Corallus hortulanus - Amazon tree boa

Corallus hortulanus - Amazon tree boa
Animal Diversity Web
University of Michigan
Museum of Zoology

Habitat
Amazon tree boas are found in a wide variety of habitats. They are common in arboreal regions with high humidity, especially Amazon rainforest. They can also be found in dry areas such as savannas or dry forests (Huang 2006).

Food Habits
Amazon tree boas have been reported to eat: birds (including Chloroceryle inda, Coereba, Elaenia), bats (probably Phyllostomus bicolor, Myotis), frogs (Elachistocleis), rodents (Akodon, Mus, Rattus), lizards (Anolis, Basiliscus, Iguana), and marsupials (Marmosa). These observations suggest that Corallus hortulanus has a broad diet of mainly vertebrate prey. (Martins and Oliveira, 1999)

Amazon tree boas hunt at night using their infrared sensitivity or during the day using vision. They are typically ambush hunters, sitting on a branch with the front part of their body hanging in an S-shaped curve from the branch. They can strike at prey that are a surprising distance from themselves. Prey are often pushed off the tree branch as they are struck, in which cases the snake will gather the body in several of its coils. (Huang, 2006; Martins and Oliveira, 1999)

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