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Epicrates cenchriaRainbow Boa

By Justine Negron

Geographic Range

Rainbow boas (Epicrates cenchria) can be found in the Neotropical region of Central and South America, beginning in Nicaragua and continuing to the Amazon Basin and the foothills of the Andes Mountains. They are also found along the coast east of the Brazilian Highlands. (Andrade-Junior, et al., 2020; Bento, et al., 2022; Calderon, et al., 2013; Garcia and de Almeida-Santos, 2022; Lourdais, et al., 2004; Solis, et al., 2015)

Habitat

Rainbow boas mainly occupy Amazonian rainforests and coastal rainforests along the Atlantic. Sometimes, they can be found in nearby savannas. They usually stay on low-lying tree branches or can be found close to the ground. (Calderon, et al., 2013; Langeveld, 1996)

Physical Description

Rainbow boa coloration ranges from orange to reddish-brown. Dark spots cover their sides, and a dark ring pattern runs down their back. The underbelly and sides have a lighter grey-like color. Three dark lines run parallel on top of their heads. Their scales have an iridescent rainbow shine, especially after sloughing. Sexual dimorphism is present. Females are slightly longer than males and have wider abdomens for embryo and fat storage. Males, however, tend to be more muscular. Rainbow boas' length ranges from 1.5 meters to 2.0 meters. On average, they weigh 1,306 grams. ("AnAge entry for Epicrates cenchria Classification (HAGRID: 02938)", 2017; Calderon, et al., 2013; Garcia and de Almeida-Santos, 2022; Langeveld, 1996; Lourdais, et al., 2006)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • female larger
  • Average mass
    1,306 g
    oz
  • Range length
    1.5 to 2.1 m
    4.92 to 6.89 ft

Development

Rainbow boas undergo an early development period of either egg yolk formation or where an egg embryonic disk can be seen. Next, the mid-development period occurs. Fetal heartbeats can be detected and there is more yolk. Then, late development occurs. Fetuses are larger in size. Heartbeats are still detectable. Skeletal formation of the skull and spine occurs, and the yolk disappears. (de Camilo and Elizabeth, 2001; Garcia and de Almeida-Santos, 2022)

Reproduction

Male rainbow boas undergo male-male ritual combat starting in late autumn for access to females. During this time, testicle length peaks. Females usually become pregnant around 23 days after male-male combat occurs, indicating mating most likely happens after the male display. (Garcia and de Almeida-Santos, 2022; Langeveld, 1996)

Rainbow boas mainly reproduce through sexual reproduction and sometimes through asexual reproduction. Females are generally ovoviviparous; however, some evidence suggests that they may exhibit parthenogenesis. Females usually experience vitellogenesis between autumn and winter. Mating occurs during the same period every two years. The gestation period lasts between three and eight months and occurs between winter and spring. They give birth between spring and summer. They do not eat during pregnancy. Typically, females carry between one and thirty offspring. Offspring birth mass ranges from 12.4 grams to 30.2 grams. Rainbow boas become sexually mature when they reach a length of about 1.5 meters. In males, sexual maturity length is reached at about three years; in females, four years. (Bento, et al., 2022; de Camilo and Elizabeth, 2001; Garcia and de Almeida-Santos, 2022; Kinney, et al., 2013; Langeveld, 1996)

  • Breeding interval
    Rainbow boas (Epicrates cenchria) breed seasonally and biennially
  • Breeding season
    Autumn to winter
  • Range number of offspring
    1 to 30
  • Average number of offspring
    9.7
  • Range gestation period
    3 to 8 months
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    4 (high) years
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    3 (high) years

Female rainbow boas invest significant amounts of energy during pregnancy toward their developing young. Loss of muscle mass occurs during gestation. Female rainbow boas will sometimes help break open the membrane encasing their offspring after birth. Otherwise, the offspring break the membrane themselves. Offspring are precocial, so they look relatively well-developed when born. (Langeveld, 1996; Lourdais, et al., 2004)

  • Parental Investment
  • precocial
  • female parental care
  • pre-fertilization
    • provisioning
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-hatching/birth
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • female

Lifespan/Longevity

Rainbow boas can live between 20 and 25 years in captivity. The maximum recorded lifespan in captivity is 42 years. In the wild, rainbow boas live between 7 and 12 years. ("AnAge entry for Epicrates cenchria Classification (HAGRID: 02938)", 2017; Mede, 2023; "Rainbow Boa Epicrates cenchria", 2022)

