Available now
Mark O'Shea's new softback edition
Venomous Snakes of the World. Also his Dangerous Snakes of Papua New Guinea stamp issue
and all his other books on the new 'O'Shea's Herp Shop'
Available now
new edition
DK Handbook to Reptiles and Amphibians. Visit the
'O'Shea's Herp Shop'
EXHIBIT 1.
SNOUTED COBRA Naja annulifera
Cobras occur throughout Asia and Africa – there are around 30 species split almost equally between spitting and non-spitting cobras.
The snouted cobra is a non-spitter than grows to 2.0-2.4m, feeds on rodents, ground-nesting birds, toads and reptiles, including other snakes. It is an egg-layer. There are two main colour phases: unicolour grey-brown, exhibited here, and a broad-banded form. Snouted cobras expand a much longer and narrower hood than some other cobra species. A snakebite can cause a fatality within 30minutes.
The snouted cobra is a non-spitter from Southern Zambia and Malawi, eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe, southern Moçambique, S.Africa (Transvaal and Natal) & Swaziland.
click on the images to enlarge them
Habitat: Dry thorny scrub known as “bushveldt"
A banded snouted cobra exhibiting the long narrow hood of the species.
The scientific name “annulifera” refers to these bands or ‘annuli’
The unicolour phase of snouted cobra
demonstrating the pointed snout that gives the species its common name
Snouted cobras are associated with arid “bushveld” habitats in southern Africa
