Common Krait | Bungarus caeruleus

Labels: Krait, Karait, Maneer

Binomial name: Bungarus caeruleus
Common name: Common Krait

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Elapidae
Genus:	Bungarus
Species:	B. caeruleus

Type: VENOMOUS

Distinguishing Features: Medium-sized; smooth, shiny scales; head faintly wider than the neck; jet black, generally with distinct white cross lines.

Average Length: 1 m; At Birth: 25 cm; Maximum: 1.75 m (male).

Description: They are smooth, glossy, bluish-black snakes with rounded head which is slightly distinct from the neck. Their body colour varies from a dark steely blue-black to pale faded bluish-grey. They normally have around 40 thin white cross bands throughout their body. Few adults and young ones may have white spots along the first-third of the backbone in place of the cross lines. Their underside is white. Common Kraits are often confused with Wolf Snakes (Lycodon species) which are quite smaller, with flat, fairly pointed heads. This species is the best known of the 6 Krait species found in India and is one of the Big Four Dangerous Snakes.

Distribution: Common Kraits are found in most of India including the Andaman and Nicobars, up to 1,700 m above sea level. They are scarce in Bengal, Assam and Orissa, where Banded Kraits are found.

Habitat: They usually occur in sandy soil, termite mounds, burrows of small rodents and piles of brick and rubble, as they are mainly snakes of the plains. Despite the fact that they are common in some parts of the country like coastal area of Tamil Nadu, one rarely sees them.

Habits: Kraits are nocturnal and they hide during the daytime in holes of field mice and rats. They are short-fanged snakes with a bulldog clasp and extremely fast and active at night. When a male krait is introduced to a cage of captive specimens, a jerking dance often follows, at times ending in a serious fit of biting.

Young: Female lays up to 8 or 12 eggs around March to May which may hatch in May-July. The female incubates her eggs and stays with it like other snakes do.

Food: Kraits mainly take snakes, lizards and rodents. They are true cannibals and can even gulp small kraits from a captive group. Their favourite items include Striped Keelbacks and Olive Keelbacks.

Status: They are quite common and abundant in few areas. They dwell near human settlements and stay undisturbed because of their secretive nocturnal habits.

Venom: Kraits are extremely venomous and their venom induces nerve paralysis as it is highly toxic. As it leaves no local symptoms, a patient should be cautiously observed for signs of paralysis and treated immediately with anti-venom.

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Bamboo Pit Viper | Trimeresurus gramineus

Labels: Indian tree viper, Bamboo snake, Indian green tree viper, Green tree viper, bamboo viper

Binomial name: Trimeresurus gramineus
Common name: Bamboo Pit Viper

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Viperidae
Subfamily:	Crotalinae
Genus:	Trimeresurus
Species:	T. gramineus

Type: VENOMOUS

Distinguishing Features: Small sized; slightly keeled scales; green above; wide, triangular head; thin neck.

Average Length: 40 cm; At Birth: 16 cm; Maximum: 80 cm.

Description: Bamboo Pit Vipers are pale green with a slight, uneven black pattern on the back. Their head is wide and triangular, placed on a slim delicate neck. The scales on the top of their head are tiny whereas the dorsal body scales are slightly keeled. These snakes are one of the most common of the Green Pit Vipers of India. The Green Pit Vipers are mainly arboreal, living in vines, bushes and bamboo; but the many-coloured ones like the Rock Pit Vipers are terrestrial, preferring rock cliffs, tree bases and stream edges. The diverse species tend to have temperature, elevation and humidity preferences.

Distribution: They are mainly found in the drier parts of the Western Ghats and parts of Eastern Ghats including Gingee in Eastern Tamil Nadu. The Himalayan Pit Viper sets the world altitude record for a snake, occurring up to 4,800 m in the Himalayas. There are 5 species of pit vipers in the Andaman and Nicobar, 5 in the Western Ghats and 8 in the Himalayas, east to Assam.

