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Xenodermus javanicus
Basic stats
Venom
Non-venomous
Diet
Frogs, fish
Habitat
Streams, marshes, ricefield margins
Range
Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Peninsular Malaysia
Clutch size
Poorly documented, thought to be a small number of eggs
Incubation period
Poorly documented
Size
Small-medium (up to 75cm)
Weight
~50–150g
A strikingly unusual snake with three rows of enormously enlarged, keeled dorsal scales running down the back, giving it a rough, dragon-like silhouette quite unlike any other Bornean snake. Placed in its own distinct family, only distantly related to the true colubrid snakes it superficially resembles.
Secretive and semi-aquatic, sheltering by day in burrows or under debris near streams, marshes and ricefield margins, and emerging at night to hunt frogs and fish. Rarely encountered and considered a genuine highlight for any visiting herpetologist.