  • Range lifespan
    Status: captivity
    42 (high) years
  • Typical lifespan
    Status: wild
    7 to 12 years
  • Typical lifespan
    Status: captivity
    20 to 25 years

Behavior

Rainbow boas are solitary and aggressive. They do not live in groups and are rarely seen. If they feel threatened, they will strike and bite. Females are thought to be more aggressive than males. Also, rainbow boas are motile, meaning they are able to move around. Rainbow boas are generally nocturnal, so they are typically active in the evening and at night. Moreover, these snakes are mostly arboreal and terricolous. They are usually found resting or hunting in low-lying branches, in bushes, or on the ground. (Bento, et al., 2022; Donato, et al., 2012; Langeveld, 1996; Solis, et al., 2015)

Communication and Perception

Rainbow boas can recognize members of their own species through chemical cues. They have specialized pits on their faces that recognize the body heat of prey. Heat recognition and vision can be used to locate prey. (Gabirot, et al., 2012; Grace and Woodward, 2001; "Rainbow Boa Epicrates cenchria", 2022)

Food Habits

Rainbow boas are carnivores. They eat small mammals, birds, bird's eggs, reptiles, and amphibians. Examples of prey include Tomes's sword-nosed bats (Lonchorhina aurita) and southern Amazon red squirrels (Sciurus spadiceus). They kill their prey through strangulation. (Bento, et al., 2022; Donato, et al., 2012; Langeveld, 1996; Solis, et al., 2015)

  • Primary Diet
  • carnivore
    • eats terrestrial vertebrates
  • Animal Foods
  • birds
  • mammals
  • amphibians
  • reptiles
  • eggs

Predation

Rainbow boas (Epicrates cenchria) bite to defend themselves against perceived threats. Also, rainbow boas release foul odors from cloacal glands as a chemical defense. They will sometimes move away from a threat or assume a defensive position: heads buried underneath their coils. Specific predators of this species are not documented in the literature. (Langeveld, 1996; Lourdais, et al., 2006)

Ecosystem Roles

Rainbow boas are predators in their ecosystem, eating small mammals, birds, bird's eggs, reptiles, and amphibians. (Bento, et al., 2022; Donato, et al., 2012; Langeveld, 1996; Solis, et al., 2015)

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Rainbow boas are common in the pet trade. Their coloration makes them attractive to potential customers. (Calderon, et al., 2013; Mede, 2023; "Rainbow Boa Epicrates cenchria", 2022)

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

Negative effects of rainbow boas are not reported in the literature.

Conservation Status

Rainbow boa populations are stable and not of concern to the conservation community. (Calderon, et al., 2013)

Other Comments

Rainbow boas belong to the boa (Boidae) family. This family contains the strongest and largest snakes in the Neotropical region. Rainbow boas are named for the iridescent shine of their skin. Their scales refract light to create the rainbow effect. (Calderon, et al., 2013; Garcia and de Almeida-Santos, 2022; Langeveld, 1996; "Rainbow Boa Epicrates cenchria", 2022)

Contributors

Justine Negron (author), Colorado State University, Tanya Dewey (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Neotropical

living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America.

World Map

arboreal

Referring to an animal that lives in trees; tree-climbing.

asexual

reproduction that is not sexual; that is, reproduction that does not include recombining the genotypes of two parents

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

ectothermic

animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature

female parental care

parental care is carried out by females

forest

forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.

infrared/heat

(as keyword in perception channel section) This animal has a special ability to detect heat from other organisms in its environment.

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

nocturnal

active during the night

ovoviviparous

reproduction in which eggs develop within the maternal body without additional nourishment from the parent and hatch within the parent or immediately after laying.

parthenogenic

development takes place in an unfertilized egg

pet trade

the business of buying and selling animals for people to keep in their homes as pets.

polygynandrous

the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females.

rainforest

rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

solitary

lives alone

terrestrial

Living on the ground.

tropical

the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.

tropical savanna and grassland

A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.

savanna

A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.

temperate grassland

A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

visual

uses sight to communicate

young precocial

young are relatively well-developed when born

References

2017. "AnAge entry for Epicrates cenchria Classification (HAGRID: 02938)" (On-line). Human Ageing Genomic Resources. Accessed February 26, 2023 at https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Epicrates_cenchria.

2022. "Rainbow Boa Epicrates cenchria" (On-line). az Animals. Accessed February 26, 2023 at https://a-z-animals.com/animals/rainbow-boa/.

