Red Lipped Snake

Name

Red Lipped Snake or Herald Snake [Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia]

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Colubridae

Length_F

710 mm

Length_M

710 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.

Diet

It feeds at night on amphibians.

Venom

No toxic symptoms have been recorded in a bite by this species.