How to tell the king cobra, the common cobra and the oriental rat snake apart
Many accidents happen because people can't tell these snakes apart.
The king cobra, the oriental rat snake and the common cobra are three snakes with many distinct features, yet unless you're an expert or a snake catcher, it's easy to mix them up.
The most dangerous mix-up is confusing the king cobra with the oriental rat snake (non-venomous but fairly aggressive). This article covers the basics to help you quickly identify these three snakes.
Note: the king cobra is a protected species in Vietnam. Hunting, keeping, trading or eating it is illegal.
Telling the king cobra (scientific name: Ophiophagus hannah) from the common cobra
Although the king cobra carries the name "cobra," it doesn't belong to the genus Naja (the true cobras). Instead, it is the sole member of the genus Ophiophagus. As a result, it differs in appearance from true cobras in many ways.
The first thing that stands out is length: the king cobra is the world's longest venomous snake, while cobras have much shorter bodies. If the snake spreads its hood, you can also check the color underneath the hood and the pattern on the back of the neck.
The king cobra has turmeric-yellow skin under its throat and, on the back, an inverted V-shaped pattern, whereas the throat of common cobras is not yellow and has no pale inverted V marking behind the neck.
The king cobra's head scales are very different from those of common cobras. (Photo: Thành Luân).
The scales on top of the king cobra's head are also quite unlike those of common cobras. You can tell them apart quickly by looking for the scales marked in red (photo above) on the king cobra — common cobras lack these two large scales.
The king cobra's eyes are also distinctive, with a clearly visible round pupil (like a human eye) that gives it a fierce look, while in common cobras the pupil is hard to see and the eye looks uniformly black.
Telling the king cobra from the oriental rat snake (scientific name: Ptyas mucosa)
The oriental rat snake and the king cobra. (Illustrative photo: Thành Luân).
What confuses many people is that the pattern (pale bands) running along the bodies of the two species looks very similar at first glance. Both are also impressively long, so length alone is not a reliable clue.
Their heads, however, are very different, so look at the head to identify them. The oriental rat snake's head is slender and very small, while the king cobra has a very large head with big scales. When moving, the king cobra also often raises its head instead of crawling flat along the ground like the rat snake.
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