Do you know that Indonesia is a house for approximately 450 species of snakes? That’s a lot! Some of them are venomous and dangerous while some others are non venomous snakes. Just like other wild animals, snakes usually try to escape from their predators by attacking and biting them.
Most snakes are nocturnal, means they can only be found at night in the dark. As a result sometimes people who are walking barefoot cannot avoid stepping on the snake, then they get bitten.
One thing to note is not all snakes in Indonesia are venomous. People tend to think that all snakes are venomous, but they are not. By reading this, all of you are expected to be aware of the venomous snakes exist in Indonesia.
- King Cobra
There are two species of cobra: the King Cobra and the Black Spitting Cobra. The King Cobra usually resides on the paddles while the Black Spitting Cobra usually nests in semi-urban areas.
Both of them are aggressive once they get disturbed. You can easily notice cobras when they rise and spread their hood. The colors of this species of snake range from black to brown to olive.
The Black Spitting Cobra sometimes is seen in Jakarta and it aims at ejecting its spray of venom right to the enemy’s eyes. That’s why Black Spitting Cobra is considered as one of the dangerous animals in Indonesia. Once the eyes are getting the venom, it will cause temporary blindness.
However, it can be removed by rinsing it with sterile water. The neurotoxic bite of both the King Cobra and the Black Spitting Cobra are able to cause pain and swelling along with muscles weakness and even respiratory paralysis.
- Malayan Pit Viper and Green Pit Viper
Both of these species of snakes are commonly found around Jakarta. Each of them has distinctive head shape, stocky body and the length can be up to 80 cm.
Each of these species has the ability to jump high with a great force while attacking its enemy. Certain species of viper is also one of the wild animals that only lives in amazon.
The Malayan Pit has reddish brown color with triangular markings on its sides. It usually rattles with his tail as a warning before attacking its enemy. On the contrary, the Green Pit has bright green color with a distinct red tail.
Both of these vipers are nocturnal, so they can be found mostly at night. Find out more about nocturnal animals and get to know their characteristics.
To avoid them, then you need to avoid rocky and field areas especially at night. The hemotoxic bite of these vipers is able to cause pain, swelling, bleeding and even damage in the body tissues.
- Coral Snake
This species is a rare burrowing snake. Its body only reaches about 50 cm in length. It is easily noticed by its slim and black body, with the line down its length with yellow markings on the small and flat head.
The belly is black and white checkered. There’s an orange tip on its tail, looks like chili peppers or “cabe” in bahasa Indonesia. That’s why it is called “Ular Cabe” in bahasa Indonesia.
Coral snakes do not tend to bite as they are shy. However, once they bite, they will eject a neurotoxic venom.
- Banded Krait
The Banded Krait snakes have black with yellow bands all over their body. The length of their body can reach up to 2 meters. They are often found in or near paddles and bamboo groves as well. Do not ever try to disturb them as they will jerk and attempt to hide their head in the coils of their body.
They are characterized by their small head, shyness and reluctance to bite. Despite this fact, it doesn’t mean that they won’t bite! They are also able to bite and their neurotoxic bite will cause a little swelling, and even loss of coordination and respiratory paralysis.
- Blue Temple Viper
Blue Temple Viper is a tree snake that is able to give hemotoxic bite and is very dangerous. Once affected, the victim may get immobilized and a stretch bandage should be applied.
He or she should be transferred to the hospital as soon as possible for investigating the signs of invenemation. Don’t decide to use antivenom unless there are some signs of invenemation because most of the snake bites do not inject significant amount of venom during the bite.
Distinguishing venomous and non venomous can be done easily. Take a look at these things to observe when differentiating a venomous snake.