Naja mossambica pallida Boulenger, 1896 Naja nigricollis pallida Boulenger, 1896

The Red Spitting Cobra (Naja pallida), is a species of spitting cobra native to Africa. This species was formerly considered to be a subspecies, Naja mossambica pallida, of Naja mossambica, but is now categorized as a separate species [1]. This species is one of the seven spitting cobra in Africa. Spitting cobras do not spit their venom. Instead, they spray their venom to their enemies as, if the venom gets into the eyes, it can cause intense pain and temporary or even permanent blindness.

This is a relatively a small-sized cobra, with maximum length of 120 cm (4 ft) and smaller sized specimen of about 60 cm (2 ft) to 75 cm (2 ft 6 in). Body color of this species has great variation from red, deep orange, pale red, pinkish and light brown. It should be noted that Red Spitting Cobras found in Northern Africa have duller color while others are much brighter. There is a black band on the underside of the neck. Like most other spitting cobra, the hood of the Red Spitting Cobra is narrow compared with the Indian Cobra and the Cape Cobra. It also has a small round head and a pair of rather large eyes.

The Red Spitting Cobra is mainly found in Eastern Africa, including Kenya and Sudan. It primarily inhabits dry savanna and semi-desert area. It is quite common to be found in oasis in desert where it hunts.

Adults are more commonly found at night while juveniles are active both during day and night. This is a terrestrial, fast and alert snake. When threatened, it rears up and displays a typical cobra hood. It also hisses loudly. If the intruder does not retreat, it may sprays jets of venom to the face of the intruder. Venom gets into the eyes can cause burning pain and blindness. Even so, this snake seldom bites and causes human death, as this species rarely encounter people due to its habitat and this species is not aggressive.

This species has a wide range of prey, including small mammals, lizards, snakes, birds and eggs.

This species, like most spitting cobra, contains a mixture of neurotixic and cytotoxic. Bite symptoms include slight pain around the wound and numbness of lips and tongue. Though rarely causes human death, urgent medical care is required if someone is bitten by this species.

The Red Spitting Cobra is oviparous. The female will lay around 5 to 15 eggs.