Common Name: Elegant Bronzeback

Scientific Name: Dendrelaphis formosus

Size : up to 1.7 m

Native Region: Southeast Asia

The elegant bronzeback is a beautiful snake that possesses an iridescent lateral turquoise colouration that permeates the ventrolateral and ventral area. The back is brown and highly keeled with intermittent green dashes along the sides. The eyes are large and bulb-like with a black stripe that extends from the snout through the irises and then ends at the lower neck.

When agitated, the elegant bronzeback flares up its nape to reveal an array of blue scales on the neck and lateral region of the body. Elegant bronzebacks are a common species found in lowland to mid-level rainforest across Southeast Asia, from Thailand to Malaysia and Singapore to Borneo. They have a shy disposition with less of an inclination to bite when compared with other members of Dendrelaphis. They are known to take frogs and lizards in the wild.