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Tropical terrestrial snake

Boa constrictor

Boa constrictor

Kept the same way as the ball python, blood python and Brazilian rainbow boa, so they share one kit: the same heat, light, and humidity, sized to the animal.

Build a boa constrictor setup See the gear
Photograph of a Boa constrictor
Photograph by Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Care sheet

What it needs

We have taken these figures from published sources and are still checking them against our own experience. Treat them as a guide, and ask us before you buy.

Basking surface
32 to 35°C Measured on the surface the animal lies on, not in the air.
Daytime air
24 to 29°C The cool end, away from the lamp.
Night air
21 to 27°C
UV index at the basking spot
1.1 to 3 Zone 2. Partial sun or occasional basker, thermoregulator
Humidity
50 to 70%
Daylight hours
13 h in summer, 11 h in winter
Winter
Cooling A cooler period: activity and feeding drop, but the animal stays awake.
Where it lives
Leaf litter, Forest floor, Foliage or shrubs, Semi-arboreal
Adult length
100 to 400 cm
What it eats
Carnivore
When it is active
Nocturnal
How it lives
Semi-arboreal
Typical captive life
30 years
Longest recorded life
40 years A record from the literature, not what to expect. Most animals live well short of it.

Our reading of the literature, not veterinary advice. Animals vary, and so do rooms, so take these figures, and any setup the builder puts together, as a starting point, and ask a reptile vet about your own animal. Where the figures come from.

From the catalogue

Gear that suits a boa constrictor

Chosen for tropical terrestrial snake. The setup builder puts the whole kit together, sized to the animal, with the reason for each piece.

Build the whole kit

Same care group

Kept the same way

Where it comes from

Colombia (Valle del Cauca), Venezuela (Merida [HR 27: 88], Isla Margarita), Guyana, French French Guiana, Suriname, Peru (Pasco etc.), Bolivia, Brazil (Amapá, Pará, Rondonia, Roraima, Bahia, Sergipe, RO, Amazonas, Pará, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Distrito Federal, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Paraná, Piauí, Mato Grosso, Goiás, S Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte), Argentina, Paraguay Trinidad, Tobago, Antilles, e.g. Martinique, Aruba (introduced); Antigua (sub-fossil only), elevation (Honduras): 0-1370 m USA (introduced to Florida) amarali (invalid): SE Bolivia (Beni), S Brazil (S Mato Grosso, Goias, Mato G

Breeding: ovoviviparous; Booth et al. (2010) provide evidence for parthenogenesis in B. constrictor.

Where the figures come from