15 Species of Keelback and Bronzeback Snakes in India

Keelback and Bronzeback are common name of snakes found in water and tress. Here is the list of known species of keelback or Water Snake found in India along with Tree Snakes, known as Bronzeback Tree Snake found in and around Western Ghats.

Checkered Keelback

Checkered keelback also called as Indian water snake, A very common species of water snake found in India and Asia. It is a non-venomous snake but always mimicking a cobra and known by many names such as dendu saap, dhoriya saanp.

Olive keelback Water Snake

Olive keelback water snake is also a common and harmless water snake species found occurs in peninsular India and South Asia. The split keelback feeds mainly on frogs, tadpoles, fish and crabs and very common around Bangalore, Kakinada and Arcot of south India.

Rainbow Water Snake

Rainbow water snake is a mildly venomous snake distributed in number of countries of across south-east Asia. It is also called as mud snake and a most common species that found in paddy fields.

Buff striped Keelback

Buff striped keelback is a small species of nonvenomous snake, closely related to water snakes and grass snake found across Asia. It is the sole species of genus Amphiesma and a nonaggressive snake that mostly feeds on frogs and toads, a very common snake during the monsoon season in India.

Green Keelback

Green keelback or Indian grass snake is a non venomous snake found in the forests of peninsular India and Sri Lanka. The lead green keelback especially found on the hills of India and raise the head like a cobra.

Dog-faced Water Snake

Dog-faced water snake mostly distributed in mangroves of India, also found in all coasts states on mainland Indian cities, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Sundarbans freshwater swamp forest and Sundarbans mangrove forest.

Cat-eyed Water Snake

The cat-eyed water snake species is endemic to Asia and only species of the genus Gerarda. Indian glossy marsh snake feeds exclusively on crabs and also known known as Gerard’s water snake.

Siebold’s Water Snake

Siebold’s water snake is a mildly venomous species found in India, Bangladesh and Malaysia. This small aquatic snake has pattern similar to a python and a rear-fanged snake from the family of Homalopsidae.

Crab-eating Water Snake

The Crab-eating Water Snake is also a common resident of mangrove forest and swamp, known by white-bellied mangrove snake. Fordonia leucobalia aquatic snake eats small prey like fish, frog and specializes in prey upon crabs.

Giri’s bronzeback Tree Snake

Dendrelaphis girii also known as Giri’s bronzeback tree snake, A species of diurnal and arboreal snake found only in the Western Ghats of South India. A species of Dendrelaphis commonly called bronzeback tree snakes and named after Varad Giri.

Ashok’s Bronzeback Tree Snake

Ashok’s Bronzeback is also a species of Dendrelaphis named in honor of Ashok Captain. The diurnal and arboreal tree snake species is endemic to Southern Western Ghats.

Southern Bronzeback Tree Snake

Dendrelaphis chairecaeos or Karnataka bronzeback is a long slender snake that feeds on geckos, birds, lizards and frogs. This harmless snake has ability to camouflaged among the leaves and found in southern India to Sri Lanka.

Large-eyed Bronzeback Tree Snake

Large-eyed bronzeback species is endemic to the Western Ghats of India, known for extremely large eye and long length. The forest-dwelling diurnal and arboreal snake always found across tree branches to hunt small lizards, frogs and small birds.

Travancore Bronze-brown Snake

Travancore Bronze-brown snake also called Boulenger’s bronzeback is also a diurnal and arboreal species of snake that found in trees and bushes. It has very long and thin tail of brown in color with white cross band, Dendrelaphis bifrenalis.

Wall’s Bronzeback

Wall’s bronzeback or Dendrelaphis cyanochloris species of snakes are found in Southeast Asia, In India from this species only occurs in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh as well as in Andaman Islands.

Andaman Green Bronzeback

Dendrelaphis andamanensis or Andaman green bronzeback is endemic species of snake that only found in Andaman. The Andaman green bronzeback tree snake is a non venomous species and are a genus of colubrid snakes.

Painted Bronzeback

The painted bronzeback species of snake found in Southeast Asia and India. Dendrelaphis pictus is shorter than the other bronzeback tree snakes found in India and a adaptable species that found in a broad range of habitats.

More species of bronzeback snakes found in India are Andaman green bronzeback, Karnataka bronzeback and some of the common of colubrid snakes species named according to nature like Indian Gamma Snake,Indian Grass Snake,Indian Egg Eating Snake,India Snail Eater Snake, Travancore Wolf Snake,Wallace’s Striped Snake,Indian Banded Racer and Indian Cat Eye Snake.