whats the diff?

[snake_girl]

I don't now alot about Venomous snakes but if I'm going to be like the Croc hunter :p I need to get knowing :)

so for my first question, what is the differences between the green Mamba and the other??? more venom?? less?? please enlighten me :P

thanks Grace

[Chris @ C.H.S.]

Hi Snake Girl, I'm going to assume you would like to know the difference within the genus Dendroaspis. Hmmm... welp, here we go. Uh, Mambas are members of the Elapidae family, the same as Cobras, Kraits, N.A. Coral snakes etc. and are natives of Africa. They are proteroglyphous {fixed front fangs} and oviparous {egg layers}. There are currently 4 species of Dendroaspis "recoginized". 1} Dendroaspis polylepis, 2}Dendroaspis viridis, 3} Dendroaspis angusticeps and 4}Dendroaspis jamesoni. Dendroaspis polylepis antinori is a slightly smaller "version", and sub species of the Black Mamba occuring in Somalia, Ethiopia and northern parts of Kenya. There are also 2 races of "Jameson's" Mamba, but I can't think of the latin sub specific name of the second. Sorry. Anyway there are some very notable differences between these guys such as the terrestrial habits of the Black Mamba vs. the aboreal habits of the others. There is also a difference in the adult size. Black Mambas can achieve adult lenghts of 12 ft.! The more aboreal "others" usually max out at approx. 7, maybe 8ft. as adults. Colour is another obvious differencee as the nominate form has received it's common name from the "blackish/ dark grey" appearence while the "others" are usually some shade{s} of green. In regards to the actual venom composition from one species to the other there are some differences and I suppose that the nominate form, the Black Mamba, could be considered as the "more toxic" but there are many differrent variables which should be taken into consideration when one is trying to determine such a rank. These are very fast and agile snakes {all forms} and are exceedingly dangerous in that most are quite bold in there attitude and will confront the source of annoyance quickly, if escape is not readily possible. There are also some "insignificant" captive differences that I could offer but the relavance of such info is not of importance. Anyway, I hope this helps!

Chris@C.H.S.

[Yve]

Also, black mamba's have no black on thier scales, they vary in colours that are grey,brown or olive. The inside of their mouth is black.

[snake_girl]

thank you for clear that up for me :P