And so the snake haul continues… having spent what seems like years walking around the forests of Laguna del Tigre National Park at Las Guacamayas hoping to find another boa (Boa constrictor) it finally happened.

I saw a juvenile boa when I first came here in August 2012 and have been eager to find another ever since. They are one of my all time favourite snakes, and a classic species of the snake world.

Over the last two weeks or so that wish has come true, and right under my very nose. First, a very young boa (no more than 2 months old from the size) was found in a hole on the outside wall of the office. No more than 30 metres from my room!

Then last week another was found just next to the path down to the dock. It was a different individual to the first, but the same size and age! For me this is very buy levaquin online uk exciting and I suspect that they are from the same clutch.

What it also means is that their mother is most likely still in the area (well I hope she is!) having given birth recently. The concept that reptiles lay eggs is not entirely correct and a great many of them give “live” birth. Most of the time this means that the eggs are incubated inside the body of the mother and are laid at the point of hatching.

This has the advantage of giving the mother far greater control over the temperature the eggs are incubated as she can change her location to take advantage of the best temperatures. This method of incubating is particularly common at high latitudes and altitudes, where the average temperature is lower and fluctuations in temperature are greater.

In the UK four out of our six species of terrestrial reptile give “live” birth.

Rowland Griffin – Director of Research