Many people cannot tell between a Common Cobra(Naja naja) from a King Cobra(Ophiophagus hannah). It may sound absurd to a few but from my experience the majority belong to the latter category. I have watched television anchors and news readers confidently make this mistake, newspapers whose editors care less to be corrected in spite of my efforts to explain and sadly the rest would rather believe these poorly researched mediums than a lamenting herpetologist! Hence this article to list the basic differences between the two snakes but does not delve into detailed taxonomic or behavioral differences.
SIZE
HOODS
COLOUR AND MARKING
SCALES
FOOD
REPRODUCTION
Summary and few more differences…
Common Cobra (Naja naja) | King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) | |
Size (length) | Usually grows up to 5.5 feet | In India they grow up to 15 feet |
Hood | Broad | Narrow |
Color and markings | Varies between light to dark shades of brown.Has a spectacle mark behind its hood. | Shades of black, brown and olive green.Has light yellow to cream coloured chevron shaped markings from head to tail |
Scales | Cuneate scale is presentNo occipital scales | Occipital scales are presentNo cuneate scale. |
Food | Frogs, lizards, birds, snakes and small mammals like rats and hare. They are opportunistic sometimes eating their own kind. | Eat only other snakes. E.g. Rat snakes(Ptyas mucosa), cobras(Naja naja), malabar pit vipers(Trimeresurus malabaricus). They occasionally feed on monitor lizards.They are cannibalistic. |
Reproduction | Lays eggs in holes and crevices | Builds a nest to lay eggs |
Genus | Naja meaning true cobra | Ophiophagus meaning ‘snake eating’. King cobras are monotypic, meaning only one type under this genus |
Venom toxicity (Neurotoxic) | Highly toxic but quantity is low. | Less toxic but quantity is high |
Venom quantity | 2cc | 7cc |
Habitat | Mainland India except the north-east. | Western Ghats, West Bengal, north-east, Orissa and parts of Eastern Ghats(AP) |
Feel free to share your thoughts and more differences which you think might help people in understanding these snakes better.
Authors: Sharmila & Gowri Shankar
Acknowledgements: Ashwini VM, Vivek Sharma, Avinash Bhagat, Vaibhav Patwardhan
Wonderful quick comparison, gives good basic information on identification. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you very much for this article. Its one of the frequently asked question even from expert’s side.
Short but effective article..good one gowri sir..the scale variation seems to be difficult to study in each snake..
Fantastic article gowri.
Thanks for sharing this sir .
Short and precise information to easily differentiate the two snakes. Thank you for sharing.
GOWRI
THIS IS A VERY GOOD EXPLANATION IN THE BASIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BOTH THE SNAKES
I AM SURE THIS WILL BENEFIT LOTS OF PEOPLE
IT WILL HAVE A GRATER REACH IF THESE FACTS ARE ACTUALLY PUBLISHED IN NEWS PAPERS
Really informative
Thanks fr such good info 🙂 🙂 🙂
Its awesome Gowri… hope people will understand the difference and respect them both! btw how is ARRS doing ??
Short and effective article thank u sir
Useful piece. Hope you included N.kouthia.next time. Same problem in the kouthia region also.
thank u so much for this information…!
[…] King Cobras & Common Cobras…..We beg to differ! […]
Thanks for this very illustrative and informative article. Am making a film on snake charmers … and they were expectedly misinforming us. This helped a lot.
Good to know that Chandrika. We are happy this article helped you. All the best.
Through some other articles on king cobra, it is claimed that the king cobra is also found in temperate regions of Uttrakhand and Himachal pradesh. Please Make comments…
That is right Abhishek they are found in these regions too
isnt the King Cobra supposed to be the most venomous? A common cobra is venemous no doubt but the King cobra is the king for a reason!
Check austin stevens video on handling the king cobra in kerala.
Dear Raghu,
There are many criteria to consider to determine which is most venomous and this post is based on scientific facts. In a 30 minute or 1 hour video it is difficult to state everything, so it requires discretion and further research instead of accepting everything stated as is.
