Sri Lanka Blossom Krait

Rhabdophis ceylonensis

''Rhabdophis ceylonensis'' is endemic to the island of Sri Lanka. The species is commonly known as the Sri Lanka blossom krait, the Sri Lanka keelback, and මල් කරවලා or නිහලුවා in Sinhala. It is a moderately venomous snake.
A colorful young Sri Lanka Blossom Krait (Rhabdophis ceylonensis) The adults of this species aren't nearly as venomous as the youngsters like this one. The species has a little venom, but calling it a "Krait" is pretty silly as kraits are extremely venomous snakes in the same family that includes cobras, coral snakes, etc. Geotagged,Rhabdophis ceylonensis,Sri Lanka,Sri Lanka blossom krait,Summer

Appearance

''R. ceylonensis'' has a head distinct from the neck. The eye is large, with a round pupil. Its dorsal side is olive-brown in color, with black cross-bars that enclose a series of large yellow or red black-edged spots. Its interstitial skin is red. Nuchal glands extend along the anterior part of the body to the 15th ventral.

Distribution

''Rhabdophis ceylonensis'' is a poorly-known snake from wet forests and some parts of intermediate forests in the lowlands and midhills of Sri Lanka.

Habitat

''Rhabdophis ceylonensis'' is a poorly-known snake from wet forests and some parts of intermediate forests in the lowlands and midhills of Sri Lanka.''R. ceylonensis'' is a slow-moving snake. When threatened, it raises the anterior part of its body, which it inflates to expose the red skin between the dorsal scales on its neck. Its diet consists of frogs, while hatchlings are known to eat orthopterans.

Reproduction

''R. ceylonensis'' is oviparous. About 7 eggs are produced at a time, measuring 19-22 × 9.5-13.2mm . They hatch in March to produce young measuring about 102 mm including tail.

Defense

''R. ceylonensis'' possesses a venom, and has been known to inflict life-threatening bites . Although it does not have hollow fangs in the front of the upper jaw, it does have two enlarged, curved, grooved teeth at the rear of each upper jaw.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

Status: Near threatened
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderSquamata
FamilyColubridae
GenusRhabdophis
SpeciesR. ceylonensis
Photographed in
Sri Lanka