![]() It can climb smooth surfaces or tree limbs, said the San Diego Zoo, but it "can't move very fast, only about 1 mile per hour…on open ground." It is, in fact, one of the slowest moving snakes in the world. Movement: Unlike, for instance, a gopher snake or a king snake, which travel forward with an undulating lateral S-shaped movement, the rosy boa travels with a rectilinear motion, something like a caterpillar or an inchworm.The snake's senses equip it to track prey, especially warm-blooded prey, in either sunlight or darkness. It has no external ears and therefore no hearing, but thanks to remnants of an inner ear, it can sense low frequency sounds and ground vibrations. With its tongue and Jacobsen's organ, it has an acute sense of "smell." With its heat sensors, it can distinguish between temperature differences of no more than a small fraction of a degree. ![]() It has sensitive thermal receptors, or heat sensors, near its lips. It uses its tongue to collect minute scent particles from the air and deposit them on the Jacobsen's organ for detecting possible prey, predators or a potential mate. Like other snakes, the rosy boa has a bifid (or forked) tongue and a chemical sensory organ (called a "Jacobsen's organ") on the roof of its mouth. Its jaws are attached, not by bone, but by ligaments, which permit the snake to stretch open its mouth wide enough to swallow surprisingly large prey. Like other non-poisonous snakes, it has two rows of small sharp re-curved, or "hooked," teeth on the top jaw and one row on the bottom these facilitate seizing, holding and swallowing prey-not chewing. Head: The snake's head is slightly larger than its neck.The rosy boa's typical overall reddish hue likely gave rise to its common name. The desert rosy boa may have chocolate-colored stripes set against a cream-colored background. The coastal rosy boa, for instance, may have rose to orange stripes set against a cream-colored or gray background. The colors of the stripes, which have serrated margins, vary among the subspecies. Color and Pattern: The snake has three distinct stripes – one down the center of its back and one on either side of the body – that run its entire length.It must avoid extreme temperatures to maintain the proper body temperature. Body Temperature Regulation: Like all snakes, the rosy boa is "ectothermic," which means that it takes its body heat from an external source, like the sun or surrounding soil and rocks. ![]() The female is somewhat larger than the male.
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