Viaan Thoutam, a third grader who loves reading, writing, and learning about animals, is making his book series. This is his 2nd book published. This is a book about snakes, and Viaan wishes to continue writing books. 

Viaan - "I like this book, and I hope you want it too."  

                      Table Of Contents

What Makes a Snake A Reptile…………………………4

What Do Snakes Prey On, And What Eat Snakes……6

Facts About Cobras…………………………………………8

Facts About Pythons…………………………………10

Facts About Garter Snakes…………………………12

Facts About Boa Constrictors…………………….14

Facts About Vipers……………………………………………………………16

Facts About Anacondas……………………………………………..18

Facts About Sea Snakes…………………………………………….20

Facts About Rattlesnakes………………………………………22

Facts About Different Elapid Snakes……………………..24

Facts About Different Colubrid Snakes…………………………..26

Glossary………………………………………………………………………….28

           What Makes A Snake A Reptile?

The characteristics that make all snakes reptiles are that they are all vertebrates, and they are all cold-blooded, which means that their body temperature matches their surroundings. A Vertebrate is an animal that has a spine or backbone. Most snakes lay eggs, but some don’t. If an animal doesn’t lay eggs, then that animal is considered viviparous, which means that they give live birth instead of laying eggs. Snakes smell with their tongues. 

An eastern garter snake is lying down on a rock.

What do snakes prey on, and what eats snakes?

Snakes prey on animals like frogs, birds, lizards, insects, rats, squirrels, mice, rabbits, and other snakes. Animals like foxes, coyotes, raccoons, mongooses, hedgehogs, secretary birds, bobcats, eagles, hawks, owls, honey badgers, other snakes like the king snake and king cobra, giant salamanders, catfish, roadrunners, vultures, wolverines, monitor lizards, bullfrogs, and the Scottish Terrier are all animals that eat snakes. A fun fact about snakes is that their scientific names are called, “Serpentes.”

A hawk is tearing apart this garter snake with its beak.

                  Facts About Cobras

Cobras are a really interesting species of snakes. Cobras have a special hood that they lift when they feel threatened. Cobras can shoot venom out of their fangs and usually aim for the eyes, which makes the animal blind, so the cobra then eats its prey. A cobra’s only predator is a mongoose. A mongoose's reflexes are so fast that even the cobra can’t resist it. The mongoose can resist the cobra’s venom, which gives the mongoose a huge advantage. Even elephants know to stay well away from cobras.

A cobra with it’s hood up.

                            Facts About Pythons

Pythons are really big snakes, and also really interesting snakes. Pythons are ambush hunters that can locate warm-blooded animals like mammals and birds by using heat-sensing “pits” or holes along their jaws. Pythons swallow their prey whole, and they chew their prey 1-3 times. In captivity, these snakes can live up to 20-30 years old, but in the wild, they can live up to 40 years old. Pythons are nonvenomous snakes, though they are constrictors. Pythons live in rainforests, and places in Asia like India, Africa, and Oceania.

A python is curled up in a tree branch.

                      Facts About Garter Snakes

Garter snakes are nonvenomous snakes, but in the early 2000s, scientists revealed that garter snakes have a neurotoxic venom, so garter snakes don’t kill or injure humans that badly, since they have a mild venom. Garter snakes are considered helpful snakes because they eat annoying insects and other pests like rats and mice, and garter snakes will call your backyard home if it has the perfect conditions for the garter snake to live in. Some people keep garter snakes as pets.

A garter snake sitting on a pile of tweaks.

                    Facts About Boa Constrictors 

Boa constrictors are nonvenomous, which means that they don’t have venom, but they are constrictors, which means that they squeeze their prey to death. The more you breathe, the more powerful the pain of the squeezing becomes. They usually eat large lizards, opossums, mongooses, squirrels, small or moderate-sized birds, rats, mice, and bats. Hawks and bigger snakes eat pythons. A very large spider can kill and eat the juvenile boa, and sometimes jaguars and caiman will eat boas.

A boa constrictor searches the area for food.

                         Facts About Vipers

Vipers are snakes that are venomous and are dangerous in North America. Animals like birds of prey, mongooses, herons, and storks eat vipers. Humans are also a threat to vipers. They eat centipedes, insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. Vipers are nocturnal. Some vipers lay eggs, and others are viviparous. These snakes have a bit of a reputation for being a viper. The most famous and most dangerous type of viper is called the Pit Viper.

A yellow banana viper is sitting on a tree.

                        Facts About Anacondas

Anacondas are one of the biggest and heaviest snakes in the world. The green anaconda is the biggest snake in the world. Anacondas are nonvenomous, but like boas and pythons, they are constrictors. They eat fish, caiman and other reptiles, amphibians, deer, sheep, rodents, mammals, and any animal that comes near the home of an anaconda. Crab-eating foxes, tegu lizards, crested Caracaras caimans, and larger anacondas, eat anacondas.

A green anaconda is slithering on the surface of the water.