Description ²

INTRODUCTION

• Non Venomous
• Royal snakes are found across Northern Africa, Middle East, Central Asia & India.
• Three species of Royal snakes found in India.

IDENTIFICATION

• Medium-sized to large body with keeled scales.
• Usually have yellow, orange and reddish dorsal coloration, often with mildly darker blotches across body.
• Pattern known to change as it grows. Often used by snake charmers due to attractive colors.

DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT

• Found in Northern parts of India like Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and parts of UP.
• Inhabit arid, semi-arid areas and rocky terrain of north-western India.
• Hide in rat holes, rocky crevices.
• Also found in trees and bushes while hunting.

DIET AND BEHAVIOR

• Mainly eat rodents and sometimes birds and lizards..
• Diurnal snakes that are terrestrial but excellent and fast climbers.
• Very alert and when disturbed, coil and hiss very loudly. However, rarely bite.

SPECIES OF ROYAL SNAKES

• Diadem Royal Snake(Spalerosophis diadema) : Yellowish dorsal with orange blotches across body.
• Red spotted Royal Snake (Spalerosophis arenarius) : Found in the Thar desert. Looks similar to the Diadem.
• Black Headed Royal Snake (Spalerosophis atriceps) : Has a black head and patches of black across body.

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
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• The Reptile Database
• VertNet

BioDiversity4All Mapa