The elusive vibrantly colored Battersby’s green snake ranks as one of Kenya’s most common snakes. Despite its ubiquity, it’s not easily spotted. Its vibrant green color offers excellent camouflage among the foliage. Skilled hunters, this tree-living snake preys on small animals like frogs and lizards. Despite its striking appearance, the Battersby’s green snake is shy and harmless to humans. A slender, non-venomous species, its popular name derives from 20th century British herpetologist James Clarence Battersby.
Reptile
Diurnal
The Battersby’s green snake is typically a solitary creature. However, there have been instances of communal nesting, where several females deposit their eggs in a single nest, and even reports of as many as 40 females laying 100 eggs in one nest.
This communal nesting behavior is likely driven by convenience and survival rather than any complex social structure. Apart from this, Battersby’s green snakes do not display significant social behaviors and are mainly focused on individual survival and reproduction.
A Battersby’s green snakes hisses, inflates neck and body, exposing white spots and strikes if cornered. A defensive posture or rapid movements can signal aggression or a threat.
They use a combination of body language, chemical signals, and environmental cues to interact with each other and their surroundings.
These snakes use their tongues to pick up chemical cues from the environment. By flicking their tongues, they can detect scent markers left by other snakes, which helps them identify potential mates or rivals
The Battersby’s green snake is a tree-living and diurnal species. They are often found in habitats near water, such as forests, savannas, grasslands, and freshwater wetlands. Viewers of the live cams have seen them in the hippo pool area. They are agile climbers and primarily prey on amphibians like frogs and toads. Their vibrant green colouration helps them blend into their leafy surroundings, making them adept at avoiding predators.
They are found in southeastern Uganda and are particularly common in the highlands of western and central Kenya, as well as northern Tanzania.
These snakes are typically found in habitats close to water, such as forests, savannas, grasslands, and freshwater wetlands, ranging from sea level to almost 2,400 meters in altitude.
The Battersby’s green snake mainly feeds on amphibians such as caecilians (limbless amphibians with small or non-existent eyes), frogs, and toads. These capable hunters rely on their agility and sharp sense of smell to track down their prey. Being diurnal, they hunt during the day, which matches the active periods of many amphibians. This diet supplies them with essential nutrients, allowing them to flourish in diverse habitats, including forests, savannas, grasslands, and wetlands.
Battersby’s green snakes lay eggs. Typically, a clutch contains three to eleven eggs. The females sometimes engage in communal nesting, where multiple females lay their eggs in a single nest. This social behavior likely provides the developing eggs with added stability and safety. The eggs are then left to incubate in the warm, humid environment until they hatch.
As agile climbers and diurnal hunters, they primarily prey on amphibians such as frogs and toads. However, they also face threats from various predators, including birds of prey like hawks and eagles, which can spot them from above despite their excellent camouflage. Additionally, larger snakes and mammals may prey on them.
Despite these threats, their vibrant green colouration helps them blend into their leafy surroundings, providing some protection from predators.
Battersby’s green snake is the most common snake in Kenya. Despite their specific habitat preferences, they are quite adaptable. This adaptability, along with their reproductive strategy of laying 3-11 eggs per clutch, sometimes communally, helps maintain their populations in diverse environments. They can flourish even in urban areas with polluted streams such as Addis Ababa and Nairobi.
