Cook's Tree Boa
Corallus
cookii
Gray 1842
The Cook's tree boa and the Cropan's boa are the two species of Corallus vying for the smallest distribution. Both have minute ranges when compared to the likes of the Amazon or emerald tree boa. Cook's tree boas are
restricted entirely to one island, St. Vincent. St. Vincent is located north of the Grenadian Bank off the coast of
Venezuela. They are thus most closely related to Grenadian tree boas but are most often confused with Amazon tree
boas because of some misnomers of the pet trade. Take a look at the Amazon tree
boa page for a bit more on this confusion.
Cook's tree boas are not as brightly colored as some of the other species and most individuals are taupe, brown or
gray in color. Thus, any Cook's tree boas that are so name but are yellow or orange or red are either incorrectly
named so or are a novel color for the species. Cook's tree boas are also one of the smallest of the tree boas with
individuals reaching lengths in the neighborhood of four feet in length and not much bigger.
Past and current research comparing the diets of island and mainland members of the Amazon tree boa Complex have
shown some interesting things about the diets of Amazon tree boas and Grenadian tree boas. One can infer that Cook's
tree boas show a pattern similar to that of the Grenadian tree boas because of the similarities between the habitat
and distribution. Out of the four members of the Amazon tree boa Complex, Corallus cookii is probably the
species we know least about. The other members either have significant ecological work done on them and/or are more
common in captivity and thus more husbandry information is known about them.
There are a few specimens of Corallus cookii in captivity and Dr. Robert Henderson is still doing the much
needed work on Corallus ecology. Hopefully, more and more information about Cook's tree boas will be made
available in the near future.
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