How to Identify the Indian Cobra (Identification Guide)

Key identifying features

The Indian cobra (Naja naja), also called the spectacled cobra, is most reliably identified by the distinctive double-circle or spectacle-shaped marking on the back of its hood, visible when the snake rears up and spreads its neck. Combined with its moderate size, broad rounded hood, and variable body color, this hood marking is the single best field character for this species across most of its range.

Coloration & pattern

Body color is highly variable, ranging from pale yellowish or gray to brown, olive, or nearly black, sometimes with faint banding especially in paler individuals. The most consistent marking is the hood pattern on the dorsal surface of the spread hood, typically two dark circular or oval spots connected by a curved band, resembling a pair of spectacles or eyeglasses, though this can vary in strength or occasionally be reduced. The underside is often pale with one or two dark crossbands near the throat.

Head, eyes & scales

The head is short and rounded, not sharply distinct from the neck when the hood is not spread. Eyes are medium-sized with round pupils. When alarmed, it raises the front of the body and spreads a broad, rounded hood formed by elongated ribs, larger and more circular in outline than the king cobra's narrower hood. Scales are smooth.

Size & body shape

Adults commonly measure 3.5 to 5.5 feet, with a moderately stout, muscular body. It is considerably smaller and stockier in hood shape than the king cobra, and shorter overall than many rat snakes it may be confused with when the hood is not displayed.

Range & habitat where you'll see it

The Indian cobra is widespread across the Indian subcontinent, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It inhabits a broad range of environments from forests and open plains to farmland, wetlands, and areas close to human settlements, often sheltering in rodent burrows, termite mounds, rock piles, or dense vegetation.

How to tell it apart from look-alikes

The monocled cobra, found further east, typically shows a single round "monocle" eye-shaped mark rather than the connected spectacle pattern, though some overlap and variation exists. The king cobra is much larger with a narrower hood and no spectacle marking. Non-venomous rat snakes lack any hood-forming ability altogether, so any snake seen flattening its neck into a broad hood with a spectacle pattern can be identified as this species with reasonable confidence in its native range.