Snakes

Angolan Python

Python anchietae may grow up to 183 cm (6 ft) in total length (including tail). The color pattern is a reddish-brown to brown to almost black ground, overlaid with irregular white or cream-colored bands and spots. The belly is yellowish. A rare species seldom seen in the wild or in captivity, it is the only python to have 'bead-like' head scales. It has heat sensitive pits, five on each side of the head, on the upper lip. The smooth dorsal scales are arranged in 57-61 rows. Python anchietae is found in Africa in southern Angola and northern Namibia. Python anchietae exhibits similar temperament to its closest cousin, the ball python. It hisses, but this is mostly bluff. Diet consists of small mammals and birds.Python is oviparous, with small clutches of four to five eggs being produced at a time. It is not known whether the females 'incubate' their eggs as is typical for the members of this family. Hatchlings are 43–46 cm (17-18 inches) in length.

Ball Python

The ball python is black or dark brown with light brown blotches on the back and sides. Its white or cream belly is scattered with black markings. It is a stocky snake with a relatively small head and smooth scales. It reaches a maximum adult length of 182 cm (6.0 ft). Males typically measure eight to ten subcaudal scales, and females typically measure two to four subcaudal scales. Females reach an average snout-to-vent length of 116.2 cm (45.7 in), a 44.3 mm (1.74 in) long jaw, an 8.7 cm (3.4 in) long tail and a maximum weight of 1.635 kg (3.60 lb). Males are smaller with an average snout-to-vent length of 111.3 cm (43.8 in), a 43.6 mm (1.72 in) long jaw, an 8.6 cm (3.4 in) long tail and a maximum weight of 1.561 kg (3.44 lb). Both sexes have pelvic spurs on both sides of the vent. During copulation, males use these spurs for gripping females.Males tend to have larger spurs, and sex is best determined by manual eversion of the male hemipenes or inserting a probe into the cloaca to check the presence of an inverted hemipenis. The ball python is native to west Sub Saharan Africa from Senegal, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria through Cameroon, Chad, and the Central African Republic to Sudan and Uganda.It prefers grasslands, savannas, and sparsely wooded areas.

Black Mamba

The black mamba is a long, slender, cylindrical snake. It has a coffin-shaped head with a somewhat pronounced brow ridge and a medium-sized eye. The adult snake's length typically ranges from 2 to 3 m (6 ft 7 in to 9 ft 10 in) but specimens have grown to lengths of 4.3 to 4.5 m (14 ft 1 in to 14 ft 9 in). It is the second-longest venomous snake species, exceeded in length only by the king cobra.The black mamba is a proteroglyphous (front-fanged) snake, with fangs up to 6.5 mm (0.26 in) in length, located at the front of the maxilla. The tail of the species is long and thin, the caudal vertebrae making up 17–25% of its body length. The body mass of black mambas has been reported to be about 1.6 kg (3.5 lb), although a study of seven black mambas found an average weight of 1.03 kg (2.3 lb), ranging from 520 g (1.15 lb) for a specimen of 1.01 m (3 ft 4 in) total length to 2.4 kg (5.3 lb) for a specimen of 2.57 m (8 ft 5 in) total length.

California Kingsnake

The California kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae) is a nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to the western United States and northern Mexico, and is found in a variety of habitats. Due to ease of care and a wide range of color variations, the California kingsnake is one of the most popular snakes in captivity.The California Kingsnake's length is, on average, two feet, however, they have (though rarely) exceeded three and a half feet. Their colors may vary, but they are usually found with brown/black and white/tan stripes.

Copperhead

Adults grow to a typical length (including tail) of 50–95 cm (20–37 in). Some may exceed 1 m (3.3 ft), although that is exceptional for this species.Males are usually larger than females. Good-sized adult males usually do not exceed 74 to 76 cm (29 to 30 in), and females typically do not exceed 60 to 66 cm (24 to 26 in).In one study, males were found to weigh from 101.5 to 343 g (3.58 to 12.10 oz), with a mean of roughly 197.4 g (6.96 oz). According to a different study, females have a mean body mass of 119.8 g (4.23 oz). The body is relatively stout and the head is broad and distinct from the neck. Because the snout slopes down and back, it appears less blunt than that of the cottonmouth. Consequently, the top of the head extends further forward than the mouth.

