Common Cat Snake | Boiga trigonata (Schneider, 1802)

Common Cat Snake, Boiga trigonata, Indian Gamma Snake

Genus Boiga belongs to a group of rear-fanged (opisthoglyphous) and slightly venomous snakes which are commonly known as cat-eyed snakes or cat snakes.

The above genus comes under the family Colubridae. The species of said genus are endemic to Southeast Asia, Australia, and India, but on account of their hardy nature and adaptability, they have spread to other suitable habitats around the world. Currently there are about 35 species are documented under this genus.

Common Cat Snake | Boiga trigonata (Schneider, 1802)

List of species and subspecies that fall under the genus Boiga are:

1. Boiga andamanensis (Wall, 1909) – Andaman cat snake
2. Boiga angulata (W. Peters, 1861) – Leyte cat snake
3. Boiga barnesii (Günther, 1869) – Barnes' cat snake
4. Boiga beddomei (Wall, 1909) – Beddome's cat snake
5. Boiga bengkuluensis Orlov, Kudryavtzev, Ryabov & Shumakov, 2003
6. Boiga blandingii (Hallowell, 1844) – Blanding's tree snake
7. Boiga bourreti Tillack, Ziegler & Le Khac Quyet, 2004
8. Boiga ceylonensis (Günther, 1858) – Sri Lanka cat snake
9. Boiga cyanea (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854) – Green cat snake
10. Boiga cynodon (F. Boie, 1827) – Dog-toothed cat snake
11. Boiga dendrophila (F. Boie, 1827) – gold-ringed cat snake, mangrove snake
1. Boiga dendrophila annectens (Boulenger, 1896)
2. Boiga dendrophila dendrophila (F. Boie, 1827)
3. Boiga dendrophila divergens Taylor, 1922
4. Boiga dendrophila gemmicincta (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854)
5. Boiga dendrophila latifasciata (Boulenger, 1896)
6. Boiga dendrophila levitoni Gaulke, Demegillo & G. Vogel, 2005
7. Boiga dendrophila melanota (Boulenger, 1896)
8. Boiga dendrophila multicincta (Boulenger, 1896)
9. Boiga dendrophila occidentalis Brongersma, 1934
12. Boiga dightoni (Boulenger, 1894) – Pirmad cat snake
13. Boiga drapiezii (H. Boie in F. Boie, 1827) – White-spotted cat snake
14. Boiga flaviviridis G. Vogel & Ganesh, 2013
15. Boiga forsteni (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854) – Forsten's cat snake
16. Boiga gocool (Gray, 1835) – Arrowback tree snake
17. Boiga guangxiensis Wen, 1998
18. Boiga hoeseli  Ramadhan, Iskandar & Subasri, 2010
19. Boiga irregularis (Merrem, 1802) – Brown tree snake
20. Boiga jaspidea (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854) – Jasper cat snake
21. Boiga kraepelini (Stejneger, 1902) – Kelung cat snake
22. Boiga multifasciata (Blyth, 1861) – Many-banded cat snake
23. Boiga multomaculata (F. Boie, 1827) – Many-spotted cat snake
24. Boiga nigriceps (Günther, 1863) – black-headed cat snake
25. Boiga nuchalis (Günther, 1875) – Ashahar's cat snake
26. Boiga ochracea (Günther, 1868) – tawny cat snake
27. Boiga philippina (W. Peters, 1867) – Philippine cat snake
28. Boiga quincunciata (Wall, 1908)
29. Boiga saengsomi Nutphand, 1985 – Banded cat snake
30. Boiga schultzei Taylor, 1923 – Schultze's blunt-headed tree snake
31. Boiga siamensis (Nutphand, 1971) – Gray cat snake
32. Boiga tanahjampeana Orlov & Ryabov, 2002
33. Boiga trigonata (Schneider, 1802) – Indian gamma snake
1. Boiga trigonata trigonata (Schneider, 1802)
2. Boiga trigonata melanocephala (Annandale, 1904)
34. Boiga wallachi Das, 1998 – Nicobar cat snake
35. Boiga westermanni Reinhardt, 1863 – Indian egg-eating snake

Common Cat Snake | Boiga trigonata (Schneider, 1802)

Boiga trigonata commonly known as Common Cat Snake or Indian Gamma Snake is a species of family colubridae and is endemic to south Asia. It belongs to the group of rear-fanged colubrids. It resembles with venomous species of snake (Echis carinatus) in coloration and shape. In India, Both species of snakes share nearly identical geographic range.

Scientific Classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Boiga
Species:	trigonata
Binomial Name
Boiga trigonata (Schneider, 1802)

B. trigonata has its anterior palatine and mandibular teeth are larger than their posterior. “Cat snake” name come because of their pupils, which are vertical, like a cat’s pupils. Eyes of the species are as long as the distance from its nostril where the rostral is broader than deep having the internasals scales shorter than its prefrontal scales. However the frontal scales of the snake is longer than their gap from the end of the snout where shorter than the parietal scales. The loreals of this species are as long as they are deep, or, can be found deeper sometimes than they are long. B. trigonata has one preocular which do not expand to the upper surface of the head. It has two postoculars, temporals (2+3), 8 supra labials, with the 3-5 entering the eye and 4-5 infra labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are observed as long as the posterior.

The body of the species is laterally compressed having smooth dorsal scales in 21 rows, rarely 19, having apical pits, inclined obliquely. Vertebral are very feebly enlarged. On the ventral side the ventral scales are ranged from 229-269, having 79-92 sub caudal scales (divided). The snakes have a single anal scale. The total length of the species is recorded around 91 cm (3 feet) with a 7 inch tail.

The species has a pale grey colour or yellowish-olive along the back having white & black edged zigzag strip down the length of the head with two brown bands edged with black, diverging the body on posterior side. On the other hand the belly of snake is white in colour and has a series of small brown spots laterally.

Common Cat Snake | Boiga trigonata (Schneider, 1802)

Because of their widespread distribution, interactions of these snakes with humans are quite frequent. They successfully inhabited many areas close to human settlements. However they are mildly venomous but not dangerous though their bites are quite painful. Till date no human casualty has ever been reported from a bite from this snake.

The behavior of theses snakes varies from species to species. Majority of species are solitary, while some live in groups also. On the other hand some species are arboreal, while some are terrestrial. Although this precise behavior in these snakes may differ species to species, but they all spend their time looking for food or waiting for food to approach them.

It a nocturnal and evasive species and can live in variety of habitat within their range. These snakes can live in a range of habitats from gallery forest to sparse desert shrub land, rocky areas with sandy areas, in urban gardens, in deserts, fields, occasionally in grasslands or rural gardens. However do not prefer to live in colder regions.

These snakes are oviparous and most produce small clutches of eggs (3 and 15 eggs per clutch). While the incubation phase and precise breeding behaviors may vary between species. Juveniles are self-sufficient after hatching as they do not receive any maternal care.

As like most of the other colubrid snakes, the diet varies in this species depending on the food source; they can take variety of meal ranging from birds to rodents, small reptiles to frogs and eggs of different animals.

It is widely distributed around the world from Indian, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, southern Turkmenistan, southeastern Tajikistan, southern Uzbekistan and Iran.

This species is categorized under least concern category by IUCN. There is no serious threats observed to these snakes but some may depend on the species from region to region. Some suffer from habitat destruction and killings, while some have strong populations.

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By rbrausse, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26424363

By Sagar khunte - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70847088

By Srichakra Pranav - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71067189

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