Saturday, October 9, 2010

Blue Malaysian coral snake

  

The blue malaysian coral snake (Calliophis bivirgatus)  is an elapid found in Asia.  It was first identified in 1827.


Physical features                                        
It is a deep blue color with stripes which are light blue or white color.  It is very slender and measures about 5 feet even though there have been larger specimens caught.  They have small eyes at the sides of their blunt head.  The head, venter and tail are normally bright red.
Juveniles are often confused with pink headed reed snakes which are completely non venomous.


Behavior
The blue malaysian coral snake is nocturnal.  Most of the people get bitten during the night if they enter its territory.  Its behavior resembles that of a banded krait as it is very shy and inactive in the day.
As defense, it displays its bright red.  Sometimes they even hide their head by coiling up their body and they show their tail to confuse the predator 


Distribution
It is found in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia.


Venom features
The venom of the blue malaysian coral snake is neurotoxic like most of the elapids.  Initially, there are no effects after a bite for several minutes.  After sometime, the victim will have numbness and then difficulty in breathing.  The victim finally dies due to respiratory failure.
It is sometimes called the "100 paces" as no man can walk more than 100 steps after getting bitten.

Source of picture 1http://www.sareptiles.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=18727                             

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