Just returned from a trip to Trinidad were i was fortunate enough to have collected two rainbow boas. One was a large female which we discovered under a pile of debris very near the beach. This female was a reddish brown with a white venter. Her pattern was visible, but very subdued.

The second snake was a sub-adult and had a very bright pattern. It was found hunting about eight or nine feet off the ground in a tangle of small trees and vines at night. . This animal was much more aggressive than the larger snake, striking violently at me while I photographed it.

The potential prey of these snake that I observed were lizards, ie; ameiva, iguana, and Polycrus ( a large anolis type lizard), birds and a fairly robust population of mice.

Both of these snakes showed a high amount of irridescence, thus their name "rainbow" was quite evident in these individuals.

We shot some great video of them crawling in the sun and the rainbow effect is impressive! As they slunk around, the local birds gatherd and heckled them annoyingly ( and us too!)The big female found a hole in the snake bag and escaped in our hotel room. Looking around I found her nicely tucked away in the bed dresser were I promptly photographed her as a prime habitat shot!

A great time. Phil

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