Cobra Facts
Cobra Facts
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Cobras are large and diverse group of venomous snakes. There are 270 different types of cobras. They live in tropical areas of Africa, Asia and Australia, usually in forests and areas near river. Largest cobra, King Cobra, is on the list of endangered species because of the habitat loss.
| Interesting Cobra Facts: |
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| Smallest species of cobra, Mozambique spitting cobra, is 4 feet long. Largest species is King Cobra. It weighs around 13 pounds and has 18 feet in length. |
| They can be green, brown, dark brown in color. |
| Cobra is famous for its hood, which is a flap of skin that can be spread when snake feels angry or threatened. Hood can scare predators and chase them away. |
| Snake charmers in Burma use cobras to entertain audience. Cobra respond well to visual stimulus and can be "trained" to show hood when it rise from the bag. Snake charmers remove venomous teeth to prevent bites. This tradition is illegal and inhumane for snakes. |
| Cobras produce large amount of venom. With just one bite, cobra can kill large elephant or 10-15 adult humans. Venomous fangs have half an inch in length. |
| Spitting cobras can spit their venom with incredible accuracy. They can align with predator's head and deliver venom right into eyes. |
| Antidote (substance that can reverse effect of the venom) is made of the same venom that induces intoxication. |
| Cobras eat lizards, frogs, birds, mammals, fish and other snakes. |
| They have excellent night vision and sense of smell, which they use to detect prey. Sense of smell is located on the tongue. |
| Their metabolism is very slow, so they need to eat every couple of months. |
| Like other snakes, they swallow their prey whole. |
| Group of cobras is called "quiver". |
| Cobras are the only snakes that show at least some sort of parental behavior. They build nest for their eggs and guard them until they hatch. |
| Females lay between 20-40 eggs. Incubation time (time until they hatch) lasts between 60-80 days. |
| Cobras live 20 years in the wild. They might live longer in captivity. |
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