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Red Headed Krait – Bungarus flaviceps – Deadly

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Deadly and Beautiful, the red-headed krait is one of the rare and very venomous elapids living in Thailand's rainforests. This is a closeup photo at 3 a.m. as we found one in Trang, Thailand.
Deadly and Beautiful, the red-headed krait is one of the rare and very venomous elapids living in Thailand’s rainforests. ©2011 ThailandSnakes.com.

(Last updated: 20 February 2017)

Red Headed Krait (Bungarus flaviceps)

Thais say: Ngoo sam lee-um hoo-uh si dang

Length: These kraits grow to about 2 meters long, though most adults found are shorter.

Appearance: Somewhat pronounced vertebral ridge, which differentiates from the Malayan Blue Coral Snake (Calliophis bivurgata). Body is black or dark grey, the head and tail are bright red or orange. The tail on the venter is also the same color. The rest of the venter is creme to white colored. The head is more distinct from the neck than C. bivirgata. Dorsal scale count: 13-13-13.

Range: In Thailand the Red-headed Krait is only found in the southern Thailand provinces from Ratchaburi and southward. Across the globe they are most heavily concentrated in Malaysia, Borneo, and a couple other places. Recently I found a large 1.9 meter specimen in rainforest in the Trang province. I have also found them in Surat Thani, and Krabi provinces.

Habitat: Lowlands and hilly rainforest type habitat. The last four of these snakes I saw were all found at less than 200 meters elevation.

Active Time? Probably active both at night and day. Three of four of these snakes in our local area were found during the daylight.

Food: Some say the red headed kraits eat more frogs, lizards, eggs, and rodents than other snakes. Probably they are opportunistic and eat whatever presents itself.

Defensive Behavior: Of the four snakes examined – none struck out, none attempted to bite at all. Note – all but one was handled during daylight hours.

Venom Toxicity: Venomous, and deadly. The venom has been shown to have an LD50 subcutaneous measurement of .35 mg/kg for Bungarus flaviceps, while Bungarus candidus (Malayan Krait) was .32 mg/kg, and Bungarus fasciatus (Banded Krait), .62 mg/kg and less than that in another study. This makes it one of the top venomous snakes on the planet and within the top three most venomous in Thailand. The black mamba is listed at the same .32 mg/kg by venom researcher, Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry at his site. (well, now he pulled down his chart). Only 10 other terrestrial snakes in the world were listed with more potent venom. Little is known of the this venom’s effect on humans after a bite, though it is likely very similar to a bite from Bungarus candidus, I could find no treatment studies due to bites being quite rare by this krait species.

From the abstract of a recent (2/2010) venom study in Malaysia: Bungarus flaviceps (red-headed krait) venom presents an intravenous LD50 of 0.32 μg/g and exhibits enzymatic activities similar to other Bungarus toxins. ELISA cross-reactions between anti-Bungarus flaviceps and a variety of elapid and viperid venoms were observed in the current study. Double-sandwich ELISA was highly specific, since anti- B. flaviceps serum did not cross-react with any tested venom, indicating that this assay can be used for species diagnosis in B. flaviceps bites. In the indirect ELISA, anti- B. flaviceps serum cross-reacted moderately with three different Bungarus venoms (9-18%) and Notechis scutatus venom, but minimally with other elapid and viperid toxins. The results indicated that B. flaviceps venom shares common epitopes with other Bungarus species as well as with N. scutatus. The lethality of the B. flaviceps venom was neutralized effectively by antiserum prepared against B. candidus and B. flaviceps toxins and a commercial bivalent elapid antivenom prepared against B. multicinctus and Naja naja atra venoms, but was not neutralized by commercial antivenoms prepared against Thai cobra, king cobra and banded krait. These data also suggested that the major lethal toxins of B. flaviceps venom are similar to those found in B. multicinctus and B. candidus venoms.

Treatment Summary: Envenomation can produce moderate to severe flaccid paralysis, and respiratory failure requiring intubation and ventilation in severe cases. Antivenom available for major species (detailed below), could potentially prevent worsening of paralysis, but may not reverse established paralysis.

Key Diagnostic Features: Minimal to mild local reaction + flaccid paralysis

Antivenom Code: SAsTRC04
Antivenom Name: Banded Krait Antivenin
Manufacturer: Science Division, Thai Red Cross Society
Phone: +66-2-252-0161 (up to 0164)
Address: Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute, 1871 Rama IV Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Country: Thailand

Offspring: Two clutches from two adult female red-headed kraits were studied by Chulalongkorn University scientists in Bangkok. One clutch was four eggs, and the other, six eggs. After 81-84 days in incubation at 26-27C and the other clutch at 30-32C eggs hatched. Less eggs hatched at the higher temperature incubation. Average hatchling length was 28.9cm +/- .8cm measured from snout to vent. Weight of each was 7.2 to 7.8 grams. Humidity in the incubation enclosures was 60-70%. After 7-10 days all snakes had shed.

Notes: I have seen four of these kraits, and they are quite incredible to find in the wild considering how rare they are. Bungarus flaviceps has not been studied very well, and I suspect that most of the information on Wikipedia and other information sources has been generalized from other Thailand kraits like the Blue Krait (Bungarus candidus) and Many Banded Krait (Bungarus multicinctus) because the wording seems too similar to be by chance. There are a number of Malayan Blue Coral snakes mis-identified on Youtube videos, and on Wikipedia.

These snakes have not been studied well in captivity or in the wild, except for the previously mentioned study in which the kraits lived surprisingly long. Usually the literature shows the red-headed krait dies quickly in captivity. These kraits are not known to bite during daytime, but, be exceptionally careful when handling them.

