Columbian Rainbow Boa

This snake, Epicrates Cenchria Maurus, belongs to the snake family ‘Boidae’, and can be found living in the wild, in places such as Columbia (hence the name), Costa Rica and the surrounding islands.

Columbian Rainbow Boas generally grow to about 4-7 feet long, but some have reached an amazing 8 feet in length! They can live up to and over 12 years.

Like most other snakes, the Columbian Rainbow Boa’s diet is mainly made up of rodents. To kill their prey many snakes such as the Columbian Rainbow Boa suffocate their prey to stop the blood flowing around so the prey dies.

In appearance these snakes generally are brown to copper in terms of their background colour, with distinct dorsal and lateral spots; these spots however tend to fade as the snake gets older. The younger the snake is the more vibrant its colour is likely to be.

Columbian Rainbow Boas are great pets due to how calm and docile they can be, however watch out because the younger ones can be a bit snappy and nippy at times.

They are very closely related to the Brazilian rainbow boa, however not as colourful in some cases.