Clifford's Snake

Clifford's Snake is a nonvenomous colubrid in the genus Spalerosophis, the diadem or royal snakes, distributed across the arid belt from North Africa through the Middle East into Central and South Asia. The North African and Middle Eastern form is often referred to as Clifford's snake.

It is not medically significant and is largely known within regional herpetofauna surveys rather than to the general public, occupying an ecological niche as an active predator of rodents and lizards in desert and semi-desert country.

• Moderately robust body, adults commonly around 1.0-1.5 m
• Series of dark reddish-brown or brown dorsal blotches on a paler tan, gray, or cream background
• A characteristic dark 'diadem' or crown-like marking on the head
• Smooth scales and a head only slightly distinct from the neck
• Round pupils typical of an active diurnal colubrid
• The bold blotching and head marking help distinguish it from more uniformly colored sand snakes

Inhabits sandy and rocky deserts, semi-desert scrub, wadis, and cultivated margins across North Africa (including Egypt and Libya), the Arabian Peninsula, and eastward through the Middle East into Central and South Asia. Often shelters in rodent burrows or under surface debris during the heat of the day.

Active primarily by day, becoming more crepuscular in the hottest conditions. Feeds mainly on small rodents and lizards, which it overpowers by constriction and grip. Reproduction is oviparous, with females laying clutches of eggs in sheltered ground or burrows.