Banded Water Cobra (Boulengirina annulata ssp.)

Taxonomical note:

This species is recognized in two species and one subspecies:

1. Banded Water Cobra (Boulengirina annulata annulata)
2. Storm’s Water Cobra (Boulengirina annulata stormsi)
3. Congo Water Cobra (Boulengirina christy) This species were first described by Boulenger and placed in a genus named Limnonaja

 Lenght:

Boulengirina annulata annulata; This is the largest species and can measure a length of 180 – 220 cm but specimens are known to grow up to 280 cm.

Boulengirina annulata stormsi; This species has a average length of 120 – 150 cm with a max. of 200 cm.

Boulengirina christy; Supposedly does this snake not grow very large with a average length of 70 – 130 cm. 

Zoological Descriptions:  

Boulengirina annulata annulata; The banded water cobra is a big heavy-bodied snake, the head is broad and looks fluffy. The eye is dark coloured with a round pupil. The tail is long and can measure about 25% o the total length. The scales of this snake are smooth and shiny. The colour can be quite variable but is mostly yellowish-brown, orange-brown, or greyish. With dark cross bands starting from the neck till the tail tip. These darker bandings may fade out and stay as dark patches over the body. Some specimens have a shiny black tail. The head scales are sometimes edged with black. The ventral side is mostly creamy coloured but some specimens have bright orange ventral scales.

Boulengirina annulata stormsi; The storm’s Water cobra looks totally different from the Banded Water Cobra in colour this snake is mostly yellowish-grey from colour and about sometimes shows a bluish gloss. The tail of this subspecies is much longer than the tail of the Banded Water Cobra and mostly shiny black. They only have two and sometimes three distinct black bands in the neck. The ventral side is mostly pale cream or yellowish-white from colour.

Boulengirina christy; The body of this snake is cylindrical with a broad head. As for the other species is the tail of this species also quite long. The base colour is brown with speckles, with three to six fine yellowish coloured cross-bands in the neck and the front part of the3 body. The shin and neck are cream or yellowish-white. The ventral side is brown. Adults can change colour and turn almost black.

 Scalation Boulengirina annulata annulata:

-          Dorsal scales on the midbody 21(23)

-          Ventrals 210-223

-          Subcaudals 54-66

-          Subcaudals are paired

-          Analscale is entire

-          Upper labials 7

-          Upper labials entering the eye 3(4) 

-          Preoculairs 1

-          Postoclurairs 2 

-          Lower labials  9(8)

 Scalation Boulengirina annulata stormsi:

-          Dorsal scales on the midbody 21

-          Ventrals 210-223

-          Subcaudals 65-74

-          Subcaudals are paired

-          Analscale is entire

-          Upper labials 6(7)

-          Upper labials entering the eye 3(4) 

-          Preoculairs 1

-          Postoclurairs 2 

-          Lower labials  9(8)

Scalation Boulengirina christy:

-          Dorsal scales on the midbody 17

-          Ventrals 195-207

-          Subcaudals 57- 70

-          Subcaudals are paired

-          Analscale is entire

-          Upper labials 7

-          Upper labials entering the eye 2 

-          Preoculairs 1

-          Postoclurairs 2 

-          Lower labials  8(9)

Geographic range:

Boulengirina annulata annulata;.The banded water cobra can be found in Central Africa . They are recorded in Zaire , Congo , Gabon , Rwanda , Burundi .

Boulengirina annulata stormsi; This subspecies is only known from the shores of Lake Tanganyika .

Boulengirina christy;.This species is only known from the lower Zaire River and inhabits there both banks, from Kinshasa-Brazzaville down to sea. Suspected is that this species maybe can be found to in Cabinda and the Zaire region of north-west Angola .

Habitat:

Boulengirina annulata annulata; This snake can be found near water and lives around lakes and rivers but can also be found in forests and well-wooded savannah.

Boulengirina annulata stormsi; This subspecies is also semi-aquatic and lives near the water along the shores of Lake Tanganyika .

Boulengirina christy; This subspecies is also semi-aquatic and lives near the water along the shores of the lower Zaire river.  

Captive Behaviour (only Boulengirina annulata annulata)  

The banded cobra is a active snake that needs a aqua-terrarium in which he can swim but also crawl on dry land. This species is not shy but very defensive. Often do they display their narrow hood and fly forward by any movement with closed mouth. When fed live fish they show a very interesting hunting behaviour in which they dive under water to catch the fish. In the early morning and late afternoon are the mostly found on land but in daytime they can be found in the water. They act diurnal in captivity and hide when it is dark. Juvenile specimens seem to live more on land than in the water and climb to.

Water cobras move very quick and can be very unpleasant to handle when handled by the tailing method do they climb back up to your hands over the hook or make spastic movements.  

Feeding:

Water cobras are officially fish and amphibian eaters but seem to grow very slowly on fish in captivity specimens fed with mice grow about 4 times as fast. When fed alive fish are they fierce and quick hunters that not often miss a chance. They hold on to the fish that quickly dies. When feeding mice can this better been done with prey killed or defrosted mice. Live mice are hunted down but don’t seem to die quickly under the venom of the water cobra which gives the mice the chance to bite the snake. Juvenile water cobras are easy to switch over to pinky mice by scenting the mice with a dead fish.  

Breeding:

Water cobras are egg layers but not much is known about their breeding behaviour.Nothing is known about breeding water cobras in captivity  

Enclosure:

As water cobras are active snakes do they need a large enclosure with a large part of the enclosure for water as this species is semi-aquatic. The average length of the enclosure for a adult water cobra must be 250 x 100 x 100 cm the part of water needs to be 25% of the total size of the enclosure. The enclosure can be decorated with trunks, rocks and artificial plants as hiding spot.

As I only keep juvenile water cobras (80 cm) do I keep them separate in enclosures that measure a size of 70 x 50 x 50 cm with a big water bowl that measures a size of 30 x 20 x 20 cm. As substrate I use fresh bark and river sand. The cage is decorated with rocks, and tree trunks which are used for climbing and hiding several artificial plants hang down from the sealing of the enclosure. The enclosure is heated by a 40 watt spotlight and brings the average temperature on 26⁰C (80F), the water temperature is kept on 24⁰C (75F) by using heat tape under the water bowl. The humidity level is very high and most of the time around 80%.  

Copyright©2002 Richard Mastenbroek

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This page is not build to stimulate people to keep venomous snakes. All Captive information given on this page is based on own experience.