THE VACIOUS KING COBRA

 KING COBRA

The king cobra has chevrons lighter in color than the body

color, on the neck and body that may be very pronounced, as in

kings from China, or muted, as we see on melanistic king

cobras here in Southern Thailand. Maximum size in length about 5.85 meters.

 KING COBRA HABITAT

Kings like many types of habitat. Dense forest near water and

open grasslands seems to be preferred. They also choose a

place near bamboo thickets for a nest. Ideal cover is a web of

small bamboo growing about a meter high with soft bamboo

leaves underneath. The king is mainly diurnal – found active during the daytime,but can also be active at night

 KING COBRA DIET

King cobras eat other smaller snakes primarily, but also will

eat monitor lizards as part of their diet. Occasionally

they’ll eat other king cobras, pythons, lizards, birds,

rodents.

KING COBRA DEFENSIVE BEHAVIOR

Lifts its head off the ground sometimes by as much as 4-5

feet, and flattens out the neck. The hood of a King cobra

doesn’t flare as wide… but, a big King will surprise you

because it can be five times as long as the monocled or other

spitting cobras! These snakes are not usually that afraid of

people, and move slowly to ‘escape’ if they move away at all.

Last night I moved a 4 meter king off some steps at a local

temple so people could pass. It was not in any hurry to get

away, and it came at me a couple of times. Impressive snakes,

and not to be taken. The king cobra bite is the most powerful bite in kilograms per

square inch of bite pressure – of any venomous snake in the

world.

KING COBRA SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Squamata

Suborder: Serpentes

Family: Elapidae

Genus: Ophiophagus

Species: O. Hannah

OFFSPRING

The king cobra mates and the eggs are laid approximately 60

days later. The female king cobra builds a nest, while the

male doesn’t play any role in protecting the young.

Ophiophagus hannah is the only snake known in the world that

creates a nest (usually of bamboo and other leaves).

The nest is around 1 to 1.5 meters in diameter (from above)

and about 1 meter high. The eggs are laid around 30 to 50cm

off the ground in the pile, keeping them safe from rain water.

The temperature inside the nest is around the optimum 28°C.

The nest is usually built on a hillside at around 45° angle.

The steeper the hill the better in very wet environments like

the Western Gats in India. Here in Southern Thailand we don’t

get that much rain, so the nests might not be built on such an

extreme slope

The nest will often be built under strong cover of bamboo or

other trees which can block the rain from falling directly on

the nest. The nest will also often be built among standing

bamboo or other small trees – as it strengthens the nest in

case of flowing water which would otherwise wash the nest

away.

Once the eggs are laid, the female covers them with another

approximately half meter of leaves. The leaves of the nest are