California Reptiles & Amphibians

Charina bottae - Northern Rubber Boa

Click on a picture for a larger view

Range in California: Red

Southern Rubber Boa: Green

Adult, 8,000 ft., Alpine County

Adult, Santa Cruz County

Adult, Mt. Pinos, Kern County.
© Gary Nafis Specimen courtesy of Richard Hoyer

Adult, Santa Cruz County
© Gary Nafis Specimen courtesy of Mitch Mulks

Adult male, Contra Costa County

Juvenile, Contra Costa County

Adult, 4,600 ft., Greenhorn Mountains, Kern County.
C. bottae from the southern Sierra Nevada, including the Greenhorns, are a dwarf race.

Adult, Fresno County
© Patrick Briggs

Adult, Del Norte County © Alan Barron

Juvenile, Madera County
© Patrick Briggs

Adult, Sierra County.
© 2005 Jackson Shedd,
Specimen courtesy of John Stephenson

When threatened, Rubber Boas will often roll into a ball, hide their head and elevate the tip of their taill to fool a predator into attacking the tail which looks somewhat like a head. The tail is less-vulnerable than the head and can withstand attacks without much damage. Some boas have many scars on the tail from this tactic. You can see this behavior in the video below.

Adult, Butte County © Jackson Shedd

Neonate, Butte County © Jackson Shedd

Underside of adult, Kern County

Habitat

Habitat, Tuolumne County

Habitat, 4,600 ft., Kern County

Habitat, 1,200 ft. Contra Costa County

Habitat, 2,500 ft. Santa Cruz County

Habitat, 8,000 ft., Alpine County

More pictures of this snake and its natural habitat are available on our Northwest Herps page.

Short Videos

It was 55 degrees F.around 8 PM at about 8,000 ft. elevation on a mountain pass in Alpine County when I saw this rubber boa crossing the road. It eventually dropped down a huge tree stump to get away from me and curled up under some tree bark.

As you can see in this video, when they feel threatened, Northern Rubber Boas often curl into a ball with their head hidden in the middle and the tail on the outside, elevated like a head, which it resembles. When a predator attacks what it thinks is a head, it will only injure the tail, which is much less life threatening to the snake. Many rubber boas have scars on their tails from such attacks

Description

Nonvenomous

Considered harmless to humans.

Size

Adults 15 - 33 inches (35 - 84 cm.) Typical size of adults is 15 - 25 inches. Newborns 7.5-9 inches. Small or dwarf populations have been found in the Tehachapi, Greenhorn and Paiute Mountains, on Breckenridge Mountain, and on Mt. Pinos.

Appearance

A small constrictor with a stout body and smooth shiny small-scaled loose and wrinkled skin which gives the snake a rubbery look and feel. Light brown, dark brown, pink, tan, or olive-green above, and yellow, orange, or cream colored below. Usually uniform in color on the back, but sometimes dark spots or mottling occur, especially in northern populations, possibly due to scarring. Usually no pattern below, but sometimes there is dark mottling. Young snakes are pink or tan, and can be brightly-colored. Eyes are small with vertically elliptical pupils.

The tail is short and blunt and looks like a head. When threatened, the snake hides its head in its coiled body, and elevates the tail to fool an attacker into attacking the tail. Snakes with scarred tails are common.

Behavior

Nocturnal and crepuscular, sometimes active in daylight. Sometimes active in weather that would be too cold for most reptiles, with surface temperatures in the 50s. A good burrower, climber and swimmer. Often found under logs, boards and other debris, sometimes on roads at dusk. Known to live as long as 40 - 50 years in the wild.

Diet

Eats small mammals, birds, salamanders, lizards, and snakes, possibly frogs.

Reproduction

Bears 1 - 9 live young from August to November.

Range

In California, from south of Monterey north along the coast and from the Tehachapi mountains north through the Sierras. Possibly present farther south along the coast. Absent from the Great Valley and deserts. Ranges east through northern Nevada and Utah into western Wyoming and Montana, and north into Canada.

Habitat

Grassland, mountain meadows, chaparral, woodland, along streamsides, deciduous and coniferous forest. From sea level to over 10,000 ft. elevation.

Taxonomic Notes

Formerly, one species and three subspecies were recognized. Some herpetologists only recognize one species of Charina. Others recognize two - C. bottae, and C. umbratica.

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

None.

Taxonomy
Family	Boidae	Boas and Pythons
Genus	Charina	Rubber Boas
Species	bottae	Northern Rubber Boa
Original Description
Charina bottae - (Blainville, 1835) - Nouv. Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, Vol. 4, p. 289, pl. 26, figs. 1, 1B from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
Meaning of the Scientific Name
Charina - Greek -charieis - graceful, delightful bottae - honors Botta, Paolo E. from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Alternate Names
Rubber Boa Coastal Rubber Boa Charina bottae bottae
Related or Similar California Snakes
C. umbratica - Southern Rubber Boa L. t. roseofusca - Coastal Rosy Boa
More Information and References
Natureserve Explorer California Dept. of Fish and Game Rubberboas.com Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003. Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Bartlett, R. D. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Snakes of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009. Bartlett, R.D. , & Alan Tennant. Snakes of North America - Western Region. Gulf Publishing Co., 2000. Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997. Ernst, Carl H., Evelyn M. Ernst, & Robert M. Corker. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003. Wright, Albert Hazen & Anna Allen Wright. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press. Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997. Brown et. al. Reptiles of Washington and Oregon. Seattle Audubon Society,1995. Nussbaum, R. A., E. D. Brodie Jr., and R. M. Storm. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Pacific Northwest. Moscow, Idaho: University Press of Idaho, 1983. St. John, Alan D. Reptiles of the Northwest: Alaska to California; Rockies to the Coast. Lone Pine Publishing, 2002.

Conservation Status
The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game. This snake is not included on the Special Animals List, which indicates that there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.
Organization	Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)
California Department of Fish and Game
Bureau of Land Management
USDA Forest Service
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List

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