Biology

Boa constrictors kill their prey by coiling their body around the victim and suffocating it to death, before stretching their jaw to swallow it whole. Boas use their forked tongues to trail their prey, collecting particles from the air and passing them to the Jacobson's organ in their mouth, which can detect distinct chemical compounds. They also possess heat sensory organs that allow them to hunt, or to detect danger, even in the dark. The diet in the wild consists of birds, chickens, lizards, rats and a variety of other mammals (5). Boas breed shortly after the rainy season (5) and, after a gestation period of four to six months, females give birth to 10 to 25 live young of around 30 cm (2).