Red-banded snake [1] ( lat. Platyceps rhodorachis ) is a species of snakes from the family of the already common .
| Snake |
 |
| Scientific classification |
|---|
| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
| Infraclass : | Lepidosauromorphs |
| Infrastructure : | Alethinophidia |
|
| International scientific name |
|---|
Platyceps rhodorachis Jan , 1865 |
|
The total length reaches 1.5 m. The body is thin and slender. The head is slightly delimited from the neck. The tip of the muzzle is pointed. The scales are smooth, without ribs.
The upper side is olive-gray with a brown tint. A pattern of spots or a narrow strip is located along the back. The pattern is significantly different for different subspecies. The top of the head is monochrome or with weakly pronounced dots. The belly is light yellow, the bottom of the head is white.
It lives in the mountains, foothills, deserts. It climbs well on vertical surfaces, found in attics and in ruins of buildings, in cellars and estates. It occurs at an altitude of up to 1800-2000 meters above sea level. Hiding in the burrows of rodents, voids and cracks in the soil, cracks between the stones. In summer, snakes are active only in the morning and evening hours, in early spring - in warm daytime hours. It feeds on lizards, blind snakes , mouse-like rodents. After wintering, leaves in late March - early April, activity continues until the end of October.
Oviparous snake. Mating takes place in May; in June, females lay 4–9 oblong eggs. Young snakes appear in August-September.
The species is common in Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, the Arabian Peninsula, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, western and north-western India.
