Coral Snake

Its striking pattern of complete concentric rings of red, black and white or pale yellow makes it unmistakable. Cylindrical, slender body, small head with tiny eyes and a short mouth. It is an animal of fossorial habits: it lives buried or under leaf litter, rarely emerging to the surface. Its venom is strongly neurotoxic in action. However, due to its small mouth and extremely docile and elusive temperament, accidents are extremely rare and only occur if it is handled directly. Length: 60 to 90 cm. Weight: 150 to 300 g.

Behaviour

Crepuscular and nocturnal. It spends the day buried in sandy soils, under fallen logs or among the dense leaf litter of the woodland. A highly specialized diet: it feeds almost exclusively on other small snakes, lizards and amphisbaenians (worm lizards). It is the consummate snake-eater (it specializes in eating other snakes).

How and when to see it

Its sightings are chance, extraordinary events. The best chances occur on warm, humid summer nights after rain, when they come to the surface to move about.

Where to see it in the Iberá

The gateways of the Great Iberá Park where coral snake has confirmed presence:

Tours to see it

Verified providers operating at the gateways where coral snake lives. You contact them directly on WhatsApp from the app.

• Esteros Ñe’é
  Experiencias con relato local y mirada cultural sobre los esteros.★ 5
• Salvaje Iberá
  Senderismo, cicloturismo, safari fotográfico, avistaje de fauna, paseos largos en el día…★ 5
• Gaucho Argentino
  Travesías a caballo por una red de refugios en el Iberá. Cabalgatas de varios días con…★ 5
• Reserva Natural Don Luis
  Reserva natural privada en Portal Cambyretá, gestionada por la Fundación Cambyretá…★ 5

Species profile

• Common nameCoral Snake
• Scientific nameMicrurus baliocoryphus
• GroupReptile
• StatusNative

Other species of the Iberá

• 🐊 Caiman
• 🐍 Urutu Lancehead
• 🐍 Yellow Anaconda
• 🦎 Argentine Black-and-white Tegu