What is a Black Mamba?

Only the king cobra is larger than the black mamba.
A tourniquet should be used on the affected limb in the event of a bite from a black mamba snake.
The venom from a black mamba snake can be lethal to humans.
Black mambas are large lethal snakes native to Africa.
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  • Written By: Mary McMahon
  • Edited By: Bronwyn Harris
  • Last Modified Date: 25 July 2015
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Black mambas are snakes which are native to Africa; they are more formally known as Dendroaspis polylepis. These African residents are infamous for their extreme speed, lethal venom, and irritability, and they often pop up in books and films about Africa. As a general rule, most people outside of Africa do not encounter black mambas, and wish to keep it that way. In Africa, human-snake encounters tend to go badly.

These snakes are named not for their skin color, but for the color of their mouths. A typical black mamba is gray to olive brown in color, with an inky black mouth which is only seen when the animal strikes. These snakes are the largest in Africa, running around eight feet (over two meters) on average; they are the second largest snakes in the world, surpassed only by the king cobra. In a few instances, a black mamba can reach a length of up to 14 feet (almost five meters).

The black mamba is also extremely fast, although the snakes generally move quickly to avoid predators, rather than to strike prey. When they strike, black mambas rely on their lethal venom, which contains both a neurotoxin and a cardiotoxin, to paralyze their victims. The snakes have been known to strike with minimal provocation, and are sometimes characterized as aggressive, although tales of mambas trailing people for long distances are probably a bit exaggerated.


An adult black mamba nests underground in a small burrow or abandoned animal hole. Mambas are diurnal, sleeping at night and remaining active during the day unless extreme heat drives them underground. The snakes tend to prefer grassland and bush, although a black mamba is also perfectly capable of climbing a tree, as their scientific name suggests: dendroaspis means “tree snake.” When a black mamba breeds, the female produces a small clutch of eggs which hatches into pale gray juveniles; the young snakes are vulnerable to mongooses and birds when they are very young, but they are perfectly capable of catching their own prey.

For humans, the black mamba is a formidable enemy. One injection of venom from an adult snake is enough to kill a human being in under an hour if antivenom is not administered. In the event that someone is bitten by a black mamba, the best course of action is to have someone run for medical assistance and tourniquet the affected limb.


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Post 3
A news story several years back said a teenage boy had somehow managed to keep a gaboon viper and a black mamba in his house and both snakes escaped. Not surprisingly, the neighbors were pretty upset when the news got out, but no trace of either serpent was ever found. I don't know if the kid lied (a good possibility), or if it was just too cold for the snakes to survive.

I guess I was just stunned that anyone could simply go online and purchase severely deadly snakes without a permit, and not even be 18!

Post 2

Antivenin has been available for black mamba bites for a good many years and has, fortunately, greatly reduced the incidence of fatalities from a mamba bite.

I saw a site online by this guy who actually kept one (he was a professional), and he had pictures. Those things are fearsome. He talked about all the preparation he had to do to keep it safely, and how having a hide box inside the enclosure was a necessity when he had to clean the cage and so forth. I wouldn't do it, that's for sure!

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