Amazon Basins

Natural History

The Emerald Tree Boa was discovered in 1758 by Carlos Linnaeus who named the strikingly beautiful tree boa, Corallus caninus (Corallus batesii). The Genus name, Corallus was from the coral-like color and pattern of the boa as a neonate. Caninus came about from the boa's head and angled snout which is reminiscent of a dog. The elongated maxillary teeth also resemble the canine teeth of dogs.

Emerald Tree Boas - Guyana Shield and Amazon Basin

There are two distinct types of Emerald Tree Boas: the Surinam, also known as the Guyana Shield Emerald Tree Boa (Corallus caninus) and the Amazon Basin Emerald Tree Boa (Corallus batesii). The Surinam is found primarily in Northern South America whereas the Amazon Basin Emerald is found along the Amazon River basin from southern Surinam, southern Guyana, southern Venezuela to Colombia, Peru and Brazil into the surrounding jungle of the river. There is a remarkable difference between these two geographically isolated boa types in terms of morphology, scalation, temperament, coloration and markings. The Surinam Emerald is a leaner, taller, smaller animal than the Amazon Basin with a lighter green coloration with dorsal markings that do not connect.

Surinam Emeralds are the most common type of emerald tree boas seen in captivity. Specimens are typically a rich but lighter shade of green. The scales of the snout are large and the patterning is a typical seesaw pattern. The belly is white or creamy white in color. Surinam Emerald specimens attain lengths between 4 - 6 feet as adults. Their temperament is typically not as calm or trustworthy as the Amazon Basin Emerald. Amazon Basin Emeralds have a yellow or sulfur yellow belly color with a body color that is generally darker green and is marked with a white, dorsal stripe. Bright, enamel white triangles protrude out from this stripe and move down the sides of the body towards the belly. The stripe is often bordered by some degree of black. The Amazon Basin Emerald is also a larger animal than the Suriname Emerald with some specimens approaching 9 feet in length.

The Amazon Basin Emerald is a more desirable animal from a collectors' standpoint due to their impressive size, striking coloration and gentle nature. Our collection is focused entirely on this magnificent tree boa with the objective of selectively producing high white, deep emerald green animals. We are also working to successfully reproduce the rare, naturally occurring "Black" or melanistic Amazon Basin Emerald.