Boie's whip snake, Gunther's whip snake, Oriental whip snake
Ahaetulla prasina is a species of snake in the family Colubridae native to southern Asia. Its common names include Asian vine snake, Boie's whip snake, Gunther's whip snake, Oriental whip snake (Thai: งูเขียวหัวจิ้งจก).
The Asian vine snake is a rear-fanged mildly venomous snake native to southern Asia. Its body form is extremely slender with a long, pointed, projecting snout that is rather more than twice as long as the eye. Adult coloration varies from light brown to dull yellow-green and often a startling fluorescent green.
Asian vine snakes occur in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. They inhabit both dry and moist forests and are also found in shrubland, plantations, rural gardens, pasturelands, and urban areas.
Asian vine snakes are arboreal and spend most of their life in trees. They move easily and quickly among the branches as if floating in the crown of trees. These snakes are active during the day and prefer to spend time on their own ambushing their prey. If threatened they take an S-shape position and puff up their neck defensively. Although venomous they are not considered to be dangerous to humans.
Asian vine snakes are carnivores feeding on small reptiles and amphibians, such as lizards and tree frogs.
Asian vine snakes are ovoviviparous, meaning they give birth to well-developed live young. Typically up to 10 young are born at a time, measuring about 9.5 inches (24 cm) in length.
Asian vine snakes are not considered threatened at present. However, locally they suffer from habitat loss and overcollection for use in traditional medicine.
The IUCN Red List and other sources don’t provide the number of the Asian vine snake total population size. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List and its numbers today are stable.