Habitat: They generally prefer cool, thick vegetation near stream edges, bamboo and other dense jungle foliage.

Habits: They are slow moving snakes and are active at night and sleep in the open by day. They protect themselves by camouflage. Although slow to defend themselves, they are capable of fast strikes and bites if injured or seriously troubled. They often vibrate their tail when frightened or cornered.

Young: Female gives birth to 4 or 5 young ones. The young possess brightly marked tails which they use as worm-like lures to attract small frogs and lizards. This remarkable habit is also observed in the New World Pit Vipers.

Food: Small ones feed on frogs and lizards. Larger ones tend to prefer rodents but seem to take frogs as well.

Status: As all Indian Pit Vipers are forest snakes, the loss of dense forested areas, particularly the evergreen rain forests, is reducing the population of several species.

Venom: Pit Vipers are rather small and their venom is low in toxicity, hence their bites are rarely serious. Bites are common in some plantation areas, but the victims are generally only incapacitated for a day or two.

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Indian Spectacled Cobra | Naja naja

Labels: Indian Cobra, Spectacled Cobra, Naag

Binomial name: Naja naja
Common name: Indian Spectacled Cobra

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes Family: Elapidae Genus: Naja Species: N. naja

Type: VENOMOUS

Distinguishing Features: Medium to large sized; smooth, shiny scales; wide head and neck; wide black band on the underside of neck; characteristic hood marking on top of the neck.

Average Length: 1 m; At Birth: 25 cm; Maximum: 2 m (male).

Description: The Spectacled Cobra is a smooth-scaled snake with black eyes and, wide neck and head. Its colour varies from black or dark brown to yellowish white. Their body is usually covered with a speckled white or yellow pattern. Their well-known hood marking of the classic design shows a connected pair of rings. Sometimes this marking may be altogether absent. Cobras are often confused with Indian Rat Snakes. The Spectacled Cobra is the most widely distributed of the 3 sub-species of cobras in India and is one of the big four deadly snakes.

Distribution: Spectacled Cobras are found all over India, up to 4000 m above sea level.

Habitat: Rice growing areas, where plentiful of rats occur for their feast, is the common place for this snake. However, they are quite adaptable and can also be found in very dry parts of the country. Their preferred haunts include granaries, termite mounds, earth dams and rock piles. They usually multiply where rats are abundant.

Habits: Cobras are usually shy in nature and live out of man’s sight. Spreading their neck ribs, startling the intruder with bright eyes on the hood are the warning mechanisms of Spectacled Cobras. They hiss by a sharp ejection of air, when even more agitated. Some cobras in the North-eastern India can spit their venom for a short distance. They are active in the rains, like other snakes.

Young: The females lay about 12-30 eggs, usually in a rat hole or termite mound, between May and July. The young resemble the adult perfectly and disperse one or two weeks thereafter. Like many other snakes, cobras may breed more than a year.

Food: Young ones feed on insects, lizards, frogs, toads and small snakes. As they grow, their diet includes rodents, toads, frogs and birds in the order of preference. They normally maintain their grip until the prey is motionless.

Status: Cobras are hunted and killed for their skins. The Government of India has however controlled the export of cobra skins since 1973. Still, few tanneries deal with thousands of skins per day and continue to prosper.

Venom: Cobra venom affects the nervous system leading to respiratory paralysis and cardiac failure and eventually death. Usually less than lethal quantity is injected, however all cobra bites should be treated with immediate effect. Vast research is being done on cobra venom and it is found that small fractions destroy certain cancer cells in mice. Also, effective pain killers like ‘Cobroxin’ and ‘Nyloxin’ are made from cobra venom.

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Russell viper | Vipera russelii

Labels: Russell's viper, Daboia, Chain viper, Indian Russell's viper

Binomial name: Vipera russelii

Common name: Russell viper

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Viperidae
Subfamily:	Viperinae
Genus:	Vipera
Species:	V. russellii

Type: VENOMOUS

Distinguishing Features: Medium to large sized; strongly keeled scales; distinctive bright chain pattern; large triangular head.

