Hot-spring Snake

1 Overview

The hot-spring snake (Thermophis baileyi) is mainly found in Sichuan and is a rare snake endemic to China. In the wild it lives in rock caves or stone heaps near plateau hot springs. As an ectotherm, its body temperature follows the environment, and it dies if exposed to below-freezing temperatures for long.

Note: it is a high-altitude Chinese endemic (Qinghai-Tibet Plateau hot-spring habitats) and is a protected species — it should not be taken from the wild as a pet.

Chinese Name: Hot-spring Snake

Binomial: Thermophis baileyi

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Squamata

Family: Colubridae

Genus: Thermophis

Distribution: western China (Sichuan and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau).

2 Physical Characteristics

It is named for its habit of living near hot springs. The head and neck are clearly distinct; the top of the head is grey-green, the underside of the head pale yellow; the back of the trunk and tail is olive-green with three rows of dark brown blotches, the middle row the largest.

The two outer edges of the dorsal scales are grey-green, forming several fine alternating light-dark longitudinal stripes. Behind the eye a grey pale streak starts from the postocular scale, runs along the upper edge of the 7th and 8th upper-lip scales obliquely to the mouth corner, then extends back to join the body-side stripe. The upper jaw has 21-24 teeth, gradually enlarging backward.

3 Captive Habitat

It is heat-loving and cold-intolerant. Anyone who soaks in hot springs knows the water is usually quite hot, generally 39-90°C, yet the hot-spring snake survives there — an admirable, tough life.

The highest-altitude snake: the hot-spring snake. As an ectotherm its body temperature follows the environment and it dies below freezing, so snakes stay below the snow line. The plateau pit viper lives around 3000 m in Tibet; the snow-mountain pit viper around 3000-4000 m in Yunnan. Interestingly, even higher lives this snake, which evolved unique habits for the harsh high-altitude conditions — it lives above 4300 m near hot springs.