Home | Snakes | The King Cobra or Hamadryad, Ophiophagus hannah – natural history and zoological park husbandry – Part 1

The King Cobra or Hamadryad, Ophiophagus hannah – natural history and zoological park husbandry – Part 1

King Cobra

Overview
This week I’ll cover an animal that is not (thankfully!) a pet trade species but which has long inspired awe in reptile enthusiasts and “regular people” alike – the king cobra, largest and arguably most intelligent of the venomous snakes. Please see my note –
A Close Call with a King Cobra, as well.

Physical Description
The king cobra is the world’s longest venomous snake, and may exceed 18 feet in length (average length is 12-15 feet).

Its color and pattern varies greatly across the huge range, with unique color morphs being distinctive of certain geographic areas: specimens from Southeast Asia are usually a uniform olive or yellowish-olive in color, while those originating in India tend to be olive with yellow bands and a black tail. Chinese specimens are often dark brown or black, and banded with white, brown or yellow.

Range and Habitat
This snake’s enormous range extends from northern India through Myanmar, Bangladesh and Cambodia to southeastern China (including Hong Kong and Hainan) and south through Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and much of Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi) to western Malaysia and the Philippines.

King cobras occupy a wide variety of habitats but are usually found near a permanent water source. They occur in rainforests, dry forests, lightly wooded areas, overgrown fields, bamboo thickets, mangrove swamps, agricultural areas and along the outskirts of towns.

Status in the Wild
Not well studied. King cobras adapt to some disturbance and often frequent farms in search of other snakes (the favored prey) that are drawn there by rodents. Listed on Appendix II of CITES.

Diet
The king cobra feeds almost exclusively upon other snakes, although lizards are occasionally taken (the Greek-derived Genus name means “Snake-eater”). It hunts by day and actively searches for prey. Keen sighted and quick, king cobras are well-suited to pursuing fast-moving snakes.

In zoos, hatchlings and wild-caught adults often refuse all but snakes as food. Reptile keepers resolve this problem by “scenting” mice and rats (the snakes thrive on a rodent-based diet) with dead snakes that are kept frozen for this purpose. Usually, rubbing a snake on the rodent does the trick. Particularly choosy cobras sometimes force us to become resourceful – boiling a piece of an expired snake in water and soaking the rodent therein is the standard method used in these cases. Most king cobras can eventually be weaned onto a diet of non-scented rodents.

“Scenting” is used to induce other serpentine food specialists to accept alien food items as well. Eastern hog nosed snakes, Heterodon platirhinos, for example, are confirmed toad-eaters but eagerly take toad-scented mice.

Reproduction
King cobras are the only snakes known to construct a nest for their eggs. Using loops of her body, the female scrapes together a pile of rotting leaves and other vegetation, into which the eggs are deposited. Some construct a two-chambered nest, with the upper chamber serving as retreat for the female, while others merely coil on top of the leaf pile.

The female guards her 20-60 eggs for the 60-80 day incubation period. There is some evidence of mate fidelity that the male may also remain in the vicinity of the nest, but this has not been accurately documented.

The hatchlings are 18-22 inches in length and differ markedly from the adults, being boldly striped in black and white.

Check back on Friday to read the rest of this article.

4 comments

  1. avatar

    hey i love dis artical i am doing a exit project in school and this really helped me!

    • avatar

      Hello Kesha, Frank Indiviglio here.

      Thanks for taking the time to write in…I’m very glad to hear that you found the article to be helpful.

      Good luck with your project and with school in general; I hope you do well.

      Best regards, Frank Indiviglio.

About Frank Indiviglio

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Being born with a deep interest in animals might seem unfortunate for a native Bronxite , but my family encouraged my interest and the menagerie that sprung from it. Jobs with pet stores and importers had me caring for a fantastic assortment of reptiles and amphibians. After a detour as a lawyer, I was hired as a Bronx Zoo animal keeper and was soon caring for gharials, goliath frogs, king cobras and everything in-between. Research has taken me in pursuit of anacondas, Orinoco crocodiles and other animals in locales ranging from Venezuela’s llanos to Tortuguero’s beaches. Now, after 20+ years with the Bronx Zoo, I am a consultant for several zoos and museums. I have spent time in Japan, and often exchange ideas with zoologists there. I have written books on salamanders, geckos and other “herps”, discussed reptile-keeping on television and presented papers at conferences. A Master’s Degree in biology has led to teaching opportunities. My work puts me in contact with thousands of hobbyists keeping an array of pets. Without fail, I have learned much from them and hope, dear readers, that you will be generous in sharing your thoughts on this blog and web site. For a complete biography of my experience click here.
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