Tiger Snake

Fascinating facts about the Tiger Snake

• A 2016 genetic analysis showed the tiger snake’s closest relative is the rough-scaled snake.
• When a female gives birth she can produce up to 30 live young, and one eastern mother once delivered a record 64 offspring, illustrating how a single snake can boost its population dramatically in a single season.
• The venom pack can hold 35–65 mg of toxin, yet only 3 mg is enough to kill a human, meaning a bite delivers dozens of times the lethal dose and explains why tiger snakes were responsible for 17 % of Australian snakebite cases from 2005-2015.
• Island tiger snakes have evolved larger heads to cope with large prey; young populations have larger heads by phenotypic plasticity, and larger heads have become genetically assimilated in older populations.
• Despite being able to grow as long as 2 m (6 ft 7 in), the common form usually measures just 0.9 m (2 ft 11 in), showing how a single species can span a wide size range while still thriving in the same coastal wetlands and creeks across southern Australia.

At a glance

About the Tiger Snake

The tiger snake (Notechis scutatus) prowls the wetland fringes and coastal waterways of southern Australia, from the south of Western Australia through South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and the island of Tasmania. Its body, typically 0.9 m long but capable of reaching 2 m, is a canvas of bold black and yellow bands that echo a tiger’s coat, though colouration can shift to olive, orange-brown or jet-black, with a light yellow or orange underside. When threatened, the snake flattens its entire length and lifts its head in a classic pre-strike pose, a display that can be as striking as its venom. Like many elapids, it is a ground-dweller yet an adept swimmer and can even climb into trees or buildings in search of prey, subdued by a potent mix of neurotoxins, coagulants, haemolysins and myotoxins. A surprising trait emerges on islands: populations such as the Chappell Island tiger snake have evolved larger heads, initially through phenotypic plasticity to tackle bigger prey, later becoming genetically fixed in older lineages, illustrating rapid morphological adaptation in isolated habitats.

More reptiles to discover

Browse Feravox