Description ³

INTRODUCTION

• Non Venomous Constrictor
• Species of "South-east Asian Rat Snakes" Coelognathus
• Lookalike found in NE India & SE Asia : Radiated rat snake.
• 3 Subspecies known to exist in India.
  

IDENTIFICATION

• Slender, medium sized body with smooth, glossy scales.
• First half of body has crossbands with black and white boxes on a chocolate brown background.
• Posterior half of body is brown with two black stripes running till the tail. Underside is white.
• Head has prominent eyes with round pupils and often a black streak near eye.
• Grow to 2-3 feet on average.

DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT

• Widespread throughout peninsular India.
• Inhabit plains and hills with forests and plantations, close to water.
• Found in bushes and leafy trees when cool.
• Hide deep in termite mounds, rock piles, wood piles and crevices when hot.

DIET AND BEHAVIOR

• Mainly eat rodents, sometimes birds and eggs.
• Juveniles feed on insects and small lizards.
• Diurnal snakes, highly active and constrict prey to kill.
• Known to inflate body, coil up with body off ground and open mouth when threatened.
• Upon harassment, will strike fast and repeatedly often giving painful bites due to inward teeth.

Fontes e Créditos

1. (c) John Sullivan, alguns direitos reservados (CC BY-NC), uploaded by John Sullivan
2. (c) Vinay Gogula, todos os direitos reservados, uploaded by Vinay Gogula
3. (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

BioDiversity4All Mapa