Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was surfing around and I came across the show Orangutan Island on Animal Planet again. In this episode the Orangutan's were confronted by a snake swimming across their habitat. The announcer on the program identified the snake as a deadly Coral snake, however, it was black with a red head and the last 4-5inches of its tail was red also. When the Orangutan's scared the snake it rolled over and played dead. It had an all red belly as well in this pick.

Has anyone seen this episode? Is this a real coral snake? Or, if nt, is this snake venomous? Can you please ID this snake either way...

Thanks alot!

Alan

Yes, that is indeed a coral snake, it's known as a Malayan Long-Glanded Coral Snake(Maticora bivirgata flaviceps), and are from Malaysia, Thailand, and western Indonesia.
They are unique in that the venom gland is not confined to the temporal area, but runs back about a third of the snakes length.

There are also two additional subspecies native to Borneo, and Indonesia. A second species(Maticora intestinalis) along with seven other subspecies range throughout Southeastern Asia.

It is indeed a highly toxic snake!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"