Lichanura orcutti (previously Charina orcutti), commonly known as the rosy boa, the coastal rosy boa, or the northern three-lined boa, is a species of nocturnal, non-venomous constrictor snake in the Boidae subfamily Charininae.
The coastal rosy boa is endemic to the region of Southern California and northwestern Mexico directly straddling the US–Mexico border, including Imperial and San Diego Counties and Mexico's Baja California and Sonora states. It is found in and around the Peninsular Ranges, the San Gabriel Mountains and the Cleveland National Forest, into Death Valley and the Mojave Desert. Its range continues east through the Sonoran Desert, western Arizona and southern Nevada.[1]
Along with the desert rosy boa (L. trivirgata) and the northern and southern rubber boa (C. bottae and umbratica), the coastal rosy boa is one of four boa species native to North America. Of the four, the two rosy boas, L. orcutti and L. trivirgata, are found the furthest south and west; the latter occurs in the Mexican states of Baja California, Baja California Sur and Sonora, including several small islands in the Gulf of California. It is also found along the border of Arizona and Mexico, west of Tucson and south of Phoenix. The rubber boa occurs mainly along the Rockies—the most northerly boa in the world—from British Columbia to Southern California, from southern Alberta to northern Utah.[2]
In captivity[]
The rosy boa, despite its docile, slow-moving nature and ease of care, is somewhat uncommon in captivity, though it is available and widely known for its relaxed personality and reluctance to aggression. Relatively few are breeding the rosy boa, and it is never advised to take wild animals home. Nonetheless, many reptile hobbyists and others will drive the rural roads of Southern California and discover these snakes warming themselves on the sun-baked asphalt, typically after sunset, where they are at risk of being crushed by oncoming traffic; the majority of wild rosy boas can be safely handled, lifted up, and relocated off of the road without any defensive reactions, even showing "curious" behaviors. Rosy boas may live upwards of 50 years in proper care.
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