Average Length: 1 m; At Birth: 24 cm; Maximum: 1.8 m (male).

Description: They are bulky, rough scaled snakes with vertical eye pupils and bright pattern. Body colour is usually brown or yellowish with dark, round spots edged with white and black pattern. Their underside is white or speckled, depending on the region where they occur. Russell Vipers can be identified by their short, fat body, triangular shaped head and regular chain-like pattern. Also the presence of bright symmetrical spots on their back makes them easily distinguishable. They sometimes resemble the fat, harmless common sand boas which however have shorter and blunter tails and irregular body patterns. The big four fatal snakes of India include the Russell Viper.

Distribution: They occur in hills and plains throughout India, up to 3,000 m.

Habitat: Russell Vipers reside in the open areas off the hilly regions and plain scrub jungle bordering farm lands. They are found in termite mounds and rat holes in very hot weather, but their preferred places are rock fissures, thick leaves, grass, thorn bushes and cacti. Pandanus bushes and Agave are their favourite abodes.

Habits: This snake may seem to be sluggish, but when aggravated they are capable of very fast movements in short spurts. Russell Vipers may bite in defence and make a hissing sound. They are coy and timid, unlike cobras which are proficient at quick escape. Bites usually happen as a result of accidents in the plantation, estate and farms where farmers unknowingly put their feet or hands in dense bushes, or step on a viper.

Young: Female vipers produce 20 to 40 living young, who are bright replicas of the parents, in the months during May to July.

Food: Young ones are wild in activity and can eat other snakes, lizards, mice, land crabs and sometimes even feed on scorpions and few arthropods. The adult vipers seem to be rodent-eaters, probably catching a bird.

Status: This species forms a main resource of the skin industry in South India. Russell Vipers are completely exterminated in some areas through enormous all-season collection.

Venom: Their venom is extremely toxic and the bite is one of the most lethal of all Indian snakes. So it should be urgently treated with ample anti-venom. This poisonous venom affects the blood and is used in medicine to check bleeding.

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Olive Keelback Watersnake | Atretium schistosum

Labels: Split Keelback, Olive Keelback Snake

Binomial name: Atretium schistosum
Common Name: Olive Keelback Watersnake

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Atretium
Species: A. schistosum

Type: HARMLESS

Distinguishing Features: Small to medium-sized; keeled, shiny scales; dorsal half of the body is olive-green; underside yellow.

Average Length: 45 cm; At Birth: 10 cm; Maximum: 1 m.

Description: It is a thin headed snake. The overall colour is rich olive-green, occasionally bordered with a red streak along each side of the body. The underside is yellow or orange. The females are usually larger than the males. They resemble Enhydris, another common water-snake; Enhydris is a smooth water-snake and it prefers river and estuarine. Olive Keelback Watersnakes are abundant in Kerala, Orissa and west-Bengal.

Distribution: These are common in peninsular India and absent in the North. They are found up to 1,000 m above sea level.

Habitat: They find habitation in still waters of tanks and ponds, where they occupy crab and other holes.

Habits: Olive Keelback Watersnakes seem to be diurnal, but they are seen moving around at night as well. When handled they rarely bite.

Young: 12-30 eggs are laid from December through March.

Food: Mostly the aquatic and marine snakes catch the tadpoles, fish and frogs with a characteristic side-strike. These snakes swim past their prey and abruptly snap their head to the side. It is also found that Olive Keelbacks eat mosquito larvae.

Status: Though sometimes called ‘water cobra’, people are tolerant towards this small, well camouflaged snake. Consequently, they are relatively common.

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Checkered Keelback Watersnake | Xenochropis piscator

Labels: Checkered water-snake, Pani ka samp

Binomial Name: Xenochropis piscator
Common Name: Checkered Keelback Watersnake

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Xenochropis
Species: X. piscator

Type: HARMLESS

Distinguishing Features: Medium-sized; keeled, glossy scales; prominent black eye-streaks and characteristic checkered pattern.

