Boa Constrictors: The Masters of Constriction

The Boa Constrictor is a non venomous snake that kills its prey by wrapping around it multiple times, until stopping the blood flow in its unlucky victim. Scientists have long wondered how they are able to go minutes at a time holding their breath during this deadly hug. New studies show that they actually don’t, they have a specific way of breathing that differs from other reptiles that allows them to breath while constricting. 

Contrary to how snakes may look while slithering they are not squishy, but they are very bendable. Their skeletal backbone (pictured above) extends throughout their entire body, so basically their entire body is ribcage. A snake's physiology consists of 2 lungs, a liver, a heart, small intestine, stomach, etc. The lungs though aren’t small, they are actually quite large and take up a good part of the snake, extending from its neck past its midsection. Therefore, it is not as hard for the snake to breathe as we would think it would be.

While constricting, their rib motion is hindered because of the specific hold they have on their prey. In order to regulate breathing they control their ventilation and the amount of breaths they take in before and while they swallow their prey. They can rotate their ribs and use their muscles in order to keep their lungs pointed away from the prey. This requires a lot of multi tasking which is something I have yet to master. After some time passes they release their prey making sure it is no longer breathing and eat it whole. Their prey is at least 5x their head size, but they still manage to fit it all in. 

Scientists who published the initial research on this proved that the boa constrictors body went through evolutionary changes. These changes help the snake to maximize the amount of prey it can eat while still being able to do normal bodily functions. Through their in vivo research they saw these in real time by recording blood pressure levels, taking x-rays during it, and just rewatching the snake’s perfected process over and over again. 

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