Sunda King Cobra — Fact Sheet

Ophiophagus bungarus · Sunda King Cobra

Full care guide and sources

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

An adult suite should provide at least 600 × 300 × 300 cm, more for animals approaching 5 m, plus two full-body shifts. Install broad anchored shelves, trunks, visual barriers, ground hides and a route that does not terminate above a door. Use 15-20 cm of well-drained soil and leaf litter after quarantine. Every vent and hatch needs redundant mechanical security.

🪨 Substrate and furnishings

Only a locked venomous-animal suite with room-level secondary containment is acceptable. The primary enclosure must connect to two full-length, externally operated shift compartments. Staff must be able to locate, shift and positively isolate the entire snake before opening a service hatch. Quarantine for at least 90 days in a separate secure air space with dedicated tools, weight records and parasite screening.

💡 Lighting

Provide bright broad-spectrum daylight for 11-13 hours, complete darkness at night and extensive shade. Guard all lamps and cables. Measured low-level UVB may be offered over part of the warm zone, with full retreat from both heat and ultraviolet exposure.

🌡️ Temperature

• Basking spot: 30-32 °C
• Daytime air: 25-29 °C
• Cool zone: 23-25 °C
• Night: 23-25 °C

💧 Humidity and water

Maintain 70-90% humidity with strong ventilation and local 80-95% shed support. Provide a stable basin that can be drained and serviced from protected access. Drainage, leaf litter and humid retreats are safer than continuously wet floors and stagnant air.

🪳 Feeding

This species is a snake specialist. Establish a legal, biosecure supply of identified, disease-screened, safely killed or frozen-thawed snake prey before acquisition. Adults are usually offered moderate meals every 10-21 days; juveniles need smaller, more frequent meals. Do not substitute a permanent rodent diet without veterinary nutritional review and never use wild-caught feeder reptiles.

☠️ Safety

This species is venomous. Venom exposure can cause pain, swelling or other systemic effects, and severity varies with species, locality, bite site and the amount delivered. A small wound or apparently dry bite is not proof of safety; every bite or sting requires urgent medical assessment.

If an incident occurs, move away, call emergency services or a poison centre, keep the patient still, remove rings and other constricting items, and follow dispatcher instructions. Do not use a tourniquet, cut or suck the wound, apply ice or electricity, give alcohol or medicines as a home treatment, or attempt to catch the animal. Antivenom choice and dosing are hospital decisions; verify the relevant product and local availability in advance. Sources: WHO snakebite guidance and appropriate species-specific toxinology or medical references listed below.

🩺 Health — warning signs

Important problems include incomplete lineage records, escapes, obesity, prey-borne parasites, regurgitation, retained shed, mouth trauma, dermatitis and respiratory disease from warm stagnant air. Refusal to feed, weak posture, abnormal breathing or neurological signs require protected isolation and an experienced reptile veterinarian.