Factfile
Where they live
South East Asia in Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia/Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam
Habitat
lowland tropical forests including riverine forests, bamboo forests, mangrove forests, and swamp
Size
length 160-240cm
Weight
400-800g
Lifespan
15 years
Threats
there is a market for snakes linked products such as skins, blood and body parts for Oriental medicines
Did you know...
- Their colouration renders them invisible in treetops
- They shed their skins, or sloughs, approximately every eight weeks
- They kill their prey by squeezing tightly to suffocate
More about red-tailed green ratsnakes...
These snakes are diurnal (day active) and primarily arboreal (tree living). The green colouration offers camouflage that makes them almost invisible in the treetops when they are hunting,
Prey is constricted before ingestion while the tail is anchored around a branch.They feed mostly on birds, and their eggs and nestlings, and also eat frogs, lizards and small mammals.
They are non-venomous snakes which kill their prey by constriction, squeezing tightly to suffocate the prey.
In their tropical environments these snakes breed year-round and females can produce three to four clutches in one year. The clutch size is five to twelve eggs and eggs hatch in 65 to 70 days. Juveniles are about 45cm long when they hatch.
There is also a grey or reddish form of this particular rat snake which is often found in Indonesia. These dark-coloured rat snakes do most of their foraging on the ground, where they are better camouflaged.
