Genus · Homalopsidae
Ferania
The genus Ferania contains a single species. It is not considered dangerous to humans.
About Asian water snakes
Ferania is a small genus of stout, aquatic mud snakes from South Asia, part of the rear-fanged Homalopsidae family.
Ferania belongs to Homalopsidae, the Indo-Australian water snakes and mud snakes. This is a family of roughly fifty species of mostly aquatic, rear-fanged snakes built for life in fresh water, brackish estuaries, and mangrove mud. The genus contains very few species, with Siebold's Water Snake (Ferania sieboldii) as its best-known member, a snake of South Asian rivers, ponds, marshes, and rice paddies across the Indian subcontinent. Within the family it sits among the freshwater mud snakes rather than the marine and mangrove-specialist lineages.
Like other homalopsids, Ferania carries the family's adaptations for an aquatic ambush life. Members are heavy-bodied and modest in size, with small eyes and nostrils set high on the snout so the snake can lie nearly submerged while breathing and watching for prey. The diet runs to fish and amphibians, hunted in the shallow, vegetated, often muddy waters these snakes favor. Homalopsids are typically nocturnal or crepuscular and spend most of their time in or very close to water. Like most of the family, they are live-bearing rather than egg-laying, giving birth to fully formed young.
Ferania is rear-fanged and mildly venomous, a trait shared across Homalopsidae. The enlarged grooved teeth sit at the back of the upper jaw and deliver a weak venom used to subdue small cold-blooded prey. These snakes are not considered dangerous to people, and there are no records of medically significant envenomation from this family. Even so, no wild snake should be picked up or handled, and a rear-fanged bite can still cause local irritation. If a bite occurs and symptoms develop, do not try to treat it yourself. Contact US Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or your local emergency services.
Ferania belongs to the Homalopsidae family (Mud & water snakes). Aquatic, mud-dwelling snakes with upward-facing eyes and nostrils. Stout, often drab snakes with upturned nostrils, found in or near muddy water.
Danger: Rear-fanged with mild venom; not considered dangerous to humans.
All species (1)
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