Department of Vertebrates
Herpetology Collection
SNOUTED COBRA (Naja annulifera) (Dangerous)
Snouted cobras are nocturnal and a fairly common Savanna species which is very aggressive when confronted. They are usually a yellowish to olive or brown to dark brown in colour, with spots or uniform. There is also a banded phase which is marked with the head and body black and seven to nine yellow bands which encircles the body. This cobra is a non-spitter. The bite is usually painful after which neurological symptoms and swelling sets in.
There length averages from 1.5 to 2 metres with reports of three metre specimens. Contrary to usually sizes in snakes with the female being the bigger of the two the reveres is found in this species with the male having the greater length. The distribution include Transvaal through to Natal and Swaziland to eastern Botswana, southern Zambia, Malawi and through south Mozambique. Egg batch size are 8 to 20 eggs and young measure 230 to 340 mm in length.