerald Tree Boa which is much larger and has a thicker body.
Like their names say, Emerald tree boas are a bright emerald green
color while Amazon tree boas can come in many different colors and
patterns. Unlike their bigger cousins the Emerald Tree Boa, Amazon Tree
Boas may at times come down to the ground to hunt for food. In the
wild, tree boas eat mice, rats, adult and baby birds, and even bats!
Tree boas hunt at night, this means they are nocturnal. 
Since
they cannot see very well, treeboas have small holes in their faces
called pits. These pits help them find their food by sensing heat, kind
of like a living heat seeking missile! Tree boas are not venomous, if one bites you it will hurt a bit and you may get a cut on your hand but you will not die from it. Instead of using venom, Tree boas use constriction to get their food. They are considered constrictors, just like their cousins the larger boa constrictors that come from the same jungles. Tree boas have very large teeth which they use to hold on to their food when swallowing, since they live high in the trees they would not be very happy if they always dropped their food, the large teeth look a lot like a dogs, in some parts of the Amazon they are called Dog-Faced Boas!
When tree boas have babies they don't lay eggs like some other snakes
may do, instead they have live babies that are born and climb up into
the trees on their own. The babies do not stay with their mothers,
instead they go out and hunt on their own just days after being born.
All boas have live babies just like this while the larger pythons lay
eggs.
Like all other snakes, tree boas must shed their skin every few months in order to keep growing bigger and bigger. Just before they are ready to shed their skin tree boas like most snakes look very dull but after they are done shedding they are very shiny and their colors look very bright. If you look closely at a tree boa that just shed its skin you could even see a rainbow! After learning a bit about them I hope you like tree boas as much as I do. They are very interesting animals and are a lot of fun to look at. When you go to your local zoo or pet shop ask them if they have any tree boas and you may get the chance to see one face to face! If you ever have any questions on tree boas or need help with a report please be sure to E-mail me danny@urbanjungles.com and I'll help you the best I can!
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