The baby Boas are born live but I have separated them from Mum Whanita and Dad Bully Boy because they may fancy them as a snack. The baby snakes are only 2 weeks old and can already dislocate their jaws to swallow a mouse whole. They can eat 2 mice a week. The males grow to 8ft and the females up to 13ft and can weigh over 100lbs. They live from 20 to 30 years”.
Boa Constrictors come from the South American Rainforests and are not poisonous. Villagers on the edge of the forest keep them under their houses to catch rats which they ‘smell’ out withtheir forked tongues. They will eat almost anything except pumpkins and vegetables. Their jawsare lined with tiny hooked teeth which hold their prey while they wrap their muscular bodiesaround their victim, squeezing it into a package ready to fit into their extended mouths. Sadly Boa Constrictors are poached for their ornate skin, some are endangered and most have protectedstatus.
The first picture shows the egg sacs and live snakes at birth. The second picture we snapped when the two sneaky snakes snuck their way into two Halloween Pumpkins bathed in warm sunshine. “Usually they are kept under a lamp for warmth but its good for baby snakes to bask in the sunshine” said Elliott "the baby Boa Constrictors were having their dose of sun when theysneaked into pumpkins the Rangers were hollowing out for Halloween". Whanita and Bully Boy can be seen in the Reptile House at the 90 Acre Park’s Zoo together with hundreds of birds, animals and insects.
