Basic Information
Scientific Name: Chrysopelea pelias
Distribution: India, Sri Lanka, Burma, southern China, Indo-China, Malay Peninsula, Indonesian islands, and the Philippines [3]
Average Size: 29.5 in. (75 cm) [2]
Habitat: Matured Forests [2]
Activity: Arboreal, sometimes undergrowth [4]
About the Twin-barred Tree Snake
Twin-Barred Tree Snakes are mildly poisonous, [1] rear-fanged serpents. [4] They are rare, some believe endangered, and difficult to find in their native land. [1] Related to the Paradise Tree Snake, they are primarily arboreal and possess the ability to glide. [4] They climb trees by utilizing the irregularity of the bark's surface to climb up trees. [1] They consume lizards for their diet. [2]
Twin-Barred Tree Snakes glide by leaping from a high surface, like a branch. [4] With mid-air, they alter the shape of their ventral surface, making their bodies roughly concave in cross-section, which enables them to glide. [4] To navigate, they have to undulate their bodies through the air. [4]
Physical Description
Considered a beautiful snake, [2] the Twin-Barred Tree Snake is red with white and black markings, [2] or sometimes green markings. [3] They have narrow, elegant heads and large eyes. [3] They have slender bodies with long, prehensile tails, [3] and they are the smallest of the Chrysopelea genus.
Footnotes
- Twin-barred Tree Snake. Link Defunct: <http://www.ecologyasia.com/Vertebrates/twin-barred_tree-snake.htm>
- Wildlife Singapore: Twin-barred Tree Snake: Chrysopelea pelias
- Mattison [New] 233
- Mattison [World] 38
For more information on footnotes and references, please see the bibliography.
