Description ²

INTRODUCTION

• Mildly Venomous
• Other names : Indian Gamma Snake.
• Rear-fanged like all Cat snakes and venom isn't medically significant.

IDENTIFICATION

• Very thin, small snakes but long with respect to it's thickness and has smooth scales but not glossy.
• Dorsal is greyish-brown with lighter zig-zag patterns over the body. Belly is whitish with tiny spots.
• Head is triangular with a distinct Y-pattern on top. Have large golden eyes with vertical pupils.
• Often confused with the Saw-scaled Viper, but can be distinguished by Y-pattern on head & body proportions.
• Grow to 2 feet on average.

DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT

• Distributed widely throughout the Indian Subcontinent.
• Inhabit dense forests, open forests, rocky hills & scrub jungles too.
• Hide in tree holes, crevices, dense vegetation at low to moderate height.

DIET AND BEHAVIOR

• Mainly feed on geckos but also small birds and frogs.
• Nocturnal & Arboreal snakes, spend daytime in cooler, shady places.
• Very slow-moving snakes and usually wont try to escape.
• Non-offensive and calm, if provoked, they coil up and rear back. Sometimes jerk tail as warning.
• Hesitant to bite, may give a few mock bites springing towards target. Also reported to play dead.

Other Cat Snakes ²

About 15 species of Boiga found in India, most are found in the Himalayas & NE India. 8 are found in peninsular India, 4 are mentioned below.

• Forsten's Cat Snake (Boiga forsteni) : Found in most forests in India, but uncommon. Much larger and exhibit wide range of colors. Usually has patternless head and lighter crossbars across.
• Yellow-green Cat Snake (Boiga flaviviridis) : Found in Eastern Ghats & parts of dry peninsular India. Species found in 2013, earlier mistaken to be variant of Beddome's Cat Snake.
• Travancore Cat Snake (Boiga dightoni) : Endemic to southern Western Ghats and very rare. Reddish-brown body with salmon-red blotches.
• Indian Egg-Eater (Boiga westermanni) : Found in dry scrubs of Central-Northern India. Specialized Egg eater. Reddish head with black blotches & yellow line along back. Refined to belong to monotypic genus Elachistodon.

Fontes e Créditos

1. (c) Vinay Gogula, todos os direitos reservados, uploaded by Vinay Gogula
2. (c) Vinay Gogula, alguns direitos reservados (CC BY-SA)

Mais informações

• BioDiversity4All taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HerpMapper
• Snake Database
• The Reptile Database
• VertNet

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