Common wolf snake

This is a small snake, usually 40 to 60 cm long. The body is dark brown to purplish brown, covered in fine pale speckles that form a loose net pattern. A broad pale band wraps around the neck like a collar.

The head is flat and slightly wider than the neck, with yellowish lips and small dark eyes. The belly is plain white or cream. The name comes from its enlarged front teeth, which look like a wolf's fangs. Lycodon means "wolf tooth".

The common wolf snake is native and widespread. It is one of the snakes most often seen in Singapore's built-up areas, and most records come from urban places. It turns up in houses, flats, other buildings (even a hospital) and gardens, as well as parks, forest edges and offshore islands such as Pulau Ubin and St John's Island.

It climbs well and can scale rough walls. That is how it reaches window ledges, ceilings and upper floors.

It was first reported here in a newspaper article in 1880. Before 1992, Singapore records called it Lycodon aulicus, a closely related species from South Asia. As early as 1964, naturalists described it as one of the most common snakes in Singapore. People have also carried it to other islands. On Christmas Island, its arrival has been linked to the loss of several native lizards.

Geckos are its main food, which explains why it follows them indoors. It also eats skinks. It grabs prey with its long front teeth, coils around it to hold it, and swallows it head first.

It is active at night and hides by day in cracks, under objects or behind furniture. It is usually slow and quiet, but it can move fast when disturbed and is quick to bite if threatened.

Females lay small clutches of about 3 to 11 eggs. Each egg is roughly 2 to 3 cm long. Hatchlings are about 15 cm long.

No. It has no venom. It is nervous, though, and will bite if picked up or cornered. A bite can be painful and cause minor swelling, which is why it sits at GIVE SPACE on the danger scale.