The Monocled Cobra (Naja kaouthia) is a venomous snake, and a reptile. It has an O-shaped monocellate hood pattern, which is different from the spectacled pattern of the Indian Cobra.
The Monocled Cobra may be brown, yellow, grey, blackish, or albino, with or without banded markings. It becomes paler as it ages. It has a black spot on each side of its hooded head. It has a pair of fixed anterior (front) fangs.
Monocled Cobra (albino)
It measures 134-150 centimetres (53-59 inches) in length.
The Monocled Cobra is native to south Asia and south-east Asia, from Indian to China, throughout Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, and Nepal, and south to Vietnam and Cambodia.
It can live in a range of habitats, such as rice fields, swamps, and mangroves, as well as grasslands, shrublands, and forests.
The Monocled Cobra is terrestrial, and crepuscular (active at dusk).
It is oviparous. The female lays 16-33 eggs, which hatch after 55-73 days.
Monocled Cobra (albino)
Monocled Cobra (albino)
[Location of photographs: Tbilisi Zoo, Georgia]
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM