As some of you may know Amanda is doing a paper

[NicoleRussell]

We decided to use the Brazilian Rainbow boa.
We have the following questions for people who are really familiar with this species:
1) What layer of the rain forest does this animal live in?
2) What is the primary prey?
3) How does it hunt?
4) What are it's predators?
5) How does it protect itself from predators?
6) Does it have any characteristics that distinguish it from other snakes?

Thanks in advance for any/all input

[telefrag]

I would guess they hang out from ground layer up to under story
they eat "warm blooded prey"... and im sure some lizards and frogs when juveniles
as far as hunting, i've heard they are ambush predators and to a lesser extent foragers
predators are probably jungle cats (ocelots, jauarundis), caimens, other snakes, large nocturnal raptors..
babies would have all the typical baby snake predators
I would say its most effective method of protection is being active at night and being secretive, and growing large enough to be off the menu for most animals.
#6 would be a tough one, morphologically, I dont think so
they posses most of the same basic features that most Epicrates boas do.

[NicoleRussell]

Originally Posted by telefrag

I would guess they hang out from ground layer up to under story
they eat "warm blooded prey"... and im sure some lizards and frogs when juveniles
as far as hunting, i've heard they are ambush predators and to a lesser extent foragers
predators are probably jungle cats (ocelots, jauarundis), caimens, other snakes, large nocturnal raptors..
babies would have all the typical baby snake predators
I would say its most effective method of protection is being active at night and being secretive, and growing large enough to be off the menu for most animals.
#6 would be a tough one, morphologically, I dont think so
they posses most of the same basic features that most Epicrates boas do.

I was under the im,pression they were semi arboreal...are they mainly terrestrial?
Thanks TF!
Most of the info on the net is captive info...if you have any links to sites on natural habitat and behavior I would love to see them.

[telefrag]

I dont believe they are usually found in the canopy, granted, i've never climbed 40ft up a tree to get to one.

floor to under story covers about 30ft or so... that could technically be semi arboreal, but all the papers I have that talk about field collecting, they were found on the ground.
but I know they can climb pretty well, and I hear they swim a bit too.

	Arboreal Arboreal is a word meaning "related to or resembling trees". Its meaning comes from the Latin arbor, meaning tree.<br> In biology, an arboreal animal is one which inhabits or spends large amounts of time in trees or bushes.

[Stargazer]

You could try the book "The Living Boas" by Jerry Wells (I think). This is a pretty good guide to the boas of the world. Can probably get it at the library.

[telefrag]

Originally Posted by Stargazer

You could try the book "The Living Boas" by Jerry Wells (I think). This is a pretty good guide to the boas of the world. Can probably get it at the library.

I have that book...
somewhere.

Jerry G Walls...



and I dont think there is any mention of wild habits in any detail about any of the Epicrates

at least not that I recall.

[Kent K25]

Side note...what happen