How long do cobras get

First, the snakes size each other up, raising their heads as high as 4 feet off the ground. Then, they wrestle. Bodies intertwined, the snakes try to pin one another to the ground. There's no biting involved—these snakes are largely immune to their own venom.

When one of the participants is finally pinned, he leaves. In , an international scientific team sequenced the Ophiophagus genome [ PDF ], which revealed that the animal's venom glands can trace their evolutionary origins to the pancreatic system. While many true cobras are crepuscular, king cobras snakes are diurnal, meaning they're most active during daytime.

After sunset, they take shelter under logs, buttress roots, or termite mounds. Snakes, by human standards, are not model parents: 70 percent of snake species lay eggs, usually in a convenient hole or crevice, and many will abandon their clutches immediately. All rights reserved. Animals Photo Ark.

King cobra. King cobras are the longest of all venomous snakes. As they face a variety of threats stemming from human activities, these snakes are vulnerable to extinction. Common Name: King cobras. Scientific Name: Ophiophagus hannah. Type: Reptiles. Diet: Carnivore. Group Name: Quiver. Size: 13 feet. Weight: Up to 20 pounds. Size relative to a 6-ft man:. Least Concern Extinct. Current Population Trend: Decreasing. This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our photo community on Instagram.

Its range extends from southeast to southern Asia, including India, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Thailand where they are responsible for the greatest number of human fatalities resulting from snake envonmation , Nepal, Laos and Myanmar. Monocled cobras can inhabit a wide range of habitats, including grassland, forest, scrubland, and in or around human-inhabited areas. Often, they are found in agricultural zones such as rice paddies. Monocled cobras exhibit biogeographical variation between their venoms, and it has been documented that different toxicities exist between Malaysian, Thailand and Vietnam monocled cobras.

Malaysian specimens tend to have a greater number of neurotoxins compared to Thai and Vietnam monocled cobras, while the latter possess more cytotoxic venoms, which are predominantly myotoxic and cardiotoxic. Typically, they live in small rodent burrows and feed on small mammals, rodents, snakes and amphibians.

Captive monocled cobras can be maintained on rodents, both frozen and live. The Indian cobra Naja naja is one of the most dangerous cobra species in India, and is responsible for about 10, envenomations per year. Adult Indian cobras measure about 4 to 7 feet in length and feed primarily on rodents. The Indian cobra is the species typically used by snake charmers in India. In Hindu mythology, it is considered a powerful god, and it remains greatly respected and feared in Hindu culture.

At about 8 feet in length, the Egyptian cobra N. Egyptian cobras range across most of northern Africa, in the northern Saraha, through the savannahs of west Africa to the southern Sahara, south to the Congo basin and east to Kenya and Tanzania. Specimens may also be found in southern areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The species thrives in savannah and arid semi-desert regions of Africa where some water and vegetation is available.

The Egyptian cobra gained notoriety in the U. She was eventually discovered in the reptile house. The forest cobra N. It occurs mainly in western and central Africa, where it can be found from Senegal in the west to Angola, western Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda in the east.

It can also be found in some parts of south Africa. As its common name indicates, the forest cobra lives primarily in forest or woodlands, and it is the only cobra species found in such areas in Africa. Due to its ecological niche, humans do not often encounter forest cobras, and the species is one of the least frequent causes of snakebites in Africa it possesses a primarily neurotoxic venom.

It is primarily a diurnal species, and it exhibits some arboreal tendencies due to its natural habitat. The smallest species is the Mozambique spitting cobra, which is about 4 feet long 1.

King cobras, the longest of all venomous snakes, can reach 18 feet 5. According to Cobras by Sylvia A. Johnson Lerner, , cobras typically live in hot, tropical areas but are also found in savannahs, grasslands, forests and farming areas in Africa and Southern Asia.

They like to spend time underground, under rocks and in trees. Most cobras can stand as tall as a third of their body length. Cobras may hiss loudly at predators and other threats, and some species also spit. Cobras reproduce by laying eggs. Females typically lay 20 to 40 eggs at a time, which incubate between 60 and 80 days.

Wild boars and mongooses are known to steal cobra eggs. The mongoose is the best-known enemy of the cobra. According to Cobras.