Regards
Gowri
The “king” part of the name refers to the fact that it eats other snakes. Same reason why kingsnakes of the US (which eat other snakes but are nonvenomous) are called kingsnakes.
I have a doubt sir
I observed that the spectacle shape of Naja naja has many variations. May i know the reasons ?
Hello Dr.Sadasivaiah,
That is true. I have not really worked on the subject to answer your question though. I remember reading about it in a book titled, “400 questions answered about Snakes” by Dr.Vijayaraghavan. You could check in that or write to the author. http://cspt.in/books.php?t=8
Would appreciate if you can share your learning with us.
Regards,
Gowri
Nice and succinctly written article. Thanks.
Thank you. Glad you liked it.
good one, just last night we rescued one cobra the naja one and just to identify whether it is King Cobra or Cobra, so i got this article and analysed that it is naja one. We hereby maintaining a big landscape and there are 10-15 different snakes that are spotted every fortnight. Is there and first aid that we can keep here for immediate saving of life from snake bite. and one thing more, is cobra(naja) bite capable to give some one a life scare, if so how much do it we have to save someone after the incident…
I have taken some pictures of one snake which come on my farm, but i am confuse that which category snake it is king cobra or cobra.ok i would like to share my photos to you. Than contact me on my mail n my cell no. 07351299028.ok madam
Sure Sumit, please share the images on info@rainforestecology.com.
I think north east India is also one of the habitats of cobras because in Manipur one can find cobras.
This info is potentially life saving. Hats off to the authors!
Thank you Arnab
Very good article highlighting the differences from close-up look, for those who can’t dare to get that close !
Now eager to know …
1.if they always inject venom during a bite or is there any thing called “dry-bite”
2.if they always inject all their venom in a single bite or use them across multiple bites
3.if venom is replenished immediately or takes some days, after all the previously produced venom has been injected.
Once again, appreciate this nice article !
Good.
Have a suggestion/question. Are King Cobras cannibals – eat their own or not? If cannibalistic, they eat their own kind. You might want to re-write the “food” section.
Thank you for your comment. Yes King cobras are cannibalistic. This was already mentioned in the post.
Good post
How to identity occipital and cuneate scales
Good article
Excellent explanation, Thanks
Short but effective. …That’s better….
[…] the worlds longest venomous snake. This snake is unique from other cobras in a number of ways: it feeds on other snakes, has a narrower hood, and features different markings on its head. When aggravated, this snake can raise one-thirds of its body, however by large is of a placid […]
Fantastic Information which clears the difference between Kobra and King Kobra…..Thanks Mukesh
Sir I am so happy for your blog
Sir I need to your help for king cobra and commen cobra documentary video I have to explanation to some school and collage to help commen people and save snake I am a snake rescuer. .plzz sir help to me ready to presentation
Sure, Sujit. Please share your mobile no, I will call and discuss.
Why do people about 45000 die each year in india?
Summarised but Not complete sir even in the summary…some details r still yet to b furnished…..not complete tats wat I have to say…
Thank you for your comment, Vijesh. Please share what is that you think is missing, we’d be glad to edit if need be.
Love the website– very user pleasant and lots to see! http://bit.ly/2f0xJ92
There are some video that so the cobra change skin 4 times a year. During the skin change process he is nearly blind for some time.
YouTube video
That is true Waqar. The snake in the video is a king cobra and the process of shedding skin is called Ecdysis.
It’s an ossm article Nd will surely help a lots of people in gaining knowledge
Thanks Neha.
Woh! What a brilliant explanation nd research by you. It is so clearly defined. Thanks
Thank you.
[…] Cobras are not true cobras, instead belong to its own genus. Source: A snake blog A California Kingsnake […]
Great info . I was recently in Vietnam and was disgusted to see monocled cobras in snake wine .
Yes it is sad.
Useful summary and distinctive differentiation. Thanks a lot for your elaboration.
Thank you Hue Phan.
good summary, informative, pictures provided to better understanding. appreciate…
Thank you, Lim.