Twig snake
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| Twig Snake | ||||||||||||||
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Thelotornis capensis |
The Twig or Bird Snakes of the genus Thelotornis are a group of back-fanged colubrid snakes in the family Colubridae. All species have a slender and elongated profile, a long tail, narrow head and pointed snout. The eyes each species have horizontal pupils, shaped like keyholes, which gives Twig snakes binocular vision. Twig snakes are greyish-brown with faint light and dark markings. When threatened, Twig Snakes inflates their throat to display bold black markings between the scales.
The Twig Snake is one of the several back-fanged colubrids whose bite is highly venomous and potentially fatal. The Twig Snake's venom is Hemotoxic, and although the venom's effects are very slow, and bites are rare, there is no known antidote for a bite and several fatalities (such as Robert Mertens) have occurred.
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