Cottonmouth

Florida cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) is a species of pit viper in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. It is one of the world's few semiaquatic vipers and is native to the southeastern United States. It is large and capable of delivering a painful and potentially fatal bite as an adult. When threatened, it may respond by coiling its body and displaying its fangs. Individuals may bite when feeling threatened or being handled in any way. It tends to be found in or near water, particularly in slow-moving and shallow lakes, streams, and marshes. It is a capable swimmer and, like several species of snakes, is known to occasionally enter bays and estuaries and swim between barrier islands and the mainland.

Desert Kingsnake

The Desert Kingsnake's glossy dorsum is black or very dark brown colored, finely speckled with off-white or yellow. These pale flecks form dimly-defined narrow vertebral crossbands, between which the intervening rectangular areas are black. Pale yellow scales may predominate along the lower sides. The abdomen of both adult and young snakes is mostly black, with white or pale yellow blotches marking the outer ends of the ventral plates. The smooth dorsal scales are arranged in 23 to 25 rows at midbody and the anal plate is undivided. The desert kingsnake may occur in any rural habitat within its range. Despite its common name, it is most likely to be found in mesic areas, especially near water tanks or within riparian corridors.

Eastern Brown Snake

The eastern brown snake is of slender to average build with no demarcation between its head and neck. Its snout appears rounded when viewed from above.Most specimens have a total length (including tail) up to 1.5 m (4.9 ft), with some large individuals reaching 2 m (6.6 ft). The maximum recorded size for the species is 2.4 m (7.9 ft). Evidence indicates that snakes from the northern populations tend to be larger than those from southern populations. The adult eastern brown snake is variable in colour. Its upper parts range from pale to dark brown, or sometimes shades of orange or russet, with the pigment more richly coloured in the posterior part of the dorsal scales. Eastern brown snakes from Merauke have tan to olive upper parts, while those from eastern Papua New Guinea are very dark grey-brown to blackish. The eastern brown snake is found along the east coast of Australia, from Malanda in far north Queensland, along the coasts and inland ranges of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and to the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. Disjunct populations occur on the Barkly Tableland and the MacDonnell Ranges in the Northern Territory.

Eastern Coral Snake

Eastern Coral Snake is generally less than 80 cm (31 in) in total length (including tail). The maximum reported total lengths are 121.8 cm (48.0 in) for a specimen in Florida (Neill, 1958) and 129.5 cm (51.0 in) (Roze, 1996). Males have longer tails than females, but females reach a greater total length. The dorsal scales are smooth, and are in 15 rows at midbody. The ventral scales number 197-217 in males and 219–233 in females. There are 40–47 subcaudals in males and 30–37 in females. The color pattern consists of a series of rings that encircle the body: wide red and black rings separated by narrow yellow rings. The head is black from the rostral scale to just behind the eyes. The red rings are usually speckled with black. Among the many common names for Eastern Coral Snake are eastern coral snake, American cobra, candy-stick snake, common coral snake, coral adder, Elaps harlequin snake, Florida coral snake, harlequin coral snake, North American coral snake, red bead snake, thunder-and-lightning snake, and, in Spanish, serpiente-coralillo arlequín (literally 'harlequin coral snake').

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake

The eastern diamondback rattlesnake is the largest rattlesnake species and is one of the heaviest known species of venomous snake, with one specimen shot in 1946 measuring 2.4 m (7.8 ft) in length and weighing 15.4 kg (34 lb). However, other venomous snakes may rival this species in weight. The much longer but more slender king cobra is probably greater in average body mass if not maximum weight, and the shorter but even bulkier Gaboon viper could (but is not verified to) exceed the eastern diamondback rattlesnake in both mean adult body mass and possibly even maximum body mass.Maximum reported lengths for the eastern diamondback rattlesnake are 2.4 m (8 ft)[9] and 2.5 m (8.25 ft). However, the stated maximum sizes have been called into question due to a lack of voucher specimens. Males are larger than females.

Green Anakonda

The green anaconda is the world's heaviest and one of the world's longest snakes, reaching a length of up to 5.21 m (17.1 ft) long. More typical mature specimens reportedly can range up to 5 m (16.4 ft), with adult females, with a mean length of about 4.6 m (15.1 ft), being generally much larger than the males, which average around 3 m (9.8 ft). Weights are less well studied, though reportedly range from 30 to 70 kg (66 to 154 lb) in a typical adult.It is the largest snake native to the Americas. Although it is slightly shorter than the reticulated python, it is far bulkier; the bulk of a 4.5-metre (15 ft) green anaconda is comparable to that of a 7.4-metre (24 ft) reticulated python.Reports of anacondas 11–12 m (35–40 ft) or even longer also exist, but such claims must be regarded with caution, as no specimens of such lengths have ever been deposited in a museum and hard evidence is lacking. Anacondas live in swamps, marshes, and slow-moving streams, mainly in the tropical rainforests of the Amazon and Orinoco basins. They are cumbersome on land, but stealthy and sleek in the water. Their eyes and nasal openings are on top of their heads, allowing them to lie in wait for prey while remaining nearly completely submerged.

