Sexual maturity is reached at 1 ½ years for males and a little over 2 years for females. The mother will abandon the nest soon after egg laying and the hatchlings are on their own from birth with no parental care. In some years they will have 2 clutches of eggs in the same breeding season. More inland taipans will be born in years where the population of native rodents is high. At hatching the young will be 47cm (18.5in) long. Older individuals will typically have larger clutches. This normally occurs 2 months after mating. The goal is to push the head of the opponent to the ground with the first to do so being the winner.įemales lay a clutch of 12-20 eggs in to the abandoned burrow of another animal or in to a soil crack. Males have been observed fighting presumably for mating rites with the body intertwined and lashing out at one another as time goes on. They hide within the soil cracks of their habitat along with occupying mammal burrows.īreeding takes place in late winter and through to spring. Typically the areas they live in has low amounts of vegetation.
They are primarily found in cracked clay and loamy soils. Inland taipans are found in dunes and rocky outcrops. Previously they may have been found in Victoria but it is now presumed extinct there. They live in the states of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory. Here they can be found throughout the interior of the east of the country. This is unlike most snakes who let go of their prey to avoid injury as the prey typically has time to struggle while the venom takes effect.Īustralia is the native home of the inland taipan. One of their main food sources is the plain rat and they are adapted to the life cycle of these rats which allow them to feast when they are in plague proportions.ĭue to their highly potent venom they will grab prey and inject the venom then hold it till it is dead and can be swallowed. In captivity they have been known to eat birds. They feed almost exclusively on small mammals in the wild. They measure an average of 1.8m (5.9ft) long though some large individuals may reach 2.5m (8.2ft) They will be darker in winter to help them warm up easier. Their colour changes with the seasons and this often quite a dramatic change. They have a large eye with a round pupil and a blackish-brown iris. The underside of the inland taipan is cream or yellow. This allows them to bask by just putting their head out of the burrow. Their head is darker in colour than the body often being brown or black and round in shape on the snout. Their body scales have a black edge which forms diagonal patterns along the body. Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.Inland Taipans are highly variable in their colour ranging from tan through to olive-green.Britannica Beyond We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning.100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.
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