Average Length: 60 cm; At Birth: 12.5 cm; Maximum: 1.75 m (female).

Description: These snakes show quite variations in colour, ranging from black with light markings to bright yellow with the characteristic black and white checkered pattern. One or two eye-streaks are distinct and the head is obtusely pointed discrete from the neck. Overall the snake is heavy-bodied and the scales are strongly keeled and glossy. The underside is usually shiny and white. Checkered Keelback Watersnake is the common water snake of India, plentiful, adaptable and mostly found everywhere, in and near freshwater.

Distribution: Checkered Keelback Watersnakes are found throughout India, up to 3,000 m in the Himalayas. The darker forms are common in the streams of the higher hills in the Ghats and Himalayas. But their appearances and habits are similar.

Habitat: They usually live in lakes, ponds, wells, rivers, streams and flooded rice fields.

Habits: Checkered Keelbacks are lively during day and night, and hunt along the edges of ponds and rice fields, spending much time on land after dark. They flatten their head; extend the ribs of the neck and rear up, once excited. Because of this act, many mistake them for Cobras. They bite readily when stepped on or caught, but soon become docile if handled properly.

Young: The females normally lay around 20-40 eggs in a rat tunnel, termite mound or hole in a well, wall or tank bund. She incubates and protects the eggs until they hatch 60-70 days later.

Food: Young ones feed on tadpoles and water insects. As they grow larger, they intake fish, frogs and sometimes rodents and birds. They generally swallow their prey alive. Their long ‘frog teeth’ in the back of the upper jaw hold and puncture frogs.

Status: Checkered Keelback Watersnake’s skins are well-known items in the skin trade. Though being the most common snake in India, several local populations have been wiped out by intensive all-season collection.

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King Cobra | Ophiophagus hannah

Labels: Cobra, Naga Raja

Binomial name: Ophiophagus hannah
Common name: King Cobra

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Genus: Ophiophagus
Species: O. hannah

Type: VENOMOUS

Distinguishing Features: Large; smooth, shiny scales; distinct light cross bands mainly on fore-body; large head scales edged with black.

Average Length: 3 m; At Birth: 50 cm; Maximum: 5 m (male).

Description: The huge head of the Giant King Cobra is wider than their neck. The overall colour varies from yellowish to deep olive-green but the tail is often jet-black. The underside has a lighter shade of the body colour. They are the largest venomous snakes in the world.

Distribution: King Cobras are rare in India. They are confined mostly to the dense forests of the Western Ghats up to Goa, the Himalayan foot-hills. Also found in forests of Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal and the Andamans.

Habitat: In general King Cobras occur in tea and coffee plantations of the lower elevations up to 1200 m above sea level. They seem to require special conditions of heavy rainfall and dense undergrowth. However, they are not restricted to the hills, but also inhabit estuarine mangrove swamps in Bengal, Orissa and the Andamans.

Habits: The aggressive nature of this magnificent snake has been wrongly portrayed and written about, whereas they are more imaginative than factual. In reality, King Cobras are timid snakes, unwilling to attackseeking escape when possible. In the field, they are awesome looking and both man and snake beat a speedy retreat. The snake may charge with open mouth, emitting a deep growl, if injured or harmed in any way. These snakes behave with an intelligence and awareness which is usually atypical in snakes.

Young: Not much is known about the breeding habits of Indian King Cobras. Females may lay up to 20 eggs. Females rub together leaves with their body construct a conical nest about 30 cm high. After laying eggs, she then coils on top of this leaf heap for about 2 months, for the young ones to hatch. King Cobras are they only species in the world known to build nest.

Food: Their diet chiefly comprises of snakes, and sometimes lizards. The Rat snake and Checkered Keelback seem to be their main prey. They kill their prey by suffocating it and biting the throat, probably envenomating it as well.

