Description: Considered a small snake, the desert rosy boa normally attains a total length (including tail) of 17 to 44 inches. Desert rosy boas are one of the smaller members of the family Boidae. A large adult has a body width about the diameter of a golf ball. Coloration of the desert rosy boa is highly variable, and usually locale-specific. Some individuals display a rosy or salmon coloration that is common on their underside; most rosy boa specimens do not have this ventral coloration, but instead have a series of dark to orange spots on a light-colored background.
Almost all specimens of the desert rosy boa have at least some trace of three longitudinal stripes, one down the center of the back, and two on the lower sides. The appearance of these stripes varies widely, from extremely straight and having high contrast with the interspaces, to extremely broken with almost no contrast with the interspaces. Stripe colors can be orange, maroon, rust, brown, or black. Interspace colors can be shades of light to dark gray, yellow, or tan.
Habitat: The species' habitats are diverse and include desert, arid scrub, brushland, sandy plains, rocky slopes, and chaparral-covered foothills, particularly where moisture is available, as around springs, streams, and canyon floors (but these snakes are not dependent on permanent water). This is a mainly terrestrial species, but it sometimes climbs into shrubs.
Range: The desert rosy boa is found in the Aridoamerica ecoregion, in the southwestern United States in the states of California and Arizona, and northwestern Mexico in the states of Baja California and Sonora. In California, the species inhabits extreme southern San Diego County, California within the Tijuana River and Otay watersheds. In Arizona, the desert rosy boa occupies the western areas of the Sonoran Desert. In Sonora, the desert rosy boa ranges from the border with the United States south throughout the Sonoran Desert to at least as far south as Ortiz. In Baja California, the desert rosy boa is almost ubiquitous ranging throughout the entire peninsula except in areas of extremely dry or rockless desert.
Diet: The desert rosy boa forages mainly for small mammals, but has occasionally been known to take other prey items, such as lizards, amphibians, other snakes, birds and their chicks, and mammals (such as bats). Pack rats, baby rabbits, deer mice, and kangaroo rats make up a large portion of its diet.
Reproduction: The desert rosy boa bears live young, about six in a brood, with newborns up to 12 inches in length.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, large number of locations, tolerance of a broad range of habitats, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.
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Disclaimer: ITIS taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available, and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties. However, it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes. While every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information available, ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the United States is a party, wildlife statutes, regulations, and any applicable notices that have been published in the Federal Register. For further information on U.S. legal requirements with respect to protected taxa, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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