Eastern Green Mamba (Dendroaspis angusticeps)

Lenght: 

Eastern green mambas are the smallets specie of the mamba familie. The average lenght of a adult is mostly 180 cm, but specimens from 250 cm are know to. Males tend to be bigger than females.

Zoological description:

 Adult eastern Green Mambas are emerald green from above with sometimes a few scattered blue or yellow scales. The ventral side is mostly pale green or yellow/green. Hatchlings are yellowish green in colour till they reach a lenght of 70-80 cm in which they get there emerald color. Captive bred Western Green Mambas are often yellowish or olive green in color this is probably true a lack of UV light in there captive situation.The body is strong and slender the head is distinct from the neck. The eyes are big and green from color with a round pupil. The edges of the mouth are often yellowish from color.

Scalation:

-         Dorsal scales at midbody 19 (17-21)

-         Ventrals 201-232

-         Subcaudals 99-126

-         Subcaudals are Paired

-         Anal plate is Divided

-         Upper labials 7-9

-         Preoculairs 3

-         Postoculairs 3-5

-         Lower labials 9-11

-         Temporales 2+3 variable

Geographic range:

 Eastern Green Mambas can be found in Western South Afrika, Natal , Mossambique, eastern Zimbabwe and Tanzenia.

Habitat:

Eastern Green Mambas are arboreal but will search for food on the ground to when not enough food can be found in the trees. They occur in the ever green coastal forests. Green mambas are also often found agricultural ground like mango and tea plantations. Western Green Mambas are shy snakes and not as nervous as the Black mambas, and will rarely gape when threatened. When disturbed they always slide away in the leaves of the tree.

Captive Behaviour:

Eastern Green Mambas are pleasant animals to keep in captivity. They have a attractive colour which makes them a popular snake to keep. These snakes are mostly very calm and docile when not disturbed, but caution needs to be taken as they can be really unpredictable. Some specimens can be very friendly for years and one day they decide to take a run or a go at you. When kept in a large enclosure do they show a nice and active behaviour. Green mambas are always interested in new objects or movement which they will check out very carefully. They can be kept in groups with more males and females together but in the mating season will males fight which makes the females nervous. Handling these snakes can be done on various ways. I try to handle my Westerns as little as possible but when I need to I use a hook and tailing method. My animals are all used on this way of handling and will do fine. You can also use a snake tong for handling the animals when they are not as friendly as mine are or a lockable trapbox which gives the snakes no stress at all. When tailing them they can be a bit jumpy I have never seen a Western green mamba striking to me while tailing them but they always want to go away.

Feeding:

 In the wild does the diet consists of birds, frogs and small arboreal mammals. I feed my Greens mostly live mice or dwarf hamsters which I hag in a tub on a branch in their enclosure. When I feed chicks or rats I feed them dead. I offer them there food out of a long tweezer which they accept slowly.I feed my adult mambas twice a week on small prey items or once every 2 weeks on rats or chicks. Juveniles are fed twice a week to.

Breeding:

 Eastern Green Mambas are like all mambas Oviparous (egg layers). The clutch size is between 6-18 eggs. Males will have rival combats on the ground in which they show a sort of dancing with the meaning to press the other down on the floor. These male/male combats may take several hours. Mating always happens in the branches with the tails hanging down. The mating looks very gentle and can go on for 15-17 hours. After 97-104 days are the eggs layed in a egg laying box filled with moist sphagnum. The eggs are placed in a dry incubator on a temperature of 28-30⁰C and hatch after 85-88 days. The babies are 40 cm long when they hatch and molt for the first time after 9-11 days.

Enclosures: 

Eastern Green Mambas are big and active snakes that need a big enclosure to move around I keep my greens in a group of 2 males and 4 females they live in a enclosure with a size of 220 cm in length 180 cm high and 100 cm wide. The enclosure is decorated with various branches for the mambas to climb on. Many different artificial plants are used as hide places for the snakes. As substrate I use a mixture of coco peat, peat, and potting soil and bark. There is a 20 liter water tank in the enclosure. Heating is done with a 150 watt spotlight in the top and a small 60 watt spotlight on about 100 cm from the floor. The average temperature is around the 28⁰C with a 70% humidity. Juveniles are kept in plastic boxes on newspaper with a little branch and a shallow water dish.   

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