Green Mamba

The eastern green mamba (Dendroaspis angusticeps) is a highly venomous snake species of the mamba genus Dendroaspis native to the coastal regions of southern East Africa. Described by Scottish surgeon and zoologist Andrew Smith in 1849, it has a slender build with bright green upperparts and yellow-green underparts. The adult female averages around 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) in length, and the male is slightly smaller. The eastern green mamba is a large snake, with a slightly compressed and very slender body with a medium to long tapering tail. Adult males average around 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in) in total length, while females average 2.0 metres (6 ft 7 in). This species rarely exceeds lengths of 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in). In general, the total length is 4–4.3 times the length of the tail. The adult eastern green mamba has bright green upperparts—occasionally with isolated yellow scales—and a pale yellow-green belly. Sometimes they are duller-coloured before moulting. Juveniles are blue-green, becoming bright green when they are around 75 centimetres (2 ft 6 in) long.The coffin-shaped head is long and slender, with a prominent canthus which is slightly demarcated from the neck. When threatened or otherwise aroused, the eastern green mamba is capable of flattening its neck area, though no real hood is formed. The medium-sized eyes have round pupils, the borders of which have a narrow golden or ochre edge; the irises are olive green, becoming bright green posteriorly. The inside of the mouth may be white or bluish-white. The eastern green mamba is native to regions near the coastlines of southern Africa and East Africa. Its range extends from Kenya south through Tanzania, Malawi, and eastern Zimbabwe; it can also be found in Zanzibar and northern Mozambique. An isolated and genetically distinct population is found in South Africa from the extreme northeastern part of Eastern Cape along the KwaZulu-Natal coastline and into southern Mozambique.

Inland Taipan

The inland taipan is dark tan, ranging from a rich, dark hue to a brownish light-green, depending on season. Its back, sides and tail may be different shades of brown and grey, with many scales having a wide blackish edge. These dark-marked scales occur in diagonal rows so that the marks align to form broken chevrons of variable length that are inclined backward and downward. The lowermost lateral scales often have an anterior yellow edge. The dorsal scales are smooth and without keels. The round-snouted head and neck are usually noticeably darker than the body (glossy black in winter, dark brown in summer), the darker colour allowing the snake to heat itself while exposing only a smaller portion of the body at the burrow entrance. The eye is of average size with a blackish brown iris and without a noticeable coloured rim around the pupil. The inland taipan inhabits the black soil plains in the semi-arid regions where Queensland and South Australia borders converge.

King Cobra

The king cobra's skin is olive green with black and white bands on the trunk that converge to the head. The head is covered by 15 drab coloured and black edged shields. The muzzle is rounded, and the tongue black. It has two fangs and 3–5 maxillar teeth in the upper jaw, and two rows of teeth in the lower jaw. The nostrils are between two shields. The large eyes have a golden iris and round pupils. Its hood is oval shaped and covered with olive green smooth scales and two black spots between the two lowest scales. Its cylindrical tail is yellowish green above and marked with black.It has a pair of large occipital scales on top of the head, 17 to 19 rows of smooth oblique scales on the neck, and 15 rows on the body. Juveniles are black with chevron shaped white, yellow or buff bars that point towards the head. Adult king cobras are 3.18 to 4 m (10.4 to 13.1 ft) long. The longest known individual measured 5.85 m (19.2 ft). Ventral scales are uniformly oval shaped. Dorsal scales are placed in an oblique arrangement. The king cobra has a wide distribution in South and Southeast Asia. It occurs up to an elevation of 2,000 m (6,600 ft) from the Terai in India and southern Nepal to the Brahmaputra River basin in Bhutan and northeast India, Bangladesh and to Myanmar, southern China, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines

