Black mambas are not really black in color. They have brown, gray or olive body color with a lighter underbelly. They get their name because the insides of their mouths are blue-black in color and that looks scary when they display their rage with open mouths. Find out more!

They are pretty shy by nature and by instinct, they will try to escape using their super speed when threatened. They use their speed to attack only when they are cornered. They don’t rely on their speed for hunting.

These snakes don’t have many natural predators but they do have one threat – the destruction of their habitat. Natural predators include brown snake eagle, black-chested snake eagle and cape file snake. Even mongoose kill black mambas.

As far as their eating habits are concerned, they like to feed on birds and mammals. When it comes to hunting, they will simply strike and inject venom into their prey and leave they. They will then follow their prey until they die because of the lethal venom. They will then swallow up the whole prey.

Black mambas are know for possessing flexible jaws that allows them to devour prey that are 3 to 4 times the size of their own heads! They just dislocate their jaws to open their mouths wide open to fit in the kill.

Black mambas have very potent venom. Just two drops are enough to kill an adult human. A victim can die within 20 minutes after being bitten by this snake but on an average fatalities take 30 minutes to 180 minutes.

The usual mating period for black mambas is summer or spring. Males get into fights in order to get affection from females. Once they mate, the females produce anywhere from 6 to 25 eggs in warm and damp burrows and leaves forever.

The eggs hatch in 3 months and the newborns are just capable enough to survive on their own. On birth, black mambas are 16-24 inches long.