Which are the venomous snakes found in India?

There are four common venomous snakes found in India. They are Common Cobra (Naja naja), Common Krait ( Bunguraus caeruleus), Russell’s viper ( Daboia russelii) & Saw Scaled Viper (Echis carinatus). They are known as the “big four” of India. They are not the only species which are venomous, but are also found commonly throughout India. They are widely distributed across the country. There other venomous snakes like the King cobra (Ophiophagus hannah), Hump Nosed Pit Viper (Hypnale hypnale), Banded Krait (Bunguraus faciatus) are also found in India. The distribution of these snakes is limited to certain geographic regions and human deaths due to their bites are rare.

Are Vemomous snake bites curable?

Swelling of the hand after the bite of a common cobra . Riyaz Khoja

The bite by a venomous snake is a medical emergency and can be treated successfully in hospitals. In India, Polyvalent Anti-venom is used to treat snake bites and it is available in district level hospitals and many private hospitals. All snakes are not venomous and precautions should be taken before treating a patient with anti-venom. It is critical to reach the patient to the hospital without any delay. Proper first aid such as pressure band and calming down the patient, limited body movements etc. will ensure that the spread of the venom is minimized.

Which are the most common non-venomous snakes found In India?

There are more than 270 species of snakes found in India and only a few of them are venomous enough to cause harm to a human being. We can classify the snakes as venomous (can cause probable death to a human being if bitten) mildly venomous (their venom is potent only to kill small prey animals) and non – venomous (they don’t have any venom or even venom glands). The Common Rat snake (Ptyas mucosa), Checkered Keelback (Xenochrophis piscator), are the two common non-venomous snakes found in India.

What is a Snake’s Diet?

Snakes are carnivores by nature. Their diet consists of a wide variety of organisms, such as rodents, (rats, mice, squirrels etc.), birds, frogs, fish and even other snakes! The food preference differs from species to species and the abundance of prey in their habitat. The King Cobra’s menu mainly consists of other snakes. In fact its scientific name Ophiophagus hannah means “snake eating snake “. The Common Krait is also another snake eating snake, which even takes smaller Kraits (cannibalism).

Snakes are good pest controllers as they kill a large number of harmful rodents across the globe and are an integral part of the eco system as prey and predators. Checkered Keelback, Dog Faced Water Snakes and Sea Snakes are examples of snakes which survive mainly on fish or amphibians. Once a snake has filled its stomach sufficiently, it may rest for weeks and even months till the food is completely digested. Pythons usually take down large prey such as deer and medium sized mammals as food and ‘rest’ for months before they crawl out for another hunting trip. The Indian Egg-Eater is a specialized egg- eating snake which is morphologically designed to swallow eggs.