Equatorial spitting cobra

Adults in Singapore are plain black to bluish-black, with smooth, glossy scales. The body is thick, the tail is short and the head is rounded, only slightly wider than the neck.

When threatened it lifts the front of its body off the ground and spreads a wide hood. There is no pattern on the back of the hood. Young cobras often have pale and dark bars across the throat. In other parts of its range, such as southern Thailand, northern Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra, adults can be brown or yellowish instead of black.

This cobra copes well with people. It lives along forest edges, in scrub and grassland, and in parks and gardens. It also turns up in leafy suburbs, at the edges of mangroves and sometimes in high-density housing estates.

When resting it picks hidden spots such as holes in the ground, gaps behind garden walls, cavities beside drains and piles of garden clutter.

Rats and mice make up a large part of its diet, along with frogs and toads such as the Asian toad. It also takes lizards, other snakes and small mammals. In October 2021 one about 1 m long was watched at Berlayer Creek in the late morning, slowly swallowing an Oriental house rat beside the boardwalk while passers-by stopped to look.

Some books describe this species as nocturnal, but in Singapore it is active almost entirely by day.

It is not considered aggressive. Its usual response to people is to slide away into long grass or a drain. If cornered, it rears up, spreads its hood and hisses loudly. If the threat continues, it can spit a thin spray of venom from its fangs, aimed at the eyes of whatever is bothering it.

The equatorial spitting cobra lays eggs. Records from Malaysia give clutches of about 6 to 23 eggs, which take around 70 to 90 days to hatch. The young are independent from the start and are already venomous.

Yes. Its venom attacks the nerves and damages tissue, and a bite can be fatal without hospital treatment. Venom sprayed into the eyes causes severe pain and inflammation and can cause lasting eye damage. Bites are uncommon because the snake avoids contact whenever it can.