How long can cobras get

Wild boars and mongooses are known to steal cobra eggs. The mongoose is the best-known enemy of the cobra. According to Cobras. Cobras are also threatened from other snakes and humans. Cobras are typically opportunistic hunters, chowing down on whatever prey comes their way. Often, they eat birds, small mammals, lizards, eggs, carrion and other snakes.

They slither through the wilderness silently, following their prey until they are ready to attack. According to the San Diego Zoo, most cobras hunt at dawn or dusk, though some species forage during the heat of the day. Like other snakes, cobras have a very slow metabolism that allows them to go for days or even months without feeding.

Fortunately, antivenin is available and sometimes lives can also be saved with the use of an artificial respirator. Symptoms from a neurotoxic cobra bite can include problems with vision, difficulty swallowing and speaking, skeletal muscle weakness, difficulty breathing, respiratory failure, vomiting, abdominal pain, necrosis, and anticoagulation.

According to the University of Michigan , human victims may stop breathing just 30 minutes after being bitten by a cobra. The monocle cobra also has patterns on the back of its hood, but with one circular "eyepiece," or "monocle," instead of two! Walk like an Egyptian. The Egyptian cobra is native to the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East and is one of the largest and most common cobras in Africa.

This cobra is responsible for many deaths. It is the largest of all the Naja species, with a maximum length of 9. The Egyptian cobra's venom is extremely toxic. Its bite can cause a quick death, and it is considered by many to be the serpent used by Cleopatra to commit suicide. Cobra home. These mighty snakes live in Africa and Asia, preferring savannas, open woodlands, plains, and rocky hillsides.

Eating out. At dawn and dusk, hungry cobras begin to move and look for a good spot to hunt for their meal. They can go for days or even months without eating, depending on how large their last meal was. The snake's slow metabolism makes this possible. A mouse, rat, ground squirrel, or rabbit are its main prey items, but cobras may also eat amphibians, birds, lizards, other snakes, and eggs. Cobras use their forked tongue to smell prey. The tongue moves in and out, picking up odor particles from the ground and passing them over a special smelling organ in the roof of the mouth, called the Jacobson's organ.

This helps the snake sniff out its next meal. The cobra, like other venomous snakes, is lightning fast when it strikes. But it has somewhat smaller fangs, so it may strike and chew rather than strike and release, or it may strike several times until the venom has done its job. Hooded hatchlings. A cobra female produces a clutch of eggs each year and usually stays nearby to guard her eggs until they hatch. Fact sheet Conservation Physical Description A full-grown king cobra is yellow, green, brown or black.

Size The king cobra's average size is 10 to 12 feet 3 to 3. Communication Its eyesight is better than most snakes'. At the Smithsonian's National Zoo, king cobras eat mice and rats. Reproduction and Development Breeding usually occurs from January through April. Sleep Habits These snakes are diurnal. Lifespan They can live about 20 years in the wild. King cobras are threatened by the destruction of their habitats and persecution by humans.

Help this Species Reduce, reuse and recycle — in that order! Cut back on single-use goods, and find creative ways to reuse products at the end of their life cycle. Choose recycling over trash when possible. During your travels, support, visit or volunteer with organizations that protect wildlife. Shop smart too! Avoid buying products made from animals, which could support poaching and the illegal wildlife trade.

If you see a snake in the wild, leave it alone and encourage others to do the same. Tell your friends and family about the eco-services that snakes provide, such as keeping rodent populations in check. More animals at Reptile Discovery Center. Science at Work Help This Species.

The basic elapid venom is neurotoxic, the better to stop ectothermic prey. The result is rapid paralysis. Research has shown that cobra nerve receptors are very similar to mammal receptors as in mice and humans , and the cobra would succumb to its own neurotoxin if it were not for one thing. The sugar molecule blocks the binding of the neurotoxin but does not interfere with the smaller transmitter molecule.

A courting male King Cobra will often stay with one female for a considerable length of time and, although he has nothing to do with the brood after breeding, it is known that a male will often breed with the same female years in succession. King Cobras are the only snakes known to make a nest. The female drags leaf-litter and small sticks into a pile, often 2 feet high and 6 feet across. She will lay 20 — 40 eggs depending on her size on the pile and then cover them.

She does not incubate the eggs, in the manner of pythons, but she will coil on the pile and guard them. Incubation is about days, aided by the heat of decomposition in the leaf litter. She will leave just before the eggs are to hatch — not so much a prediction of hatching, but an indication that the smell of eggs — and thus predator attraction — is no longer evident.