Fun Krait Facts For Kids

The family of Elapidae is a group of venomous snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of their mouths. Bungarus is a member of this family of venomous snakes and found mostly in South and Southeast Asia. The genus of Krait, Bungarus, consists of 12 different species of snakes in its name. The common among them are - Common Krait/Indian Krait (Bungarus caeruleus), Banded Krait (Bungarus fasciatus), Red-headed Krait (Bungarus flaviceps), Many-Banded Krait/Chinese Krait (Bungarus multicinctus), and Malayan Krait/Blue Krait (Bungarus candidus). Many-banded krait snakes are the most venomous snake along with the common krait among these species. The banded sea krait, also called the yellow-lipped sea krait, is a krait but of a different genus of Laticauda. The banded sea krait is often mistaken for a sea snake, but unlike the sea snakes, the banded sea krait hunts underwater but comes to the surface to digest, rest, and reproduce.

Read more about these snakes, and check out the banded sea krait and king rat snake.

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What type of animal is a Krait?

Kraits are a type of venomous snake of the genus Bungarus.

What class of animal does a Krait belong to?

These snakes belong to the class of Reptilia in the family Elapidae. Elapidae is a venomous species of snake.

How many Kraits are there in the world?

The exact number of the Kraits is unavailable as the snake has various different groups with their distribution all over Asia.

Where does a Krait live?

This species of snake is found in tropical Asia. Their distribution starts from Iran continues through the Indian subcontinent, including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and goes to Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Borneo. Some species have also been recorded in Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Vietnam, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, China, and the Philippines are other places where these nocturnal snakes are found. The Blue krait is found in Java and Bali in Indonesia. The common krait is found in India and Sri Lanka mostly.

What is a Krait's habitat?

The common Krait snake, also known as the Indian Krait, is found in agricultural fields and low scrub jungles, and also urban areas. They are usually found in termite mounds, brick piles, rat holes, and inside homes. These kraits prefer living near the water. The banded kraits are also found in agricultural lands and forests. Their wildlife resembles the common krait. The red-headed krait, the most beautiful ones, are found in rain forests in hilly areas. They usually do not live near human settlements. The many-banded krait, also known as the Chinese krait, is found usually in areas of elevation up to 1500 m. Humid lowland areas and subtropical, marshy regions are common areas where the many-banded krait is found. Other areas where the many banded kraits are found are shrublands, woodlands, fields, and mangroves. They are found adjacent to water bodies and also in urban areas. The banded sea krait is found mostly in Indo-Pacific waters.

Who do Kraits live with?

The Kraits are mostly nocturnal. Docile during the day, the snake becomes very active at night, although they are not aggressive. They usually hide their head within their coiled body and move their tail to confuse others. This species of snake likes to live in solitary and prey only on other snakes. So living in groups is not possible. These night creatures do not move from their areas much and are found in the same range throughout their lives.

How long does a Krait live?

Kraits are known to live around 10-17 years in total.

How do they reproduce?

Kraits are known to lay eggs. Mating is said to occur for the Many-banded krait in the months of August and September. A clutch of 12-14 eggs is laid at a time and the eggs are laid in leaf litter. Usually, the eggs take more than a month to hatch. The time of hatching is around May-June for the species. The yellow-lipped sea krait or the banded sea krait lays its eggs on the ground, with a clutch of 10. Kraits stay with the eggs until they hatch.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status has been kept at Least Concern at the moment. These night species are found extensively all over the continent of Asia. The common krait in India and the banded krait in Bangladesh and Thailand are the example of the excessive population of these snakes. Apart from India, the common krait is also found in Sri Lanka.

What do Kraits look like?

The bodies of the kraits exhibit different colors, changing from one habitat to another. The venom quantity differs too. Kraits are covered in smooth, glossy scales all over the body and have a striped pattern of black and a light-colored area. Scales on the backside of the body, around the tail are shaped hexagonal. The head is usually slender with respect to the body and the pupil in the eyes is round. Kraits are seen with dorsolateral flattening in their body.

The head of the banded sea krait is colored black, with an upper lip and snout yellow in color. The body is silver and black stripped. The tail is peculiar with paddle shape, helping them in swimming.

The Common Krait has a flat head, a cylindrical body, and a tapered tail. The males have longer bodies and long tails. The females have their length shorter with respect to the males. Black or bluish color is evident.

Many-banded krait has the same coloration as the common krait, but with larger nostrils.

Banded kraits have alternate black and yellow crossbands, with a broader head than others.

How cute are they?

Although these snakes look beautiful, they are dangerous to humans and can kill anyone if bitten.

How do they communicate?

Snakes usually communicate by leaving pheromones and also by hissing.

How big is a Krait?

On average, the length of a krait range from 39-59 in (1-1.5 m). The longest of the banded krait was measured at 88.5 in. Different species of kraits have different measurements of length.

How fast can a Krait move?

Kraits do not move much, so the speed of the species is unknown. However, if threatened, they can bite really quickly.

How much does a Krait weigh?

The weight of the species is unknown at the moment.

What are their male and female names of the species?

The male and female names are not different for the species.

What would you call a baby Krait?

Babies are usually known as hatchlings.

What do they eat?

Kraits prey primarily upon other snakes. Their victim includes even other snakes with venom. There have been cases where these species have shown cannibalism, feeding on kraits. Mice, small lizards, fish, frogs, skinks, and snake eggs are other items they feed on.

Are they poisonous?

Kraits are among the most venomous land snakes in the world. Their highly toxic neurotoxin venom can induce muscle paralysis in minutes. Along with muscle paralysis, a krait bite is also known to create severe abdominal cramps in humans due to the presence of muscarinic neurotoxins.

Bites from the common krait have an untreated mortality rate of 70-80% in humans. The common krait found in the Indian subcontinent and Bangladesh is a member of the 'big four' which is responsible for the maximum number of snake bites in the area.

Would they make a good pet?

These species are dangerous and are not meant to be kept as pets.

Did you know...

The venom in a common krait bite is enough to kill a human in 45 minutes.

Kraits are a part of a species of snakes.

Types of Krait

The Common krait, Blue krait, Northeastern hill krait, South Andaman Krait, Sri Lankan krait, Banded krait, Red-headed krait, Lesser black krait, Burmese krait, Many-banded krait, Black krait, and Sind krait are all part of the genus Bungarus.

Can Kraits climb?

They are capable of climbing trees in search of prey or hiding places.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other reptiles including the Carpet Python and Cottonmouth.

You can even occupy yourself at home by drawing one on our Krait coloring pages.