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red tailed green ratsnake
Length:1.6-2.4 m.
Colouring:They have green body with a red or brown tail and also have a dark line horizontally across their eyes. The top of their head is dark green or yellow-green or yellow. Moreover, their tongue is black or brown with blue.

RED-TAILED GREEN RATSNAKE

GONYOSOMA OXYCEPHALUM

Description:

The Red-tailed green ratsnake, also known as the arboreal ratsnake and Red-tailed Racer, is a non-venomous snake.

They are often mistaken for the Green Pit Viper, which is a highly venomous snake. This is because they both have the same colouration on their bodies.

They are long and slender snakes and females are slightly larger than males.

The red-tailed green ratsnake is not aggressive, they usually crawl away when they are disturbed, but they can strike and bite instinctively.

They are classed as least concern by the IUCN, however they are protected in Thailand by the government.

Did you know...?

…that when Red-tailed green ratsnakes are stressed, they will inflate a bag of air in their neck to make themselves appear larger in size?

Diet:
They feed almost exclusively on birds, bird eggs and bats. They catch them in mid-air while hanging among branches or steal their eggs from nests. They kill by constriction, squeezing tightly to suffocate the prey.

Habitat:
You can find them in Lowland tropical forest, including riverine forests, bamboo forests, mangrove forests and swamps in Southeast Asia; Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Reproduction
Female Red-tailed Green Rat-Snakes lay 5-12 eggs, which hatch in about 13-16 weeks. The newly hatched snake’s length is about 45 cm. They usually live about 6 years and captive individuals have lived up to 15 years.

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