A Hug to Die For
By Dr. Anndrea Kapke
Greenwood Animal Clinic

A boa constrictor is a cold blooded killer: a nonpoisonous carnivorous snake. Snakes are reptiles which can’t control their body temperature by creating heat themselves like we mammals do. They rely upon their environment for their body temperature. This must be taken into consideration when caring for one as a pet.
As the name suggests, boa constrictors squeeze their prey to death by wrapping it in their muscular coils in a fatal hug. Then they swallow their prey whole, dislocating their lower jaw if necessary. You may remember as a kid singing Shel Silverstein’s “Boa Constrictor.”
“…I’m being eaten by a boa constrictor
And I don’t like it one bit.
Well, what do you know?
It’s nibblin my toe.
Oh, gee
It’s up to my knee…” On to…
“…Oh dread,
“It’s up mmmmmmmmmmffffffffff….”
Technically, considering the way the boa constrictor kills his prey, the song should end a lot sooner.
Boa constrictors live in the wild in Central and southern America and some Caribbean Islands. They are large snakes, growing three to thirteen feet and adults may weigh sixty pounds. They are usually colored in shades of brown with darker transverse bars going down the back. Boas live 25 to 30 years. If your ten year old son asks for a boa constrictor for a pet, be prepared to care for a potentially eight foot long, forty pound snake when you son goes off to college and lives in a dorm. Then be prepared to snake-sit again when you son marries and has babies and toddlers in his home. Boas are Houdinis and like to escape their enclosures. A large boa is a danger to a human baby. Additionally some reptiles are carriers of the bacteria Salmonella. Giving a reptile antibiotics will not cure this. Young children, elderly people and immunocompromized people are at most risk of becoming ill or dying from Salmonella exposure.
Boa constrictors have heat sensing cells that help tip the scales in their favor when hunting prey. And their forked tong flicks out of their mouth “tasting” smells. I can think of a multitude of smells I’m thankful I don’t have to taste.
Boa constrictors need to eat whole prey in order to be healthy. The type of prey depends on the size of the snake. Mice or rats are often used although rabbits or chickens may be fed to larger boa constrictors.
Once a snake begins swallowing his prey, he is committed to finishing the job even if halfway through the process he realizes he is swallowing an electric heating pad. I’m glad this isn’t the case for humans; otherwise putting your foot in your mouth would be a terminal experience.
When deciding to keep a boa constrictor as a pet, it is important to recreate its normal wild environment as closely as possible. Most health problems in captive snakes are a result on inadvertent poor care. For example, you want to have enough cage space that your boa doesn’t feel constricted.
Discussing the care needed for a boa constrictor would change this article from the length of a garter snake to the length of a…well, you can guess. Before deciding to have a boa constrictor as a pet, be sure to research feeding, skin shedding, temperature gradients, humidity, cage types, materials for bedding, and safe options to provide heat and light.