The wild boas found here are anything from 4 - 6 feet, and are mostly females. (I know this because several of us are desperately looking for males to breed with some captive females.) We rarely seem to find wild males, and I'm beginning to think it is because they really are MUCH smaller than the females. I have two young males now 2.5 years old and they are still less than 3 feet long.

In the wild they are mostly found in shrubbery and small trees, and mine like to climb if I provide hides high in the tank, so I presume they are frequently arboreal. They do this defensive cobra-style pose only when confronted on open ground: and will actually strike and bite cobra-style.

They feed on geckos, rats, mynah birds, and fruit bats (BIG flying fox type bats)in the wild. In captivity we rely on F/T geckos, day old chick, and I have found mine take chicken hearts happily.

I agree their head shape (especially the black one) looks much more like a venomous snake and certainly the Fijians are very afraid of them. However, when you do come across them in the bush, they dart away VERY quickly and only offer to bite if cornered. Many of them are docile and handle-able immediately on capture.

We are currently feeding the black female up for the next breeding season so if we can get some suitable sized males we're hoping for some interesting babies. I'm just a bit afraid of putting my 90cm long babies in with this big mama!

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