Indochinese Spitting Cobra

We just learned about the Gaboon Viper.

Another type of snake is the Indochinese Spitting Cobra.

Just like all other cobras, this snake will raise it's head up, and also has a hood that flares out.
It can be black, white, brown or multiple colors like white with black spots.

It is a spitting cobra, meaning it can actually spray its venom out of it's fangs at enemies over six feet away!
The venom will not hurt if it is on human skin, but if it gets in someone's eyes they may be permanently blinded.

These snakes can bite too, not just spray their venom, and their bite can be deadly if the person does not get to the hospital soon enough.
They are a very dangerous snake, but they only live in a small part of the world, near Thailand.


(from: wikipedia - indochinese spitting cobra)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dalmatian

Gaboon Viper

We just learned about the Savu Python.

Another type of snake is the Gaboon Viper.

This snake is part of the viper family, which are snakes that have long fangs and use venom.

The Gaboon viper is the world's heaviest viper, has the longest fangs of any viper, and also uses the most venom per bite of any viper.
They can be over 40 pounds, and over 6 feet long!

These snakes live in Africa, and even though they are very big and dangerous, they almost never attack people.
Their venom is enough to kill a person if they do not get to a hospital quickly, but some of these vipers have even been stepped on and still have not bitten the person.

They are checkered with black triangles and white hourglass shapes.

(from: wikipedia - gaboon viper)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rough Collie

Savu Python

We just learned about the Fox Snake.

Another type of snake is the Savu Python also known as the Liasis Mackloti Savuensis.

These snakes come from the Island of Savu in Indonesia, and are not venomous.

When they are young, they start out as a bright orange color, and when they are grown up they are a speckled dark brown with white eyes.


(from: wikipedia - liasis mackloti savuensis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cocker Spaniel

Fox Snake

We just learned about the King Cobra.

Another type of snake is the Eastern Fox Snake.

This snake is not venomous, lives mostly on the ground, and hunts mostly small mice that it squeezes with constriction and then eats.
In the winter time since it lives in cold areas it will sometimes live in dens with other snakes to stay warm, even if they are not the same type of snake.

This snake looks a lot like the Massasauga rattlesnake and sometimes for self defense it will shake its tail like a rattler to make people scared that it is dangerous.

Unfortunately a lot of people have killed the Fox Snake thinking it was a dangerous Massasauga, so there are not many of them left.

The Fox Snake gets its name because when it is picked up it lefts off a musky smell that smells kind of like the red fox.
(from: wikipedia - fox snake)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Boxer

King Cobra

We just learned about the Jamaican Boa.

Another type of snake is the king cobra.

This is the longest venomous snake in the world, and can grow up to 18 feet long.
They have a great sense of smell and can smell their prey from 300 feet away.
When they get upset, they will stand up and flare out the hood on their head to look bigger.


(from: wikipedia - king cobra)


On the back of their head they have yellow stripes in an upside down V shape, called a chevron.


(from: wikipedia - king cobra)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Scottish Terrier

Jamaican Boa

We just learned about the Black Rat Snake.

Another type of snake is the Jamaican Boa.

This snake is not venomous, it is a boa so it uses its body to crush prey.
It is golden yellow around the head and middle, with black zig zags, and it turns black towards the tail.
It can grow up to around 6 feet.

The forest where these snakes live is being destroyed, so there are not many of them left.


(from: wikipedia - jamaican boa)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: German Shepherd

Black Rat Snake

We just learned about the type of snake the Colorado Desert Sidewinder.

Another type of snake is the black rat snake, also known as the western rat snake, pilot black snake, black chicken snake, black coluber, chicken snake, mountain black snake, mountain pilot snake, pilot, rusty black snake, scaly black snake, cow snake, or pantherophis obsoletus.

These snakes are not venomous, they are constrictors that squeeze their prey.

They are the largest snake in North America, with the largest one found being 8 feet long.


(from: wikipedia - pantheropis obsoletus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bulldog

Colorado Desert Sidewinder

We just learned about the Aruba Island Rattlesnake.

Another type of snake is the Colorado Desert Sidewinder.


(from: wikipedia - crotalus cerastes)

Sidewinders get their name by the interesting way that they move around.
Most snakes move along the ground face first, with their tail following along.
Sidewinders move facing sideways, like their face to the left and their tail to the right.
This helps them move better in wind blown desert sand, and when they walk they leave a J shape in the sand.


(from: wikipedia - crotalus cerastes)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Poodle

Aruba island rattlesnake

We just learned about the Mexican Lance-Headed Rattlesnake.

Another type of snake is the Aruba island rattlesnake also known as crotalus durissus unicolor.

This snake only lives on the small island named Aruba, which is in the Caribbean just north of Venezuela.

It is an endangered species, with only around 250 of these snakes left in the whole world.
The area they live in is very small, and humans keep moving closer and closer to where they live.
It is also illegal to take them out of the country, so they can't go live somewhere else.
Many zoos are working together to help bring back more of these snakes.


