More Snakes to Get Excited About

Yet another connection through the magic of the internet...

Last week a German snake-aficionade message board linked to my post of the snake devouring a wallaby. Somebody saw it, who sent it to a friend who sent it to a friend, and one of the herpetologists from the National Zoo emailed me last week. He had no idea that I lived in DC, much less right down the street. He invited me around to have a look at some of his wards, including this Rainbow Boa.



The Rainbow Boa lives all over South America, from the north on down. This guy is of a variety found in Peru and Brazil.



Rainbow Boas are not called that because they are multicolored like a muscular tube made of Froot Loops. However, the surface of their scales has a sort of prismatic effect when viewed in sunlight. They are like the surface of an oily puddle around the edges. This Boa is not sitting under a blue bulb--his skin is refracting the light and causing him to look blue around the edges.

posted by Jeff Simmermon @ 10:49 PM