SNAKES
Reptile     -      Vertebrate     -     Carnivore
Picture
PARADISE TREE SNAKE
Picture
CORAL SNAKE
Male: Snake
Female:  Snake
Young:  Snakelet, Hatchlet (newly hatched), Neonate (newborn)
Colour Rhyme for Coral Snake Skin: 
​Red touches yellow - will kill a fellow   
- Coral Snake - venomous -
Red touches black - Scarlet King Snake   
​ - harmless  - 
​SNAKES
There are over 2,000 species of snakes.

Only about a third of all snakes are poisonous and fewer still have poison strong enough to harm humans.  Non-poisonous snakes either crush their prey to death or simply swallow it whole.
​
  • Are predators and scavengers.
  • All ten species of the most venomous snakes live in Australia.
  • Sea snakes are the most poisonous snakes in the world.
  • Pugg Adders kill more humans than an other snake in Africa.
  • There are no terrestrial snakes in New Zealand, although there are sea snakes.
  • Eat amphibians, crustaceans, fish, insects, other reptiles, birds, eggs and mammals.
  • Can survive without a meal for up to two years!
  • Can predict earthquakes.
  • Are found on every continent except Antarctica.
  • All snakes can swim and can stay under water for up to an hour.
  • The oldest known snake fossil had four feet.
​
Appearance
  • Don't have eyelids and they have internal ears.
  • Cannot blink.
  • Always keep their eyes open, even when they are asleep.
  • Smell with their tongues.

Snake Skins
  • Snake skins are smooth and dry.
  • Shed their skins a number of times a year and each shedding can last a few days.
  • The skin is shed because the skin gets worn and damaged.  Some adults can shed their skins every 20 days.

Rattlesnakes
  • Rattlesnakes make their rattling noise to warn their enemies to stay away.
  • The rattle is made by a number of hard rings of skin at the end of the tail and that makes a noise when shaken.
  • Each ring was once the tip of the tail.  A new ring is added every time the snake grows and sheds its skin.
  • Baby Rattlesnakes are born in August and September.

Black Mamba
  • The mortality rate if bitten by a Black Mambo snake is over 95%.
  • The Black Mamba is not black.  It gets its name from the colour of the inside of its mouth.

Burmese Python
  • The Burmese python's heart grows by 40% after a meal.
  • Its stomach acid can digest bones and teeth, but not fur or hair.

Cobras
  • Cobras are able to kill with a bite as soon as they are born.
  • Cobras only need to eat once every couple of months.

African Rock Python - Paradise Tree Snake  -  Boa Constrictor  -  Taipan Snake​
  • The African Rock Python can survive 2 years without eating.
  • The Paradise Tree Snake flies (falls) from tree to tree.  It sucks in its belly and makes a U-shape with the length of its body, creating its own parachute.  
  • The Boa Constrictor monitors its victim's heart and stops squeezing when the victim stops beating.
  • A Taipan snake is considered the most venomous in the world, and has enough venom to kill a full-grown man, but has a mouth so small it can barely bite a mouse.
Picture
BLACK MAMBA
Picture
INDIAN RUSSEL'S VIPER
Picture
GRASS SNAKE
Picture
A CARAMEL BURMESE PYTHON
Picture
CORN SNAKE