Red Spitting Cobra

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Red Spitting Cobra
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes Family: Elapidae Genus: Naja Species: N. pallida
Binomial name
Naja pallida Boulenger, 1896
Synonyms
Naja mossambica pallida Boulenger, 1896 Naja nigricollis pallida Boulenger, 1896

The Red Spitting Cobra (Naja pallida), is a species of spitting cobras native to Africa. They can spit venom up to 2m through tiny apertures in the fangs. They can grow from 70 to 120 cm (2½-4 ft) in length and can vary in colour from red to gray. The juveniles are easily recognised by having a dark black throat band.They are oviparous, laying up to 15 eggs in a burrow or in rotting vegetation. They are common in northeast Africa, (Nile valley, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia). They eat a wide range of vertebrates including frogs. It is a terrestrial snake, and nocturnal. The venom can cause a lot of pain but rarely death.

This species was formerly considered to be a subspecies, Naja mossambica pallida, of Naja mossambica, but is now categorized as a separate species [1].

Juvenile N. pallida: note the black throat band, in contrast to adult coloration.

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Red Spitting Cobra