Although it is non-venomous, this snake species possesses body colors similar to a highly dangerous venomous snake, which often leads to its “unjust death” during encounters with humans.
Red Spotted Snake – A Harmless Species with Easily Confused Appearance
The snake mentioned above is the Red Spotted Snake, also known as Red Bamboo Rat Snake or Oreocryptophis porphyraceus. This species belongs to the colubrid family.
Red Spotted Snake.
The Red Spotted Snake lives both on the ground and in trees, favoring cooler climates, and is often found in mountainous areas. They are typically found at elevations above 800m, in humid rainforests or dry forests, depending on the subspecies. They spend most of their time hiding under leaf litter, moss, or rocks and logs.
This snake species is widely distributed across Asia, from India, Bhutan, Tibet, Nepal, southern China to Southeast Asian countries.
In Vietnam, they can be found in the northern mountainous provinces, Thanh Hóa, Quảng Bình, Lâm Đồng, and more.
The primary diet of this snake includes frogs, toads, lizards, birds, rodents, and small mammals like mice.
A distinctive feature of the Red Spotted Snake is that juveniles have bodies with alternating black and yellow stripes, where the yellow segments are typically longer than the black segments.
Juvenile Red Spotted Snake with Black and Yellow Colors (Photo: SIFASV).
Banded Krait, a venomous snake with black and yellow stripes (Photo: Wiki).
This coloration causes many people to mistakenly identify juvenile Red Spotted Snakes with the Banded Krait, an extremely dangerous venomous snake. As a result, when encountering juvenile Red Spotted Snakes, many people attempt to kill them to ensure safety for themselves and those around them.
However, with careful observation, one can easily recognize the differences between juvenile Red Spotted Snakes and Banded Kraits. Specifically, juvenile Red Spotted Snakes have yellow heads, with stripes running down from the eyes. Their tails also have stripes and tend to be long and pointed.
In contrast, Banded Kraits have black heads, a triangular body shape, and a clearly visible sharp spine. The tail of a Banded Krait is also blunt rather than pointed like that of the juvenile Red Spotted Snake.
When fully grown, the Red Spotted Snake can reach a maximum length of about 1.2m. Their bodies change to a deep red or orange color, with horizontal stripes dividing the body into segments. The mature snake still retains vertical black stripes on its head and eyes as it did in its juvenile stage.
Some subspecies of the Red Spotted Snake have long black stripes running along their bodies from head to tail, or their bodies are divided into distinct black and red sections.
Adult Red Spotted Snake (top) can be confused with the highly venomous Silver-Headed Coral Snake (bottom) (Photo: iNaturalist).
The coloration of the adult Red Spotted Snake is completely different from that of juveniles. However, they bear a resemblance to the Silver-Headed Coral Snake, which is also a highly venomous species. The main difference between these two species is that the Silver-Headed Coral Snake has a white head and lacks the vertical stripes on the head and eyes seen in the Red Spotted Snake.
Thus, it is crucial to clearly distinguish between the Red Spotted Snake and venomous snakes to avoid mistakes that could lead to unfortunate accidents.
Is the Red Spotted Snake Venomous?
As mentioned, the Red Spotted Snake is a member of the colubrid family and is non-venomous. As a rodent hunter, they are beneficial to agriculture. Therefore, humans should not kill this snake if encountered; instead, they should attempt to gently encourage it to leave if they feel unsafe.
The Red Spotted Snake is colorful, gentle, and harmless, making it a popular choice for house pets (Photo: TNP).
Thanks to its colorful appearance, gentle nature, and non-venomous traits, the Red Spotted Snake is a favorite among reptile enthusiasts for keeping as pets. However, this has led to a decline in their population in the wild due to overharvesting.
We hope this article helps us identify a rare, gentle, and beautiful snake species while avoiding the accidental killing of this beneficial rodent-hunting snake.
