30 Venomous and Non Poisonous Snakes Found in Kerala

Kerala native habitat consists of evergreen rainforests, coastal Kerala,mountains and highland deciduous forest. Many reptiles including various turtles, crocodiles and snakes are found in Kerala, such as tree snake, green snake, king cobra, viper and python.

Most Venomous Snakes

All the most venomous species of snakes found in India are found in tea and coffee plantations region of Kerala, including the big four.

King Cobra
Indian Cobra
Russel’s Viper
Krait Snake
Malabar Pit Viper
Hump Nosed Viper
Saw Scaled Viper
Bamboo Pit Viper
Horseshoe Pit Viper
Large Scaled Pit Viper
Sea Snake

Mildly Venomous Snakes

Due to the modified saliva or toxin delivery system, few snakes have been considered mildly venomous such as green vine snake and rare flying snake or gliding snake.

Vine Snake
Flying Snake
Wood Snake
Water Snake
Coral Snake
Mountain Snake

Non Poisonous Snakes

There are a large number of non venomous and non poisonous snakes found in Kerala, those are usually harmless to humans such as sand boa,python and rat snake. Few of the below list snakes are endemic to the Western Ghats of Kerala.

Sand Boa
Rock Python
Rat Snake
Cat Snake
Wolf Snake
Kukri Snake
Worm Snake
Earth Snake
Blind Snake
Forest Snake
Keelback Snake
Shieldtail Snake
Bronzeback Snake

List of reptiles found in Kerala are Saltwater crocodile,Mugger crocodile,Indian black turtle,Olive ridley sea turtle and Leatherback sea turtle. The evergreen rainforests of Kerala also home to many species of lizards such as forest lizard,Southern flying lizard, spiny lizard,Indian kangaroo lizard and Fan throated lizard as well as the only Indian Chameleons and various species of gecko lizards.