Milk Snake

Milk snakes commonly exceed 60 cm (24 in) in total length (including tail), with very large specimens known to reach total lengths of 120 to 132 cm (47 to 52 in). They appear to be one of the smaller species of the kingsnake genus, as adults in the wild apparently average from 38 to 225 g (1.3 to 7.9 oz) in North America and most typically do not exceed a total length of 90 cm (35 in). However, unusually large milk snakes can become rather bulkier than average-sized adults and potentially weigh up to 750 to 1,400 g (1.65 to 3.09 lb), though high weights as such are generally reported from captivity. Males typically are larger than females in maturity, although females can be bulkier than males similar in length, as well. Generally more tropical populations, from Mexico and further south, reach larger adult sizes than milk snakes living in the temperate zones.They have smooth and shiny scales and their typical color pattern is alternating bands of red-black-yellow or white-black-red. Across the wide range of this species, habitat varies. Typically, milk snakes live in forested regions; however, in some regions, they can be located in open prairies. In various parts across their distribution, milk snakes often live on rocky slopes. In some situations, milk snakes also migrate seasonally, during the winter they move to higher and drier habitats for hibernation and moister habitats for the summer. Milk snakes enter hibernation from late October or November to mid-April.

Monocled Cobra

The monocled cobra has an O-shaped, or monocellate hood pattern, unlike that of the Indian cobra, which has the 'spectacle' pattern (two circular ocelli connected by a curved line) on the rear of its hood. The elongated nuchal ribs enable a cobra to expand the anterior of the neck into a “hood”. Coloration in the young is more constant. The dorsal surface may be yellow, brown, gray, or blackish, with or without ragged or clearly defined cross bands. It can be olivaceous or brownish to black above with or without a yellow or orange-colored, O-shaped mark on the hood. It has a black spot on the lower surface of the hood on either side, and one or two black cross-bars on the belly behind it. The rest of the belly is usually the same color as the back, but paler. As age advances, the snake becomes paler, wherein the adult is brownish or olivaceous. A pair of fixed anterior fangs is present. The largest fang recorded measured 6.78 mm (0.678 cm). Fangs are moderately adapted for spitting. Monocled cobras are distributed from India in the west through to China, Vietnam and Cambodia. They are also found on the Malay Peninsula and are native to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Nepal, and Thailand.

Prairie Rattlesnake

They, and the subspecies mentioned below, are found in North America over much of the Great Plains, the eastern foothills and some intermontane valleys of the Rocky Mountains, from southwestern Canada through the United States to northern Mexico. In Canada, they occur in Alberta and Saskatchewan; in the US in eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, southern Idaho, most of Montana (where it is one of 10 snake species and the only venomous one), North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, extreme eastern Arizona, extreme western Iowa, and in Mexico in northern Coahuila and northwestern Chihuahua. Its vertical range is from 100 m (330 ft) near the Rio Grande to over 2,775 m (9,104 ft) in elevation in Wyoming. This species commonly grows to more than 100 cm (3.3 ft) in length. The maximum recorded size is 151.5 cm (4.97 ft). In Montana, specimens occasionally exceed 120 centimetres (3.9 ft) in length; the species reaches its maximum size in this region. One of the most characteristic features is the presence of three or more, usually four, internasal scales. Identification characteristics will vary depending on which subspecies is encountered. Generally, western rattlesnakes are usually lightly colored in hues of brown. Patches of dark brown are often distributed in a dorsal pattern. A color band may be seen at the back of the eye. The western rattlesnake group carries the distinctive triangle-shaped head and pit sensory organs on either side of the head. A key characteristic that can help differentiate a western rattlesnake from other rattlesnakes is the presence of two internasals contacting the rostral.

Spitting Cobra

Spitting Cobra is a moderately sized, venomous snake with a moderately distinct head; the shape of the head is due primarily to two large venom glands found on each side of the head. Its colour can vary depending on region of origin. Some specimens are black or pale grey with a yellow or reddish ventral side with a broad, black neck band, often with an orange or pinkish bar on the neck. Other specimens can be yellowish-brown or have a yellow copper colour and are missing the bandings around the neck and the reddish colour on the belly. Some other specimens are deep reddish-brown, and yet others are an olive brown. Some can even be striped black and white or totally white (with dark eyes). There are 21–23 dorsal scales at the mid-body, 182–196 ventral scales, and 54–66 subcaudal scales. This species generally grows to a length of 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) to 2.2 metres (7.2 ft). These sizes are subject to trends based on geographic location and subspecies. The species is very common and is widespread through much of sub-Saharan Africa and is found in western, eastern, central, and parts of southern Africa. It is absent from the rainforests of the Congo Basin. It has been recorded from Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo (except in the center), Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Mauritania, Sudan, Tanzania, Somalia, Togo, Uganda, Zambia.