Boa constrictor

• Python up to 4m long, weighing up to 45kg (though more commonly 10–15kg).
• Females generally longer and thicker than males.
• Colour may vary but is generally brown, grey or cream base colour with brown or reddish-brown patterns ('saddles') that become more pronounced towards tail.
• Head is arrow-shaped with distinctive stripes (1 running dorsally from snout to back of head, others running from snout to eyes and eyes to jaw).

• Found in range of habitats from tropical rainforests to arid semi-desert country.
• Prefers rainforest due to humidity, temperature, natural cover from predators, and ready supply of prey.
• Prefers to stay on dry land, living primarily in hollow logs and abandoned mammal burrows protected from potential predators.
• Capable swimmer commonly found in or along rivers and streams.
• Frequently found close to human habitation and observed in urban and agricultural areas, including cultivated fields.
• Unlikely to move over long distances when food and shelter are available locally.

• Detected and seized as illegal pets in Queensland.
• Not currently known to exist in the wild in Queensland.

• Females only reproduce when in good physical condition.
• Females incubate and hatch eggs inside bodies, then birth up to 60 live babies (average about 25 per clutch), which are independent within minutes of birth.
• Boas are 30–60cm long when born, then grow quickly for first few years.
• Reach sexual maturity and adult size of 1.8–3m at 3–4 years old, then continue to grow slowly throughout 25 to 30-year lifespan.
• Typically solitary animals that come together only to mate.

Environmental

• Prey on small mammals, birds, amphibians and other reptiles by constricting prey to restrict movement and suffocate them. Size of prey increases as snake grows.
• Large clutch sizes mean boa constrictors can colonise new areas relatively quickly and compete with native species for food and shelter (burrows).
• May carry new diseases such as the fatal Inclusion Body Disease, which has been transferred from boa constrictors to native Australian pythons in captivity.

Social

• Strikes when perceives a threat and can cause serious injury by biting. Bite (especially from large snakes) can be painful, but is rarely dangerous to humans.

• If you see or are in possession of a boa constrictor, contact our Customer Service Centre within 24 hours.

• The boa constrictor is a prohibited invasive animal under the Biosecurity Act 2014.
• You must not keep, feed, move, give away, sell or release into the environment. Penalties may apply.
• You must not take any action reasonably likely to exacerbate the biosecurity threat posed by boa constrictors.
• You must take any action that is reasonably likely to minimise the biosecurity threat posed by boa constrictors.
• You must report all sightings to Biosecurity Queensland within 24 hours.