Blue Coral Snake

The Blue Coral Snake is among the most visually striking elapids in Southeast Asia, with a glossy blue-black body set off by a bright red head, neck, and tail. It is also notable for possessing unusually elongated venom glands that extend well into the body.

Despite its beauty, it is a highly venomous and secretive snake that is rarely encountered, spending much of its time hidden in leaf litter and burrows in tropical forest.

• Deep blue to blue-black body, often with pale blue lateral stripes running the length of the body
• Bright red head and red underside of the tail, contrasting sharply with the dark body
• Smooth, glossy scales and a cylindrical, moderately slender body
• Small head barely distinct from the neck, with round pupils
• Unmistakable coloration separates it from all sympatric species

Inhabits lowland and hill tropical rainforest across the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, parts of Thailand, and the Philippines, often found under leaf litter, logs, or burrowed into soft soil.

Highly secretive and fossorial in habits, rarely seen above ground except at night or after rain. Feeds primarily on other snakes and elongated reptiles. Its venom acts rapidly on the nervous system, but bites to humans are extremely rare due to its reclusive nature.