Vital Statistics
- Name
- Red Lipped Snake or Herald Snake [Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia]
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Testudines
- Family
- Colubridae
- Length_F
- 710 mm
- Length_M
- 701 mm
Description
The Red Lipped Snake is a small snake with a broad, obvious head and a short tail. The scales are in 19 rows at midbody and are dull; the head is iridescent when the skin is freshly shed. The back is olive to green-black above. The head is iridescent blue-black in colour.
Distribution
The Red Lipped Snake occurs in the eastern half of the region, from South Western Cape to Zimbabwe and elsewhere to tropical Africa.
Breeding
The female lays 6 - 19 eggs in leaf litter in early summer; these hatch in 61 - 64 days.
Venom
No toxic symptoms have been recorded in a bite by this species.
Diet
It feeds at night on amphibians. | 
