Food/Eating Habits

Although the king cobra is undoubtedly a very dangerous snake, it prefers to escape unless it is provoked. Despite its aggressive reputation, the king cobra is actually much more cautious than many smaller snakes. The cobra only attacks people when it is cornered, in self-defense or to protect its eggs. Throughout its entire range from India to Indonesia, the king cobra causes fewer than five human deaths a year, about one-fifth as many as caused by rattlers in North America. This behavior is not true of nesting females, which may attack without provocation. When in a threat display, these snakes can raise the anterior part of their body about three to four feet (1 to 1.2 meters) off the ground and are able to follow their enemy in this position over considerable distances. The king cobra will also hiss and flatten its neck ribs into a hood. It will assume an upright posture without the hood extended in order to see over bushes or tall grasses.

A bite delivers venom from glands attached to the fangs. The flexing of a small muscle forces the venom through the hollow fangs into the victim. Within minutes, neurotoxins stun the prey's nervous system, especially the impulses for breathing. Other toxins start digesting the paralyzed victim. In the United States, the study of cobra venom has yielded pain relievers such as Cobroxin, used to block nerve transmission and Nyloxin, used for severe arthritis pain.

The king cobra normally restricts its diet to cold-blooded animals, particularly other snakes. Some specimens develop a rigid diet of a single species of snake and will refuse any other type. The snakes eaten by the king cobra are mostly the larger harmless species, such as Asian rat snakes, dhamans and pythons up to about ten feet (3 meters) in length. They may also dine on venomous Indian cobras, kraits and even small king cobras.

At the Smithsonian's National Zoo, king cobras eat mice and rats.