![An Emerald Tree Boa coiled on a tree branch](/sites/default/files/2022-12/hero_1.jpg)
Boas
![lizard](/sites/default/files/2017-12/animal-icon-reptiles.png)
Reptiles
![world map](/sites/default/files/2021-05/maps-world.png)
![](/sites/default/files/2017-04/endangered_graph_some_endangered.png)
Some Endangered
facts
![Graphic of various sizes of boas compared to a 6.25ft bed](/sites/default/files/2022-12/size-boas.png)
![Graphic of meat to emphasize that Boas are carnivores](/sites/default/files/2018-05/food-carne.png)
Depending on the species and size of the boa, these snakes eat rodents, birds, lizards, frogs, and small to medium-sized mammals like opossums, monkeys, pigs, or deer.
![Graphic of a leaf in a rainforest habitat](/sites/default/files/2017-07/habitats-rainforest_0.png)
There are more than 50 kinds of boas. Depending on the species, they live in forests, grasslands, wetlands, caves, and deserts.
description
![A closeup of a pile of boas overlaying on top of each other](/sites/default/files/2022-12/01_1.jpg)
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Family ties
The name “boa” covers a whole family of snakes—more than 50 species. They share similar characteristics. They have two lungs. (Most snakes have only one.) Inside, they have tiny bones where a lizard’s legs would start. Most boas give birth to live babies—they don’t lay eggs.
![A South American Boa Constrictor in the middle of eating its prey in its mouth](/sites/default/files/2022-12/02_0.jpg)
Gotcha!
Boas don’t chase their prey. They are ambush predators. Boas hide and remain still until prey comes close. Then, they strike quickly to catch it. Unlike rattlesnakes, boas don’t have venom. They have a different way to kill their prey…
![An Annulated boa coiled up in a tree branch](/sites/default/files/2022-12/03_0.jpg)
Squeezers
Once it has prey in its teeth, a boa quickly wraps itself around the animal. It squeezes so tightly that the animal’s lungs cannot expand, and its heart stops. Then, the boa swallows its prey whole, usually headfirst. Digestion takes a long time, because food isn’t in smaller chunks.
![3 baby Dumerils Ground boas at around 2 weeks old](/sites/default/files/2022-12/04_1.jpg)
Baby snakes
Most reptiles lay eggs, but most female boas give birth to live offspring. As they develop inside her body, each one is attached to a yolk sac and surrounded by a clear membrane. After they are born, they push through the clear membrane. They look like smaller versions of adult boas. Parents don’t provide care, so a baby boa is on its own. Often, the first thing it does is to hide.