Black Headed Cat Snake

The black headed cat snake, sometimes called the red cat snake, occurs in lowland to mid-level rainforest. The body colouration is highly variable and they occur in many colour forms including brown, orange, red, greenish and greyish black. However, the top of all their heads have dark tones that range from greenish black to yellowish brown, distinct from the body colouration (except for melanistic specimens). They are adept at hunting and feeding on a wide variety of prey, including birds, lizards, frogs, rodents and other snakes including those of their own kind.

Neonates are brown without any dark colouration on the head. They also possess vertebral spots which fade as they mature into adulthood. Their irises are yellowish brown but this also fades to grey over a long period of time in adulthood. Males are larger than females, which lay between 3-5 eggs per clutch that hatch in around 4 months. This beautiful snake occurs widely in Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Borneo.