5 Constrictor Snakes

They are characterized by their ability to strangle prey to suffocation. In addition, they can swallow animals whole, thanks to the ability of their jaws to open wider than necessary.

Large in size and with the ability to strangle their prey, constrictor snakes are generally not venomous. But they can swallow animals whole due to their ‘displaced’ jaws, which open in a surprising way.  Learn more about them below.

Examples of constrictor snakes

Constriction is one of the most surprising techniques in the animal kingdom: it is based on strangling the victim. It’s not about breaking bones or crushing them, it’s about preventing them from breathing. Thus, the prey dies asphyxiated.

Some constrictor snakes that perform this feeding mechanism are:

1. green anaconda

This South American endemic reptile (picture that opens this article) is the largest and heaviest in the world. Although many cases of attacks on humans have been documented, she only acts this way if she feels threatened.

It is dark green with brown oval markings, has a light belly, and the tail pattern is unique to each specimen.

The snout is covered with scales and  both the nose and eyes are ‘elevated’ so that it is possible to submerge the whole body in the water, except this part, and thus chase their prey : tapirs, capybaras, deer, rodents, fish, amphibians, coatis and reptiles.

1. Rainbow boa constrictor

There are different species of this reptile, and they all live in South America, more precisely in warm regions.

Its scales can be of various colors, always with a light or brown background. Under the sun, they can reflect different shades, in an iridescent pattern, hence their name.

It is a nocturnal animal, shy, slow and bulky, which feeds on small mammals and sometimes birds.

It reproduces in spring and gestation lasts about five months:  in summer, the female “gives birth” to eight eggs and her offspring are about a foot long.

1. reticulated python

He lives in Southeast Asia and ‘fights’ with anaconda to see who is the biggest in the world.

Specimens eight meters long and 135 kilograms in weight have been found; although they are usually five meters (which is still a lot).

Its head is elongated and its muzzle smooth and broad, its mouth is endowed with a hundred teeth and its eyes are yellow with vertical black pupils. 

The body is yellow, ocher or brown on the back and white on the belly.

1. constrictor boa

It is one of the best known constrictor snakes, native to America – from Mexico to Argentina – and prefers habitats with little water, such as savannah and desert.

It is an arboreal and sometimes terrestrial reptile.

The boa constrictor can measure up to four meters – females are larger than males – and has a very beautiful coloration, in red, white, gold and pink tones.

Before  changing the skin,  it is grayish and not too flashy.

They don’t see very well; they use their thermosensitive scales to detect prey : birds, lizards, bats, rats, squirrels, among others. It is lonely, nocturnal and hides among the branches of trees.

1. green python

This species of constrictor snake lives in the forests of Australia, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. The  skin is green, very shiny and eye-catching, with lighter areas on the belly.

It can measure 2.5 meters and  spends many hours a day curled up in the branches of trees with its head “hanging”, which allows it to identify the prey (it has  thermoreceptive nostrils ).

Their diet is based on rodents, reptiles and, only in exceptional cases, some birds.