Common name: Leaf-nosed snake

Scientific name: Langaha madagascariensis

Species: Reptile
Diet: Carnivores
Lifestyle: Living alone/individually
Size: Can be up to 1.2 meters long
Distribution: Mainly from tropical forests of northern Madagascar to dry forests of southwestern Madagascar

Features of Madagascar Leaf Nose Snake
Leaf-nosed snakes have a nose that looks like a tassel and can be bent. These are also the most important features of the Madagascar leaf snake, one of the exotic animals of an island nation in the Indian Ocean. So far, the purpose of this strange nose transformation remains uncertain. Shape and color vary between males and females. While male snakes have a reddish-brown back and pale yellow belly with a long, tapered mouth, female snakes are mottled gray with a flattened, leaf-shaped snout.

The Malagasy leaf-nosed snake (old name for the island nation of Madagascar) has the perfect body modification to adapt to its arboreal and bush habitats: slim body, up to 1.2 meters long and mostly as without any tissue other than muscle.

Food of Madagascar Leaf-nosed Snakes
During the day, the leaf-nosed snake rests on tree branches – its slender body is easy to mistake for a tree branch. They are only active at dusk. At this time snakes go looking for food that is frogs, small reptiles or sometimes birds. If the prey is only a few feet away from the snake, they will attack like lightning. Malagasy leaf snakes, although not dangerous to humans, have venomous teeth in the back of the upper jaw. Snake venom causes only the same swelling and pain as a bee sting in humans, as long as the person is not allergic to the poison. That is why these animals are almost harmless to tourists coming here, especially they are quite calm and hardly show any aggression. However, snake venom is a deadly weapon for small prey such as geckos or Madagascar lizards. Those animals can completely become food in the snake’s stomach.

Reproduction of Madagascar Leaf-nosed Snakes
At the beginning of the rainy season, male snakes will look for female snakes to mate. Females usually lay 5 to 10 eggs per nest, each can lay several nests after each rainy season. The eggs are soft, elongated, glued together and deeply embedded in the foliage. From then on, the female snake is no longer interested in her eggs. After about two months, young Malagasy leaf-nosed snakes will be born in the darkness of the night. While the eggs hatch, the nose will automatically form and be completed in the next 36 hours. Scientists think that this snake can use their teeth to easily break eggs and get out.

The baby snakes weigh only about two grams after hatching, but they are able to forage on their own and protect themselves from larger snakes or predators by resting on tree branches. When young, however, leaf-nosed snakes display strange behaviors when they are resting: they hang themselves upside down like a small pole sticking out of a tree branch, and like so many plants endemic to Madagascar . The purpose of this action has yet to be discovered by biologists, as is their bizarre leaf tip.