Oriental rat snake: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the Oriental rat snake lives – recorded in 7 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Ptyas mucosa
Group	Snakes
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	7 countries
Continents	Asia
Class	Reptile
Order	Squamata
Family	Colubridae

Where does the Oriental rat snake live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the Oriental rat snake in 7 countries and territories across Asia. Wikidata gives its range as: People's Republic of China.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the Oriental rat snake endangered?

The Oriental rat snake’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the Oriental rat snake?

The Oriental rat snake (Ptyas mucosa) is a reptile in the order Squamata and the family Colubridae, genus Ptyas. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the Oriental rat snake

Ptyas mucosa, commonly known as the Oriental rat snake, or Indian rat snake, is a common non-venomous species of colubrid snake found in parts of South and Southeast Asia. These are large snakes. Typical mature total length is around 1.5 to 1.95 m (4 ft 11 in to 6 ft 5 in) though some exceed 2 m (6 ft 7 in). The record length for this species was 3.7 m (12 ft 2 in), second only to their cousin Ptyas carinata among living colubrid snakes. Despite their large size, oriental ratsnakes are usually quite slender with even a specimen of 2 m (6 ft 7 in) commonly measuring 4 to 6 cm (1.6 to 2.4 in) only around in diameter. Furthermore, the average weight of ratsnakes caught in Java was around 877 to 940 g (1.933 to 2.072 lb), though larger males of over 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) (which average mildly larger of the two sexes in the species) may easily weigh over 2.5 kg (5.5 lb). Their color varies from pale browns in dry regions to nearly black in moist forest areas. Rat snakes are diurnal, semi-arboreal, non-venomous, and fast-moving. Rat snakes eat a variety of prey and are frequently found in urban areas where rodents thrive.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Oriental rat snake (revision 1343058925), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q2338867 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).