Wildlifeof India
Trinket Snake
Colubrid Snakes
Photo: (c) Ronith Urs, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY (May be cropped or resized)
Coelognathus helena
Basic stats
Diet
Rodents (mice, rats, squirrels), small snakes, geckos and frogs
Habitat
Forest from sea level to 2,500m; also around houses
Range
Sri Lanka, southern India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh
Size
Total length up to about 1.4m
The trinket snake is a non-venomous constricting snake of the family Colubridae. Adults may reach a total length of about 1.4 m, including a 25 cm tail. The back scales are in 23 to 27 rows at midbody, smooth or feebly keeled on the rear of the body. The young are pale brown with black crossbands each enclosing four to six white eye-like spots, and adults are darker brown with a series of squarish black spots (Wikipedia, general species account).
Its preferred habitat is forest from sea level to 2,500 m, but it is also found around houses. It preys on rodents (mice, rats, squirrels), small snakes, geckos and frogs. The type locality is Visakhapatnam, and the Reptile Database lists a very wide Indian range.
Quick answers
- What does the Trinket Snake eat?
- Rodents (mice, rats, squirrels), small snakes, geckos and frogs
- What habitat does the Trinket Snake live in?
- Forest from sea level to 2,500m; also around houses
- Where is the Trinket Snake found?
- Sri Lanka, southern India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh
- How big is the Trinket Snake?
- Total length up to about 1.4m