Named for the emerald green color that they take on at about 9-12 months of age, the emerald tree boa is a non-venomous species of boa (type of snake) that’s native to the rainforests of South America. This species, which is recognizable by the the pattern of “lightening bolts” on its back, can be found in the Amazon Basin regions of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Surinam, and the Guianas.

Adult emerald tree boas grow to be around 6 feet (1.8 meters) long and are known to have highly developed front teeth. This species is both nocturnal and arboreal, spending its days in a nice, neat coil over a tree branch with its head resting at its center and lowering its head down towards the ground at night. It will then wait for prey to approach below it, grasping it with its teeth and pulling it in to its body, which it then uses to constrict around and asphyxiate the prey. It tends to feed on small mammals (monkeys, rodents, bats) and birds but its favorite meal is the glass frog. Thanks to its slow metabolism, it only has to feed occasionally, and sometimes it will go months without eating. Females bare young in litters of between 6 and 14 at a time.