We have received an emerald boa (Corallus caninus) with the objective of promoting the conservation of this species through its breeding and to raise awareness among the people about the dangers that threaten its survival. This species, in fact, is threatened due to the great sensitivity it has to weather changes and the constant deforestation suffered by the Amazon rainforest.
This species gets its name due to the emerald green colour of its body, which is only divided by some transverse white stripes. This greenish colour allows it to pass unnoticed among the large leaves of the jungle and its white stripes helps it imitate the sun’s rays, which favours its strategy of camouflage when it comes to hiding from its predators.
The specimen is an eight-year-old female, weighs approximately six kilograms and has a length of two metres. Since arriving to Terra Natura, veterinarian’s protocols have been carried out, consisting of a coprological study to determine the parasitic load in faeces, and if necessary, provide him an antiparasitic agent.
Reptiles tend to have parasitic in the digestive tube that coexist in balance, but in a situation of changes can vary, so it is necessary to control them especially.
Although it is not a poisonous snake, this reptile has the largest fangs within the constrictor species, hence its scientific name caninus, which in Latin means dog. When she rests she adopts a bow shape and curls around the horizontal branches of the trees, so that she feels comfortable and spends weeks in the same position, moving only a little at night when she looks for food.
Their diet is usually composed of birds, rodents and even geckos when they are young. It does not usually move much in its natural habitat and if the food is abundant in the chosen tree it is able to age and die in the same tree.