Green Mamba

Dendroaspis angusticeps

Geographical Locale

• Found in forest areas round the coast of the Eastern Cape in South Africa as well as Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi.

Appearance

• Two enlarged venom fangs fixed to the front of the mouth.
• Solid teeth in both jaws.
• Green mambas are the smallest of the species reaching an average of 5' in length.
• Glossy green in colour with a lighter bright greenish-yellow belly.
• Green mambas are thin, elegant snakes with a very distinctive head and long thin tail.
• They have small eyes, smooth scales and a long rectangular head.
• Often confused with the Boomslang (Dispholidus typus).

Venom

• Highly poisonous. Highly neurotoxic – (damaging to nerve tissue) - and potentially fatal.

The Bite

• Little or no swelling at the bite wound.
• Wound will show two puncture marks.

Lifecycle

• Green Mamba is oviparous (egg laying).
• Female lays between 6 and 18 eggs in the summer usually in rotting vegetation.
• Hatchlings are poisonous from birth and up to 18 inches long.

Habits

• Green mambas are mainly arboreal, (live in trees), but also known to inhabit bamboo thickets, mango groves and coastal shrubland.
• Shy, non-aggressive and only likely to attack if provoked or cornered.
• Diet consists mainly of birds, bird eggs and small mammals.
• Green mambas are active during the day, (diurnal), but seldom seen on the ground unless after their prey or basking in the sun.