Substrate: Best? Leaves and something large to hide under – wood is best, rocks, something solid.

Ways to differentiate Bungarus flaviceps from the Malayan Blue Coral Snake (Calliophis bivirgatus):

1. B. flaviceps has a triangle cross-section, while C. bivirgatus has more of a round cross-section.
2. C. bivirgatus has a venter that is all red – orange. B. flaviceps has red under the head and tail only.
3. B. flaviceps reaches about 2 meters while B. bivirgatus grows to just 1.7 meters.
4. B. bivirgatus has lateral lines on both sides of the body toward the venter, which are solid light blue or white.
5. By studying some video one can see how their crawling pattern differs.
6. B. flaviceps has a more sizable head, a wider head, and larger mouth than the coral snake.

7/25/13 Update. At 11:30 pm in a Thailand National Park in Trang Province, a friend and I found a large 1.9+ meter long Bungarus flaviceps on the trail and photographed and shot video of it. Video #1 is of this snake. The photos on this page are all of the same snake. As with all snakes found, it was released in the same spot as where it was found.

Red-headed Krait Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Genus: Bungarus
Species: Bungarus flaviceps

Binomial name: Bungarus flaviceps

Classified by Reinhardt, in year, 1843

Photos of Bungarus flaviceps

Tailing the red-headed krait, Trang Province, Thailand.
Tailing the red-headed krait around 2 a.m. in the middle of the rainforest, Trang Province, Thailand.
Red-headed krait peaking underneath the tail.
After a krait stops trying to get away, you will be lucky to get a little peak before it covers its head. ©2011 ThailandSnakes.com.
The red tail is unmistakably krait. The high-vertebral ridge is one of the differentiators between this snake and the similar in color, Blue Malayan Coral Snake.
The tail is unmistakably krait. The high-vertebral ridge is one of the differentiators between this snake and the similar in color, Blue Malayan Coral Snake. ©2011 ThailandSnakes.com.

Video – Large Red-Headed Krait caught in Trang Province, Southern Thailand:

Video – Red Headed Krait – Bungarus flaviceps caught in Southern Thailand:

Part 2 of Red Headed Krait Video:

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Thailand Snake Journal

Thailand Snake Journal – 3 Deadly Kraits

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As I mentioned in the snake journal post previous to this one I got a call to come and see some kraits at my friend’s place. I just returned from there and he had a number of snakes that I shot video of including the Ridley’s Racer, Mangrove Snake, Red-Tailed Racer, and the Yellow Banded Kraits.

Apparently he knows a guy in another Thailand province that is able to get snakes on a regular basis. Probably the guy catches them for people that call to have dangerous snakes taken away from their homes. Here in Krabi we don’t have many of the ngoo sam leeum (Bungaris fasciatus), Banded Kraits for some reason. I’ve yet to see this yellow – black snake dead on the road in three years – so that tells me they are rather rare. One of my friends works at a snake show and he also goes out to villagers homes when they call to have a snake removed. He said he has never seen the yellow-black banded krait before. He has been in Krabi for three years.

The banded krait is not nearly as deadly as it’s sister, the Malayan Krait – the black and white variety. It’s damn toxic, but you probably are not going to die from a bite from this snake as long as you are treated at a hospital quickly when your breathing stops, which it almost inevitably does.

There is little pain at the bite site with toxic krait bites that result in envenomation. The venom starts working on the nerves of the muscles first. If you’re interested in exactly how someone dies from a bite from a krait you should get the book, “The Snake Charmer”. Joe Slowinski details the effects of a bite he took from a many banded krait in Burma while on a herping field trip (expedition). The many banded krait was a 10″ baby that bit him for about 10 seconds one witness stated. That’s a long bite. The venom of that krait was ranked third in toxicity for all terrestrial snakes in the world. The inland taipan and the brown snake of Australia were first and second in strength of venom.

So I was able to touch the tail and back of the banded kraits today. The kraits have a triangle cross sectional shape to their bodies. Hence the reason Thais call them lee-um – which means triangle in Thai. These banded kraits have the most pronounced triangle shape to them, versus the Malayan Blue Krait (black – white kraits) or the Red Headed Krait.

Bungaris fasciatus are rather shy during the daylight hours, and not at their peak form. I was in the cage with 3 of them and walked toward them and they shuddered. I think you’ll see it on the video. They shake strongly – perhaps to tell you they are there – and warning you not to step on them. When there eyes were uncovered they did it in response to me raising my hands above them. Then, when both heads were buried under their bodies they did it when I walked close on the gravel next to them. The floor of the cage is concrete and transferred the vibration well.

My friend picked up the kraits a couple of times and though one of them appeared aggravated, and I thought it would bite him, it did not try. They do tend to jerk in a spasm though – even when held by the tail and dangling – probably to show their discomfort at being handled.

I’d love to get some close up video of the inside of the kraits mouth and rear-fangs if possible. It will probably take a while before he’s comfortable to do that. These snakes are very powerful. When they move you can tell – they are strong and have lots of energy when they want to. They are primarily snake eaters, and eat venomous as well as non-venomous snakes.

The maximum size yellow banded kraits get here in Thailand is about 1.6 meters. All three of the specimens I saw today were just less than that in size, and yet still very impressive.

If you are in southern Thailand and you’ve never seen a banded krait close-up and personal before maybe I can get you a private audience with one. Zap me an email. If too many people write, I won’t be able to help anyone, but if only 1-2 of you, then yes, that’s doable.