Boa vs Python: Difference and Comparison

Snakes are quite intimidating animals. Some are non-poisonous, while some are not.

Snakes are carnivorous. They can be quite deadly, and snakes are very hard to identify.

Boa and Python are two species of snakes with some similarities and some differences. Both of the snakes are non-venomous

Key Takeaways

1. Boas give birth to live young, while pythons lay eggs.
2. Pythons are larger than boas and include some of the longest snake species.
3. Boas are primarily found in the Americas, while pythons inhabit Africa, Asia, and Australia.

Boa vs Python

The difference between Boa and Python is that both are found in different geographical locations. Boas are commonly found in America, whereas Pythons are founded majorly in Asian countries and Africa. Often Boa and Python are confused because of their similar appearance. Pythons and Boas are both one of the largest snakes.

Boa snakes are non-venomous snakes and are also known as red-tailed snakes or boa constructors. Boa snakes are non-poisonous, but their bite can be painful to humans, although the bite will not be threatening to human life.

These snacks are mainly found in South America and also in some parts of the Caribbean. The snakes are quite docile, but however, their territory should not be invaded.

Pythons are huge structural snakes. They are also non-venomous, but however, they can be quite dangerous.

Pythons cannot kill through their venoms. They mostly kill their targets by strangling the target with their body.

Pythons have split tongues and flared skin. They are found in most Asian countries and also Found in Africa.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Boa	Python
Scientific Name	The scientific name of Boa snakes is Boa constrictor.	The scientific name of the Python snake is Pythonidae.
Reproduction	Boa snakes are ovoviviparous.	Python snakes are oviparous
No of scales present in the head	Boas has 20 mini scales in their head.	Python has 4 major scales in the head.
Size of the snake	Generally, boas are 1 to 3 meters in length.	The average size of a python is about 6 meters.
Geographical location	Found in America.	Found in Asia and Africa.

What is a Boa?

The scientific name of the Boa snake is Boa constrictor. Boa snakes or as knowns as red-tail snakes, are small in size.

However, some species of Boa’s can be up to 6 meters in size. Boas are frequently bred in captivity, and they are quite curious animals.

There are about 40 different kinds of Boa constrictors to exist. And the most well-renowned of the 40 kinds is –Anaconda.

Although the majority of the boas are small, anacondas can be quite large. Boa constrictors are ovoviviparous reptiles.

This means that they give birth to live babies instead of eggs. The average size of a Boa might be from 1 to 3 meters in length.

Boa constrictor; weight may be between 10 to 15 kg. So evidently, they are a gigantic species of Snake.

Boas have a reddish marking on their body, which kind of gets larger towards the tail and thus, Boas is also known as Red Tail Snakes. Boa constrictors have very few teeth and bones in their skull.

They do not have fangs, and they lack in having a premaxilla upper jaw bone. Boa is known as New World Snakes, as they are found in America.

What is a python?

The scientific name Python is Pythonidae. There are about 31 different types of Python.

Pythons are called Old World Snakes as they are found in Asia. Pythons are slow snakes.

They have a pace of about a mile per hour. Pythons have some extra bones in their mouth, but like Boas, they also lack fangs and have slit tongues.

Pythons are very good at camouflaging with nature. Pythons have an excellent sense of smell.

Pythons have the ability to sense heat very well as they have pits present in the tip of the tongue, which helps them to detect any temperature differences around them. Pythons have curved teeth, four in the upper and lower jaws, respectively.

They can prey on their meal easily with this Pythons are found in rain-forests, savannas, and desert regions and found in swampy places, hollows, hanging in the branches of trees and under rocks.

Pythons are not poisonous snakes. They kill their prey by crushing their ribs, restricting them from breathing.

Pythons majorly feed on warm-blooded animals, especially mammals. Pythons are oviparous.

The female mammals lay eggs and coil around the eggs to keep the eggs warm.

Main Differences Between Boa and Python

1. The scientific name of the Boa snake is Boa constrictor, and the scientific name of the Python snake is Pythonidae.
2. Boa snakes are ovoviviparous animals meaning they give birth to live animals, whereas Python snakes are oviparous, meaning they lay eggs that hatch into snakes.
3. Boas are known as New World snakes as they are found in America, and Pythons are known as Old World Snakes as they are found in Asian countries.
4. Boas have red marking near their tail and that is why they are also known as Red-tailed snakes. But pythons do no necessarily have red tails.
5. There are about 40 species of Boas, while there are about 31 species of Pythons.

References

1. https://meridian.allenpress.com/jhms/article-abstract/24/1-2/11/137416/Antemortem-Diagnosis-of-Multicentric-Lymphoblastic
2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1740-8261.2009.01569.x