Status: They are rare snakes within their declining forest range and have an uncertain prospect. They are usually killed when encountered on plantations. King Cobras should be considered a threatened species and well protected in India.

Venom: Their venom is faintly less poisonous than the cobra’s but the huge venom glands can contain up to 6 ccs of venom, enough to kill an elephant. The anti-venom is available only in Thailand.

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Trinket Snake | Elaphe helena

Binomial name: Elaphe helena

Common Name: Trinket Snake

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Elaphe
Species: E. helena

Type: HARMLESS

Distinguishing Features: Medium-sized and slender; smooth, shiny scales; light fore-body and dark tail.

Average Length: 70 cm; At Birth: 25 cm; Maximum: 1.5 m.

Description: Trinket Snakes are tan and chocolate-brown in colour, with two prominent dark stripes on the latter part of the body and light bands and checks on the fore-part. Their long head is unmarked, eyes are prominent and round-pupilled. The two dark lines on either side of the neck may join medially to form an inverted ‘V’. The scales are smooth and glossy. The scales in front of the eye are scattered with pores, which may possibly be sensory. There are 9 species of Trinket Snakes in India.

Distribution: They are found throughout India. Green Trinket Snakes are found in the Andamans, and the Mandarin Trinket is found up to 4000 m in the Himalayas.

Habitat: They generally live deep in termite mounds, rock piles and crevices during the hot weather, whereas in the cool season they emerge and are seen in leafy trees and bushes.

Habits: They are active during day as well as at night. Generally Trinket Snakes are well mannered and calm when handled, but occasionally they swell their necks, rear back open-mouthed and make quick strikes at a provoker. In defence, they will sometimes vibrate their tails resembling one of the highly specialized Rattle Snakes in America.

Young: Female lays around 6 to 8 long eggs. The young resembles the adult. Breeding appears to be year-round.

Food: The adult trinket is mainly a rodent eater which kills its prey by constriction. On few occasions birds and their eggs are also eaten. Young ones feed on insects and small lizards.

Status: This species is nowhere very common. As they prefer farmlands as well as forests, the rapid increase of cleared agricultural lands seems to have little effect. Though beautiful in appearance, they are not plentifulenough to be in demand by the skin trade.

Remarks: Trinket Snakes are often wrongly considered as venomous even by snake-catching groups.

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Green Keelback | Macropisthodon plumbicolor

Labels: Green Keelback Snake, Lead Keelback

Binomial name: Macropisthodon plumbicolor
Common Name: Green Keelback

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Macropisthodon
Species: M. plumbicolor

Type: HARMLESS

Distinguishing Features: Medium-sized; keel-scaled; grass-green coloured; flattens neck into ‘hood’ with distinct ‘V’ mark when aggravated.

Average Length: 55 cm; At Birth: 7.5 cm; Maximum: 80 cm.

Description: Green Keelback’s overall colour is bright green with imprecise and irregular black cross lines. The head and neck bear a fairly clear ‘V’ mark which becomes part of the ‘hood’ design when the snake is provoked. The skin is slightly glossy and strongly keeled. The head is wide and eyes are large, round-pupilled. Their underside is greyish-white.

Distribution: They are found in the forests of India, up to 1500 m above sea level.

Habitat: They find shelter chiefly on the hills and plateaus, in dense evergreen as well as open deciduous forests.

Habits: Not much is known about the habits of this snake. When frightened, they freeze into ‘S’s as most of the snakes do. In deposition, it is gentle and inoffensive.

Young: The female lays around 12 eggs. The young are brightly coloured with black bands and speckled markings on their body up to 8 months or even a year. Their neck markings are also conspicuous.

Food: They favour toads to all other prey. Their long rear teeth in the roof of the mouth facilitate easycatching of the prey.

Status: Green Keelbacks are not a very commonly found species, although they are widely distributed. But with rapid deforestation, their preferred forest habitat is apparently disappearing.

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