Andrade-Junior, A., M. Franca, V. Sudre, P. Passos. 2020. Are there threatened snakes at the end of the rainbow? Notes on the distribution and morphology of Epicrates cenchria, Rainbow Boa, in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Cuadernos de Herpetología, 34, 2: 299-304. Accessed February 26, 2023 at http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/107458.

Bento, H., A. Ferreria, G. Iglesias, F. Curcio, H. Lima, T. Araujo, A. Kuczmarski, R. Paz. 2022. Testicle histology of the Epicrates cenchria: a morphological and reproductive biology analysis. Brazilian Journal of Veterinary and Animal Science, 74: 853-861. Accessed February 06, 2023 at https://www.scielo.br/j/abmvz/a/fQHMK6jgMVNLt53qRbxHshS/?lang=en#ModalHowcite.

Calderon, M., A. Ortega, A. Catenazzi, G. Gagliardi, D. Cisneros-Heredia, C. Nogueira, W. Schargel, G. Rivas. 2013. "The IUCN Red List of Endangered Species" (On-line). Accessed February 02, 2023 at https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15154721/15154747.

Donato, C., M. Dantas, P. Rocha. 2012. Epicrates cenchria (rainbow boa). diet and foraging behavior. Herpetological Review, 43: 343-344. Accessed February 07, 2023 at https://www.academia.edu/10014675/EPICRATES_CENCHRIA_Rainbow_Boa_DIET_AND_FORAGING_BEHAVIOR.

Gabirot, M., P. Picerno, J. Valenica, P. Lopez, J. Martin. 2012. Species recognition by chemical cues in neotropical snakes. Copeia, 3: 472-477. Accessed February 08, 2023 at https://www.jstor.org/stable/23273254?seq=1.

Garcia, V., S. de Almeida-Santos. 2022. Reproductive cycles of neotropical boid snakes evaluated by ultrasound. Zoo Biology, 41: 74-83. Accessed February 07, 2023 at https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy2.library.colostate.edu/doi/10.1002/zoo.21646.

Grace, M., O. Woodward. 2001. Altered visual experience and acute visual deprivation affect predatory targeting by infrared-imaging Boid snakes. Brain Research, 919, 2: 250-258. Accessed March 09, 2023 at https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy2.library.colostate.edu/science/article/pii/S0169328X01002480?via%3Dihub.

Kinney, M., R. Wack, R. Grahn, L. Lyons. 2013. Parthenogenesis in a Brazilian rainbow boa (Epicrates cenchria cenchria). Zoo Biology, 32, 2: 172-176. Accessed February 07, 2023 at https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy2.library.colostate.edu/doi/full/10.1002/zoo.21050.

Langeveld, C. 1996. The Brazilian rainbow boa, a beautiful terrarium dweller (Epicrates cenchria cenchira Linnaeus, 1758). Litteratura Serpentium, 16: 152-158. Accessed February 09, 2023 at https://www.snakesociety.nl/jaargangenoverzicht-e.htm.

Lourdais, O., F. Brischoux, D. DeNardo, R. Shine. 2004. Protein catabolism in pregnant snakes (Epicrates cenchria maurus Boidae) compromises musculature and performance after reproduction. Journal of Comparative Physiology B, 174: 383-391. Accessed February 02, 2023 at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00360-004-0424-6#citeas.

Lourdais, O., R. Shine, X. Bonnet, F. Brischoux. 2006. Sex differences in body composition, performance and behaviour in the Colombian rainbow boa (Epicrates cenchria maurus, Boidae). Journal of Zoology, 269, 2: 175-182. Accessed February 02, 2023 at https://zslpublications-onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy2.library.colostate.edu/doi/full/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00057.x.

Mede, E. 2023. "Brazilian Rainbow Boa Care (Epicrates cenchria)" (On-line). Crestwood Animal Hospital. Accessed February 07, 2023 at https://www.crestwoodvethospital.com/brazilian-rainbow-boa-care-epicrates-cenchria/.

Solis, J., D. Bowman, D. Ward. 2015. Epicrates cenchria (rainbow boa): Feeding observation. The Herpetological Bulletin, 132: 25-26. Accessed February 08, 2023 at https://www.thebhs.org/publications/the-herpetological-bulletin/issue-number-132-summer-2015/366-07-i-epicrates-cenchria-i-rainbow-boa-feeding-observation/file.

de Camilo, M., J. Elizabeth. 2001. Comparative reproductive physiology of the Brazilian rainbow boa (Epicrates cenchria cenchria) and the ball python (Python regius). Ann Arbor, Michigan: Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. Accessed March 05, 2023 at https://www.proquest.com/docview/304727818?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true.

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