(from: wikipedia - crotalus durissus unicolor)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Golden Retriever

Mexican lance-headed rattlesnake

We just learned about the Puffing Snake.

Another type of snake is the Mexican lance-headed rattlesnake.

This is a venomous snake living in Mexico, with very dark spots on it.


(from: wikipedia - crotalus polystictus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: St. Bernard

Puffing snake

We just learned about Pacific Gopher Snake.

Another snake is called the Puffing Snake, also known as psuestes poecilonotus.

It has a yellow belly and it puffs itself up if it is threatened.
It is not venomous and mostly eats small bird eggs.

(from: wikipedia - pseustes poecilonotus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Old English Sheepdog

Pacific Gopher Snake

We just learned about the Ring Necked Snake.

Another type of snake is the Pacific Gopher Snake.

This snake is not venomous, but it sometimes pretends to shake like a rattle snake, and can shake the grass to make the same noise.

Sometimes two snakes will fight for over an hour, twisting around each other like wrestlers.


(from: wikipedia - pacific gopher snake)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Chihuaha

Ring-necked snake

We just learned about the false coral snake.

Another type of snake is the ring-necked snake.

This snake is venomous, but it's venom is not strong and it's fangs are in the back of it's mouth so it doesn't really bite humans.
They live mostly in North America.

It's called the ring-necked snake because it has a colored ring around it's neck.


(from: wikipedia - ring-necked snake)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pug

False Coral Snake

We just learned about the Grass Snake.

Another type of snake is the American pipe snake or false coral snake.

It looks a lot like the venomous coral snake, but it is not venomous.

Sometimes when the snake is threatened, it curls up its tail kind of like a cobra standing up.


(from: wikipedia - aniliidae)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dachsund

Grass Snake

We just learned about the Sri Lanka cat snake.

Another snake is the Grass Snake, also known as the ringed snake, water snake or Natrix natrix.

This snake lives in the United Kingdom, and is the largest reptile living there.

It is non-venomous, so sometimes when it is scared it makes a bad smell or even fakes like it is dead.
Sometimes it pretends to be dangerous by hissing and pretending to bite, but it does not bite.

If it plays dead, it might even throw up to make it look like it is dead.


(from: wikipedia - grass snake)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lhasa Apso

Sri Lanka cat snake

We just learned about the Spiny Bush Viper.

Another type of snake is the Sri Lanka cat snake, also known as Boiga ceylonensis.

This snake is usually about 4 feet long, and lives in Sri Lanka and India.

It will sometimes go into houses looking for food, like rats or lizards, and isn't afraid to try and bite people.

They do have venom so their bites will hurt, but it is not enough to kill a person.

They are called a cat snake because of their eyes.


(from: wikipedia - boiga ceylonensis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Irish Wolfhound

Spiny Bush Viper

We just learned about Indian Cobra.

Another type of snake is the spiny bush viper, also called the atheris hispida.

This snake has scales that stick out, so it is very spiky looking, and can be green or red.

It is also sometimes called the rough-scaled bush viper, or hairy viper.


(from: wikipedia - atheris hispida)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Alaskan Malamute

Indian Cobra

We just learned about Emerald Tree Boa.

Another type of snake is the Indian Cobra, also known as the naja naja, spectacled cobra, asian cobra or binocellate cobra.
This type of cobra lives mostly near India.

When this snake gets upset, it has a hood on the sides of it's head that it will flare out to show it is angry.


(from: wikipedia - indian cobra)

On some of these types of cobras, there is a marking on the back of their head that looks like a pair of glasses or spectacles.

Many people in India used to do something called snake charming, where they kept a cobra in a basket and then played a flute to get the snake to stand up and dance.
The real secret was the way the flute moved around to make the snake look at it.

Because these snakes were handled so much by people, they are one of the snakes that has bit people the most of any species.

(from: wikipedia - indian cobra)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Akita Inu

Emerald Tree Boa

We just learned about the Green Tree Python.

Another type of snake is the Emerald Tree Boa.
This snake looks and acts a lot like the Green Tree Python, but they are from totally different parts of the world, and they are not the same snake.

The Emerald Tree Boa is from South America, and the Green Tree Python is from Indonesia and Australia.

They both live in trees, grow to about the same size, attack their prey by wrapping their bodies around them, and they even coil themselves up in trees the same way.

If you found one of these snakes in the wild, it would be really tough to tell which type it was!

A few differences are that the Emerald Tree Boa has large fangs and eats birds, and the boa has live snake babies, while the python lays eggs.


(from: wikipedia - emerald tree boa)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Basenji

Green Tree Python

We just learned about Corn Snake.

Another type of snake is the Green Tree Python.
These snakes live in areas like New Guinea, Indonesia or Australia.

They live in trees, and will loop their coils over the tree like a saddle, and then lay their head in the middle.
When they hunt for the rodents that they eat, they will hang down from the tree and surprise their prey.
They do not have venom, and they are constrictors.
That means they wrap their body around their prey and squish it.

Sometimes they will bite humans if they get scared, but since they do not have venom they are not very dangerous.


(from: wikipedia - green tree python)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Chow Chow