Ptyas mucosa, commonly known as the Oriental rat snake,[2]dhaman or Indian rat snake,[4] is a common non-venomous species of colubridsnake found in parts of South and Southeast Asia. Dhamans are large snakes. Typical mature total length is around 1.5 to 1.95 m (4 ft 11 in to 6 ft 5 in) though some exceed 2 m (6 ft 7 in). The record length for this species was 3.7 m (12 ft 2 in), second only to their cousin Ptyas carinata among living colubrid snakes.[5][6] Despite their large size, oriental ratsnakes are usually quite slender with even a specimen of 2 m (6 ft 7 in) commonly measuring 4 to 6 cm (1.6 to 2.4 in) only around in diameter[which?].[7] Furthermore, the average weight of ratsnakes caught in Java was around 877 to 940 g (1.933 to 2.072 lb), though larger males of over 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) (which average mildly larger of the two sexes in the species) may easily weigh over 2.5 kg (5.5 lb).[8] Their color varies from pale browns in dry regions to nearly black in moist forest areas. Rat snakes are diurnal, semi-arboreal, non-venomous, and fast-moving. Rat snakes eat a variety of prey and are frequently found in urban areas where rodents thrive.
^Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part. Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, Printers). London. xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I.- XXVIII. (Zamenis mucosus, pp. 385–386.)
^Das, I. 2002. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of India. Ralph Curtis Books. Sanibel Island, Florida. 144 pp. ISBN0-88359-056-5. (Ptyas mucosa, p. 43.)
^Auliya, M. (2010). Conservation Status and Impact of Trade on the Oriental Rat Snake Ptyas mucosa in Java, Indonesia. TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.
^Das, I. (2015). A field guide to the reptiles of South-East Asia. Bloomsbury Publishing.
^Nicholson, E. (1893). Indian Snakes: An Elementary Treatise on Ophiology with a Descriptive Catalogue of the Snakes Found in India and the Adjoining Countries. Higgibotham and Company.
^Sabarno, M.Y., Santosa, Y. & Prihadi, N. (2012). Trading System, Abundance and Habitat Characteristic of Oriental Rat-snake Ptyas mucosus (Linnaeus 1758) in Central Java. Bogor Agricultural University.