Corallus Caninus Emerald Tree Boa
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Emerald tree boas inhabit those areas of the Amazon basin that recieve over 1500mm of rain per year,they come in two forms Northern shield emeralds from Guyana/Suriname/Venezeula and confusingly enough Peru/Ecuador/Brazil and the Amazon basin form with its characteristic stripe(which may or may not be present) from parts of the central Amazon basin. Northern emeralds and basins are lumped together a one species at present,though its likely that this will change as even Northern shield animals are thought to comprise several subspecies on their own. I have worked with both types,though now i only maintain Basins,northern shield animals have a well deserved reputation for being difficult and one slip up can wipe out an entire collection with regurgitation syndrome,a non causative syndrome in which northern shield emeralds will start regurgitating their food after 24-48hours,for which there is no known cure. Basins on the other hand are pretty much bombproof and while more expensive will prove much easier to mainatin. These animals will perch on a single branch though it seems kind of unfair not to provide them with several to choose from,preferbly with some forks and at differing heights,humidity and ventilation is much the same as for amazon tree boas though temeperatures can be considerably lower with a gradient of 76-80F for most of the time and a slight increase for a couple of hours in the afternoon to 80-85F. Again the long, rather than tall cages are best,as these provide the animals with the most varied teperature gradient thus allowing them to choose the most comfortable spots for themselves,ventilation is even more important with emeralds,they will not thrive for long in stagnant conditions,my own basins are kept in well ventilated tubs,in addition whenever I am working in that room,all the emerald tubs are pulled out of the shelving,with the effect that the snakes are out in the open air for several hours per day,seems to suit them just fine,though they do occassionally go missing if your not looking. Food wise they do just fine on defrosted rodents,those teeth are not for catching birds in mid air as many think,but for snatching rodents from the ground,in the wild emerald tree boas will be found on dark nights perched a couple of feet above any streamside rodent runways waiting for dinner to pass by,by day they retire higher up in the trees at anything from 10-60feet up,they are not found in the highest canopy as its simply too dry up there and too hot to suit them. |
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