Pit Vipers are so called for the pit organ on both sides of the head and they are venomous snakes.
Mangrove Pit Viper (Cryptelytrops purpureomaculatus) has colour ranging from all black to green with black pattern.
It is also known as Shore Pit Viper.
Wagler's Pit Viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri) has colour ranging from light green in juvenile to dark green with stripes in adult.
Blue Malayan Coral Snake (C. bivirgatus) is a highly venomous snake. It is rare and inhabits forested areas.
The other coral snake that can be found in Singapore is Banded Malayan Coral Snake (C. intestinalis).
Cobras are familiar snakes, but it is unusual to encounter them. They are well known for the hood that they can puff up when threatened.
They would typically have slithered off before one can spot them. They are highly poisonous. There are 2 species in Singapore.
Equatorial Spitting Cobra (Naja sumatrana) is so called because it is able to spit its venom when threatened.
Also know as the Black Spitting Cobra, this is the cobra one is more likely to encounter. It can be found in desolated areas.
Care must be taken when walking in such areas. It has a distinctive white pattern on the hood, which can be seen more clearly when puffed up.
It is typically all black and is much smaller than the King Cobra.
King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is so called because it feeds on other snakes and it is much larger than the other cobras.
It is typically brownish in colour. A large specimen is deadly to human.
Fortunately, it is found mainly in forested areas, although it can found in desolated areas on rare occasions.
These snakes are so called because they are so thin that they look like whips. There are 4 species in Singapore.
The species one is most likely to encounter is the Oriental Whip Snake (Ahaetulla prasina),
which is mildly venomous snake and bright green all overall. It inhabits wooded areas, including forests and parks.
It can only be mixed up with the Malayan Whip Snake (A. mycterizans) as they look alike.
The distinguishing feature is that the latter has much bigger eyes.
The Speckle-headed Whip Snake (A. fasciolata) has speckles all over the head, hence the name.
It has colour ranging from brownish to light greenish, but not the bright green of the Oriental and Malayan Whip Snakes.
Whip snakes are so called due to their thin body.
The Keel-bellied Whip Snake (Dryophiops rubescens) does not belong to the same genus as the rest.
These snakes are so called because their eyes look like cat eyes. There are 4 species in Singapore. Dog-toothed Cat Snake (B. cynodon) is mostly light brown with black bands all along the body. It is mildly venomous. Yellow-lipped Cat Snake (B. dendrophila), also known as Mangrove Snake, is a stunning black and yellow. It is mildly venomous, but is harmless to human. This is the cat snake one is most likely to encounter in Singapore. The other two are White-spotted Cat Snake (B. drapiezii) and Jasper Cat Snake (B. jaspidea).
There are 3 species in Singapore: Dwarf Reed Snake (Pseudorabdion longiceps), Variable Reed Snake (Calamaria lumbricoidea) and Pink-headed Reed Snake (C. schlegeli).
Flying Snakes (Genus Chrysopelea)
These snakes are so called because they can "fly" from tree to tree. In fact, they glide rather than fly.
There are 2 species in Singapore.
Twin-barred Tree Snake (C. pelias) is uncommon and easily identified by the red-black-white markings on its back.
Paradise Tree Snake (C. paradisi) is quite common in secondary forests, mangroves and even parks.
It is mildly venomous, but not dangerous to human. It has black and yellow scales.
Some have red dorsal colours making it a very beautiful snake. It is sometimes traded as pets.
Bronzebacks are distinguished by the bronze colour extending from the back of the head all the way down the back to the tail.
They are not dangerous to human and are less than 2 m in length.
There are 6 species in Singapore - Painted, Striped, Elegant, Blue, Red-necked and Haas'.
The Painted and Striped Bronzebacks are distinguished from the rest by having more than one
black stripe running down the whole length of the body.
Striped Bronzeback (D. caudolineatus), however, has even more stripes than the
Painted Bronzeback (D. pictus), with the black stripes even within the bronze back.
Red-necked Bronzeback (D. kopsteini) is distinguished from the rest by having a
red neck which is clearly visible when it puffs up.
Elegant Bronzeback (D. formosus) can be told apart from the Blue Bronzeback
(D. cyanochloris) by the three black strips near the tail.
Haas's Bronzeback (D. haasi) is distinguished from the rest by having a broken black stripe instead of a continuous one.
Red-tailed Racer (Gonyosoma oxycephalum) is a green snake with a black eye band and a red tail.
Other racers found in Singapore are Common Malayan Racer (Coelognathus flavolineatus) and
Copperhead Racer (C. radiatus)
There are three species of kukri snakes in Singapore - brown, striped and barred.
Brown Kukri Snake (O. purpurascens) has black stripes all along the body.
Striped Kukri Snake (O. octolineatus) has a dorsal red stripe and black side stripes.
Barred Kukri Snake (O. signatus) has red stripes on a dark body.
White-bellied Rat Snake (P. fusca) maintains a vertical posture when disturbed. It has a dark back and a white belly.
It is rare and inhabits forest streams.
The other rat snakes found in Singapore are Keeled Rat Snake (P. carinata) and Indochinese Rat Snake (P. korros).
Malayan Brown Snake (X. hexagonotus) is an uncommon snake. It prefers habitat close to water and are often seen in water.
It is brown above, white below and has black bands all along its body.
There are 7 species that can be found in Singapore.
Dog-faced and Puff-faced Water Snakes are common in inland habitats, e.g. Sungei Buloh.
They are mildly venomous but harmless to human.
Dog-faced Water Snake (Cerberus rynchops) is brownish-greyish above, pale below and has broken black bands across its body.
Puff-faced Water Snake (Homalopsis buccata) is brownish-greyish above and mottled-yellowish below.
In the juvenile, there are prominent black bands across the upperparts.
There are 4 species that can be found in Pasir Ris Park, namely Dog-faced, Gerard's, Crab-eating and Cantor's Water Snake.
Gerard's Water Snake (Gerarda prevostiana) is also known as Yellow-lipped Water Snake due to the yellow lip.
The newest edition is the Blackwater Mud Snake (Phytolopsis punctata) found in Nee Soon Swamp in 2014.
There are 5 species of snakes in Singapore called Keelbacks.
4 of them are from the genus Xenochrophis, while one of them is from genus Macropisthodon.
The Striped Keelback (X. vittatus) is an introduced species.
The rest - Blue-necked (M. rhodomelas), Southern Chequered (X. flavipunctatus),
Spotted (X. maculatus) and Triangle (X. trianguligerus) - are native.
