by The Asian Vine snake belongs to a genus known as Ahaetulla. It is a small genus of arboreal colubrids commonly referred to as Asian vine snakes or whip snakes. They are mildly ᴠᴇɴᴏᴍᴏᴜs and opisthoglyphous, meaning they have enlarged teeth located in the rear of the upper jaw (also known as rear-fanged).
Unlike the fangs of other ᴠᴇɴᴏᴍᴏᴜs snakes, vine snake fangs are not hollow, but grooved. This allows ᴠᴇɴᴏᴍ to flow down the teeth from their ᴠᴇɴᴏᴍ glands and into their ᴘʀᴇʏ. ᴠᴇɴᴏᴍ is chewed in, so to speak.
This extensively distributed Ahaetulla species can be found across several nations across East Asia to Indo-China. This snake is easily recognizable by its elongated head and slender green or yellow-brown-colored body. This snake’s snout is also substantially shorter than that of its nearest relative, the geen vine snake (Ahaetulla nasuta).
Asian vine snakes are arboreal and spend most of their life in trees. They move easily and quickly among the branches as if floating in the crown of trees. These snakes are active during the day and prefer to spend time on their own ambushing their ᴘʀᴇʏ. If ᴛʜʀᴇᴀᴛᴇɴᴇᴅ they take a S-shape position and puff up their neck defensively. Although ᴠᴇɴᴏᴍᴏᴜs they are not considered to be ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs to humans.
Lizards are the primary ᴘʀᴇʏ of these snakes. In the wild, the Asian vine snake diet comprises small birds and animals. Asian vine snakes ʜᴜɴᴛ by moving through trees and their earthy colors help them in camouflaging well. Their tongue flicking behavior is quieter than that of other species, with their tongue jutting out gently without a forked flair. When they detect ᴘʀᴇʏ, they apt for a stealthy behavior and pursue it until the appropriate moment to ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋ, generally targeting the neck. Their diet can also include rodents in ᴄᴀᴘᴛɪᴠɪᴛʏ.
These Asian snakes are ovoviviparous, meaning that their eggs grow within the mother’s body. The mother gives birth when the eggs hatch. They have around seven to 10 babies at a time, and the babies are around 9.5 in (24.13 cm) long.
As per the IUCN’s Red List, their conservation status is Least Concern. This species is quite tolerant to habitat change, particularly that induced by human activities since it can ᴇxɪsᴛ in a range of environments.
