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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Striped Keelback | Amphiesma stolatum

Binomial Name: Amphiesma stolata
Common Name: Striped Keelback

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes Family: Colubridae Subfamily: Natricinae Genus: Amphiesma Species: A. stolatum

Type: HARMLESS

Distinguishing Features: Small, keel (rough) scaled with two distinctive yellow stripes down back.

Average Length: 40 cm; At Birth: 12 cm; Maximum: 80 cm (female).

Description: This species is closely related to and resemble the Water Snakes. In fact, they feel quite at home in water and have long rear teeth for catching frogs. Their overall colour is light or dark brown with yellow stripes running down the body length. The lower half of their body prominently shows these stripes. The head is light brown, and the sides of the head, lip area and chin are white or yellow. Striped Keelback is the common ‘Grass Snake’ of India.

Distribution: Striped Keelbacks occur throughout India up to 2000 m in the hills.

Habitat: They dwell in rice fields, pond edges whereas thick grass and bushes are favoured.

Habits: Striped Keelbacks are diurnal and spend nights sleeping under rocks, holes or the branches of trees or bushes. During the breeding season, a female may be found attended by six or more smaller males. They are one of the gentlest snakes and rarely bite when caught for the first time. When alarmed, few spread a small ‘Hood’, revealing their beautiful, blue, red or white interscale colour.

Young: Females lay around 12 eggs. Egg-laying is observed year-round.

Food: Striped Keelback’s main diet comprises of frogs, but they also intake toads, small lizards and rodents, which they swallow alive. Insects, tadpoles, the young of toads and small-mouthed frogs are the food of Keelback’s young ones.

Status: They are very commonly found everywhere.

Remarks: Commonly found in gardens, Striped Keelbacks are often misinterpreted as ‘Baby Cobras’ and unnecessarily killed by indiscriminate gardeners and house-holders.

Banded Kukri | Oligodon arnensis

Labels: Common Kukri Snake, Banded Kukri

Binomial name: Oligodon arnensis
Common Name: Banded Kukri

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes Family: Colubridae Genus: Oligodon Species: O. arnensis

Type: HARMLESS

Distinguishing Features: Small; smooth, lustrous scales; prominent cross bands and characteristic chevron mark on top of the head.

Average Length: 35 cm; At Birth: 8 cm; Maximum: 64 cm.

Description: Banded Kukris are reddish or greyish-brown with 10-12 black or dark brown bands. The top of the head has a distinct arrowhead design. Underneath they are white in appearance. The scales are smooth and glossy, head is thin with a blunt tip, and eyes are round-pupilled. These snakes get their name from their sharp, curved teeth, perfect for holding strong prey such as geckos. Banded Kukris are the most common of the 34 Kukri snakes of Asia. Russell’s Kukri is another common species.

Distribution: Found throughout India. The White-barred Kukri of Assam is found up to 2000 m in the hills.

Habitat: Though they are sometimes found in termite mounds, Banded Kukris like the wolf and cat snakes, are mainly cave, crevice and tree-hole dwellers that find old broken houses especially proper for their occupancy.

Habits: They are out and active on cool rainy nights. This species almost never bites and its main defence is to stiffen and jerk when provoked, similar to Kraits.

Young: Banded Kukris normally lay 3-6 eggs. Baby Kukris appear in Madras in September.

Food: They feed on Geckos, skinks and small mice. They are chiefly fond of birds and reptile eggs. The tiny young ones feed on insects, their larvae and spiders.

Status: This is a fairly common snake, although they are nowhere in plenty. They are often mistaken for Kraitskilled. and