Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Sorry for not visiting the forum for a long time. Just a couple of notes of interest on this species, Naja kaouthia (or Naja naja kaouthia, depending on your taxonomic preference).

First: Last month (I see that it did not come up in the news stories that usually appear here), there was a house in my province that had over 100 Naja kaothia hatchlings under it. Maybe all of the females thought it was a nice nesting site? I believe around 34 were taken to Bangkok's snake farm for future venom extractions; the rest were either killed or escaped. Do not remember the exact numbers, but it was about 1/3 in each category.

Second: Today, I received a frantic call about a snake at my sister-in-law's house. Half of its body was sticking out of a small PVC pipe. I slowly pulled out with one hand and carefully positioned the snake stick with the other hand, not knowing what it was until the anterior portion of the body started coming out. It was defintely Naja, but I was afraid it could possibly be Naja siamensis; in my rush, I forgot my glasses for protection. It ended up being Naja kaouthia. When its head came out, made a quick pin, grabbed carefully, took one picture and released hundreds of meters from the closest home.

Sorry about not taking any nice pictures in the field after release, but the little one was in a big hurry to get the hell away from me. It was very mild mannered: no hooding, only a couple light hisses while in the grasp and on release just made a hasty retreat and I only managed a horrible picture as it was racing off.

Cheers,

Michael

Thanks for the stories, and the picture! Man, I think 100 baby Najas under my house would worry even me! That's a very interesting account though. Last year, here in Arkansas in the US, there was a congregation of copperheads (Agkistrodon) that were all compelled for one reason or another to go to a specific tree in someone's back yard. On some nights, local herpers, game and fish folks, and even some academic types were able to collect 100 snakes in the same very small area. One of the visitors to this forum, SnakesAndStuff, is studying the incident I believe. He can expound upon the phenomenon if he reads this thread.

This is certainly the first time though I've heard of any female snakes congregating to lay eggs, especially ophiophagic species. Was the habitat under the house ideal for nesting cobras, or were there possibly any other factors that could've drawn them there? Is the area known to have a very high population of kaouthia? I'm very interested to hear more.
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Chance Duncan
www.rivervalleyexotics.com

Actually, Bobby Neal is presenting a paper called "Unusual Aggregations of Copperheads, (Agkistrodon c. contortrix),in the Ozarks of Arkansas" at the 30th IHS held in San Antonio, TX June 21-24.

Go to http://www.kingsnake.com/ihs/ for more info!

Randal

Wow... that many Naja under one house... that is simply amazing. I wish I could be over there studying them. It seems that several females have used the same nesting site which is very interesting. Maternal aggregations have been documented in some species, but I'm not sure if it has in any Naja species (sorry, I'm not well versed in the Naja literature and the only experience I have with them is in captivity). I'd be interested in seeing if there were any males around the site or if all the adults were females that were returning to the same site for nesting... and if so, I wonder about the relatedness of the females to one another. Are they from similar recent lineage? How are they all finding the same site, and what is driving them there to lay their eggs??? Very interesting, and all questions that I have no answers to.

As Randal mentioned, I'll be presenting some copperhead aggregation data at the IHS meeting. Unlike this Naja aggregation, the animals at my study site were all adults/subadults, not recently born individuals. I hope and look forward to seeing many of you there at IHS. There's a great list of speakers this year (as usual), and anyone interested in venomous reptiles could walk away from this years meeting with some great contacts and knowledge regardless of their previous background with venomous herps (there are also some nonvenomous herp talks scheduled, but I figured anyone reading this forum would be interested in knowing that there are quite a few hot herp presentations).

Yes, if there were so many baby Naja under my house, I would also be very concerned. I have no idea why the Naja picked the house as a nesting site. It was in a rural area in a small clearing with rice fields nearby, from what I saw on television. Late last year, I was concerned about the Daboia russellii siamensis found 40m from my home (picture was posted here); I am much more worried about a bite from them. The population of Naja kaouthia is high enough in my province that their meat is sold on the roadside, at least the sign says so, but all I ever see are the field rats for sale. I have seen them in the field, but attempted no captures there; I could visually identify it and the only other data I could have collected by capture was exact length- not worth the risk. Luckily, the area I live in is not developed very much and I have found over 25 species of reptiles in a 10 sq km area, including species that are usually only found in areas where there is no development.

Cheers,

Michael

What province do you live in? I use to live in Thailand and really miss the country.

I live in Pathum Thani Province, Khlong Luang District. I believe that the house was either in or near the Muang District across the Chao Phraya River from me. I have seen a number of Naja kaouthia within hundreds of meters/not more than 1km from my home. Unfortunately, two days after I rescued the snake pictured, some workers killed a different one in the same area, while I was off shopping for live foods in Bangkok.

Yes, I can imagine missing it here. I am never planning on leaving.

>>What province do you live in? I use to live in Thailand and really miss the country.

All I got to say is,I can't wait to go to Thailand...cobras in your own backyard,how sweet is that?