Asiatic Sand Snake

(Psammophis lineolatus), a reptile of the subfamily Colubrinae. The thin body measures about 120 cm long and has smooth scales. The color pattern consists of four dark longitudinal stripes bounded by black against an olive-gray or sandy-gray background.

The Asiatic sand snake is widespread in Southwest and Central Asia. In the USSR it occurs in Middle Asia, southern Kazakhstan, and the Nakhichevan’ ASSR. The snake mainly inhabits sandy deserts, sagebrush semideserts, and loessial foothills; it is occasionally found in mountains at elevations to 1,500 m. The Asiatic sand snake moves very rapidly. It feeds chiefly on lizards. It usually winds itself around its prey, choking it and biting it at the same time. The prey dies within seconds after being bitten. The sand snake lays two to six elongated eggs in June or July; the young are born in late July and early August. The bite of the Asiatic sand snake is not harmful to man.