Bungarus andamanensis / Andaman Krait

[Sameer Ghodke]

Locality-South Andaman Islands, India. Jun-2004.
Endemic to Andaman Islands.
Venomous, Nocturnal, mainly feeds on other snakes.
Grows up to 1.3m
Nikon F80 with 60 macro & ring flash.
ISO-100

[Murugan Anantharaman]

Lovely image of the banded krait Sameer. Nocturnal as you have pointed out, hunts at night. I have heard that during the day even if stepped on it, doesnt strike. One of the most venomous snakes of India. Thanks for sharing.

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice to see this species. The head area seems to be in focus. What was the aperture? Thanks for sharing.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Nice image of the deadly snake.All the features have been distinctly captured in the photograph. Black eyes with round pupils can not be visible in the image, so we will continue to miss them.
The only difference I find with the Common Krait (Bangarus caeruleus) [which is common in West Bengal praticularly near the rivers and swamps] is that the Common Krait has thin paired white bands while Bungarus andamanensis has slightly thicker single white/yellowish=white bands.
Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

Murugan Bhai,
Banded Krait (Bungarus faciatus), highly venomous, is also quite common here, but it is very shy,timid and slow. It has a thick body(triangular cross-section) with broad yellow and black bands. During rains, I have seen them at distance of three or four feet.
In contrast Common Krait has stealth character and it enters the house during night, even enters the bed through any gap in the mosquito net and bites when some body parts fall on it inadvertantly while the person is asleep. In villages near the Sundarbans, bites from Common Krait is quite common.
Kind regards,
SaktiWild

[Murugan Anantharaman]

Thanks for the detailed information Saktipadaji.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Interesting to know that this feeds on other snakes. I was under the impression that only King Cobra feeds on other snakes.

During my childhood days I have seen banded krait entering our house during the rains. Normally we used to go out after switching off the lights. Once when we came back it was near our cot by the side of the mat. If someone would have got down from the cot, then the first thing would have been the feet falling on or close to the banded krait and got bitten. I have killed many snakes during those days, without trying to throw them out of the house. A common Krait had fallen on my mom's head when she was trying to close the door, but it didn't bite.

The difference between a banded krait and common krait is that in the banded krait the head is distinct. Where as in the common krait, one won't find the constriction between the body and head. The banded krait also has a cylindrical tapering tail which is longer.

[Sameer Ghodke]

Thanx Mrudul, aperture was 22 & 60 shutter speed.

[Sameer Ghodke]

Thanx for the comments to all.