Material Examined : 1 sub-adult.

Description & Scalation : Body strongly compressed; head elongate; snout about three times as long as eye; eye large with round pupil; rostral visible from above; prefrontal larger than the internasal; loreal longer than high; 1 preocular, reaching upper surface of the head touching the frontal; 2 postoculars; temporals 2+3. Scales in 23:25:15 rows, with paired apical pits, feebly keeled posteriorly; supralabials 9 ( 6th - 7th touching the eye ), last labial enlarged; infralabials 13, first 7 touching the first pair of genials; ventrals 240, strongly angulate laterally; subcaudals 147, paired; anal divided.

Coloration : Body green above, pale greenish below; some scales edged with black, the posterior edge of each scale light blue; tail redish brown; the two colors meet abruptly at the vent; an indistinct blackish stripe along the side of the head. Tongue bluish-black.

Natural History : Diurnal and thoroughly arboreal snake, extremly active in its movements; bites rapidly when caught. Found in bushes near brackish-water creeks. I had studied a sub-adult specimen above a fresh water stream. It was basking on a lower branch of a small tree at about 0830 hrs in the Middle Andaman. Another individual was observed on a higher tree in Little Andaman. According to local inhabitants, who climb tall trees for honey collections in Andamans, this snake is commonly encountered on trees. It mainly feeds on birds, lizards, bats and small arboreal mammals; was also observed predating on swiftlets inside the caves in Andamans. Reproduces throughout the year, lays 6-12 eggs. Grows up to 2.5m.

Distribution - India : Andaman and Little Andaman Islands. Elsewhere: Throughout Southeast Asia.

External link : http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Gonyosoma&species=oxycephalum