Genus · Xenodermidae
Xenodermus
The genus Xenodermus contains a single species. It is not considered dangerous to humans.
About Javan tubercle snake
A bizarre, knobby-skinned burrowing snake of Southeast Asian wetlands that feeds almost entirely on frogs.
Xenodermus is a small genus in the family Xenodermidae, the odd-scaled snakes, and it is best known from a single recognized species, the Javan tubercle snake (Xenodermus javanicus). The genus name and its common names point to the feature that sets it apart: skin and scales that look nothing like a typical snake. Three rows of enlarged, raised tubercular scales run down the back, separated by patches of much smaller granular scales, giving the body a ridged, almost reptile-meets-crocodile texture. This loose, knobby skin is the hallmark of the wider odd-scaled snake family, and Xenodermus shows it in an especially striking form.
The Javan tubercle snake ranges across parts of Southeast Asia, including Java, Sumatra, Borneo, the Malay Peninsula, Thailand, and Myanmar. It is a creature of wet, low-lying ground: rice paddies, swampy forest edges, marshes, and the muddy margins of slow water. It is largely nocturnal and semi-fossorial, spending much of its time hidden in soft mud, leaf litter, or burrows and emerging at night, often after rain. Its slender body, narrow head, and large protruding eyes fit a life spent hunting in dim, damp conditions. Members of the family in general are slim, secretive forest and wetland snakes, so the tubercle snake sits comfortably within that pattern.
Xenodermus is non-venomous and harmless to people. It has no venom apparatus and poses no medical threat, relying on grabbing and constriction-style restraint rather than a bite that matters to humans. Its diet is dominated by frogs and frog eggs, with tadpoles also taken, making it a specialist amphibian-eater of the wetlands it lives in. It lays small clutches of eggs, typically just a few, which is consistent with its small body size. Although it is not dangerous, it is a delicate wild animal best left undisturbed. As a general rule with any wild snake, if a person is ever bitten and there is uncertainty about the species, treat it as a medical situation and contact US Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or local emergency services.
Xenodermus belongs to the Xenodermidae family (Odd-scaled snakes). Forest snakes with strange, knob-like scales. Distinctive bumpy, irregular scalation unlike the smooth or evenly keeled scales of most snakes.
Danger: Harmless.
All species (1)
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