Himalayan White-headed Snake
As the name suggests, the Himalayan White-headed Snake has a white head, which makes it impressive. This snake often appears in roadside, gravel fields, rice fields, haystacks, grass next to cultivated fields, and occasionally appears in residential areas.
The total length of the Himalayan bald snake is 600~800mm. Venomous snakes with tube teeth have shorter and smaller tube teeth and no cheek pits. The back is dark brown, with 10 to 15 + 3 to 4 pairs of crimson horizontal spots, arranged in a weaving arrangement or meeting each other on the midline of the back; the ventral surface is olive gray, scattered with small white spots. The head and nape of the neck are light yellowish white with dark brown patterns. There are typical 9 large scales on the back of the head; 3 (2) preorbital scales, 2 postorbital scales; 2 + 3 (2) temporal scales; 6 upper labial scales, 2-1-3 pattern; 8 (7-9) lower labial scales. , cut the first 3 (4) pieces of the anterior jaw. The dorsal scales are smooth, 17-17-15 rows; the abdominal scales are 168-205, the anal scales are complete, and the lower tail scales are 39-53 pairs.
There is an important reason why academic circles believe that the white-headed viper is a relatively primitive snake species. The white-headed viper has a strong physique and a short tail. It also has smooth dorsal scales and keel, which is consistent with ordinary vipers. Their heads are slightly flat and oval. The most special thing is that the heads are not closely covered with fragmentary scales. Instead, they have large scales of the same size like snakes in the Colubridae and Cobraidae families. This is common. The Viper is different. Similarly, the skull structure of the white-headed viper is also unique compared to other vipers. In addition, the teeth of the Himalayan white-headed snake are hollow teeth and can also inject venom, but the fangs of the white-headed viper are short. The top part of their fangs is ridge-shaped, like a short knife, and this tooth structure is only seen in the family Viperidae and some snakes with posterior groove tooth structures, and the white-headed viper penetrates the venom sac of the toxin The size is small relative to the earth. Finally, the biggest difference between the white-headed viper and ordinary vipers is that the white-headed viper is an egg-laying snake species and can hibernate.
Their body is mainly composed of dark and bright dark blue, gray or black with fine white and orange stripes. However, the color of their heads is in obvious contrast with their bodies, and is generally pale yellow with gray horizontal stripes. Their eyes are all pale yellow, and their pupils are linear.
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