The Longest Boas
Which are the longest species of boa and what do they look like? Boas have an intimidating appearance. With their long and voluminous bodies and their large mouths, they look like monsters.
Other than vipers and elapid snakes, boas do not kill their prey with poison. They cling round them very tightly instead until they suffocate. This is why they are also called “constrictors”.
Fortunately, these large snakes are mostly harmless for humans. They mainly live in North, South and Central America, in the Caribbean, in Africa and Asia. There are about 58 species that are called either “boa”, “anaconda” or “python”.
The Longest Snake in the World
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Reticulated python | 22.80 feet (6.95 meters) | South-East Asia, Burma, Thailand |
| Green anaconda | 21.65 ft (6.6 meters) | Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela |
| African rock python | 18 feet (5.5 meters) | Africa |
| Amethystine python | 15.48 feet (4.72 meters) | New Guinea, Philippines |
| Black-tailed python | 18.8 feet (5.74 meters) | South Asia, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka |
| Boa constrictor | 11.8 feet (3.6 meters) | Mexico, Argentina |
What is the Longest Boa?
When talking about the longest boa, everybody seems to know best which one it is. Scientists are quoted, and their results get refuted by others – for many different reasons. It is an ongoing argument based on contradictory and inconsistent data.
The Measuring Problem
It's not a problem to use measuring tape. But how would you measure the length of a boa that is swimming in the water or curling up in a tree? Boas do not really follow commands ... It is even difficult to measure dead snakes. After its death the animal shrinks because its body dries out. A boa can also be easily stretched by 25%. And there are too many people who would like to claim “I have discovered the longest snake”. Sometimes even the conversion of feet (measure of length) into meters causes confusion.
What’s the Truth then?
animalfunfacts.net has checked, compared and put together many books and scientific articles for you to the best of our knowledge. If you want to do some research on the internet yourself, please consider: If you find similar data several times in different sources, this does not necessarily mean that they are “true”.
