---
title: "Eastern Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis) | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "Small fangs for an elapid its size, a modest average dose, and the second most toxic snake venom known."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/eastern-brown-snake-1.webp"
published: "2026-10-11"
updated: "2026-10-11"
---
# Eastern Brown Snake (*Pseudonaja textilis*)
> **Status**: Checked against 6 sources, listed under Sources below.
> **Tagline**: Small fangs for an elapid its size, a modest average dose, and the second most toxic snake venom known.
> **Soundtrack Vibe**: Classic Punk & 70s Garage // Ramones, "Judy Is a Punk"
> **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/0vGCxnTwYZFtOAW3oz28kd)
> **Vibe Match**: Fangs of around 3 mm and an average dose of about 4 mg deliver the second most toxic snake venom known. Judy Is a Punk does the same with very little: a song over in about a minute and a half that hits as hard as anything twice its length.
## Biological Superpowers & Stats
- **Taxonomy**: *Pseudonaja textilis*
- **Danger Level**: Deadly
- **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2018-1.rlts.t42493315a42493324.en))
- **Superpower**: A ready-made clotting engine, pseutarin C, preassembled in the venom gland
- **Habitat**: Seems to prefer open woodland, scrub and savannah grassland across eastern Australia, and is frequently encountered on the edges of many large towns and cities
- **Diet**: Frogs, reptiles and their eggs, birds and mammals, especially introduced rats and mice
- **Tags**: reptile, grassland, venomous, predator
## Natural History & Behavior
## Venom with a built-in clotting engine
This venom comes with a machine already assembled. Pseutarin C is a prothrombinase complex (a pair of proteins that together convert prothrombin to thrombin) and it sits preassembled in the snake's venom gland. One structural study calls this kind of complex the molecular engine of blood coagulation.
> **Borrowed blood chemistry**
> The venom's clotting protein pseutarin C is the first venom procoagulant protein that is structurally and functionally similar to mammalian factor Xa-Va complex.
A proteomic study called the venom the second most toxic snake venom known. The Australian Museum says it contains powerful presynaptic neurotoxins, procoagulants (which trigger clotting), cardiotoxins and nephrotoxins. Successful envenomation can result in progressive paralysis and uncontrollable bleeding. Yet compared with other elapids its size, the fangs are quite small, around 3 mm, and the average venom yield is around 4 mg, although the record was 67 mg.
## How big, how old, how far
Eastern browns average around 1.5 m in total length. The largest specimen reliably measured was 2,013 mm. The life span of wild Eastern Browns is unknown, but they have been recorded living as long as 7 years in captivity. The species is widespread throughout eastern Australia, from northern Queensland to South Australia, with isolated populations in central and western Northern Territory. It can be found across a wide range of habitats, excluding rainforest and alpine regions, but it seems to prefer open woodland, scrub and savannah grassland. Farming has been a boon, and their numbers have proliferated thanks to the ready supply of rodents that followed.
## A hunter that chases
Brown snakes hunt by actively looking for prey and searching in likely hiding places. They have good eyesight, and once prey is detected they will give chase. They subdue it using both venom and constriction. The menu includes frogs, reptiles and reptile eggs, birds and mammals, particularly introduced rats and mice. Larger snakes tend to eat more warm-blooded prey.
## Two kinds of threat
In its strong threat display, the snake raises the front of its body well off the ground in an s-shaped coil, mouth slightly open, ready to strike. Both of its displays spread the neck. In captive trials, strike speeds ranged 0.25 to 1.80 metres per second, with a mean of 1.11. Speed did not correlate with temperature, which is unexpected in an ectotherm (a cold-blooded animal). If approached over a distance, they will usually flee or stay still. They appear to be immune to the venom of the mulga snake, a would-be predator, but they rapidly die from eating cane toads. The Australian Museum says the species causes more deaths from snake bite than any other snake in Australia.
## Frequently Asked Questions
### How long does an eastern brown snake grow?
The Australian Museum puts the average at around 1.5 metres in total length, and its largest specimen reliably measured and recorded reached 2,013 mm. There is some suggestion that northern snakes are larger than southern ones. *(Source: [Australian Museum]())*
### Does an eastern brown snake inject a lot of venom?
Not on average, for a snake its size. Compared with other elapids of similar size, its fangs (about 3 mm) and its average venom yield (about 4 mg) are both quite small, though one snake once gave 67 mg. What it lacks in venom delivery it makes up for in potency. *(Source: [Australian Museum]())*
### Why do eastern brown snakes turn up near towns?
Clearing land for farms proved a boon: their numbers have proliferated on the ready supply of rodents that followed. The Australian Museum says they are also frequently encountered on the suburban periphery of many large towns and cities. *(Source: [Australian Museum]())*
### How many eggs does an eastern brown snake lay?
A clutch can hold up to 25 eggs, with 15 the average. Warmth sets the wait: about 36 days at 30 degrees C, and as long as 95 days at 25 degrees C. *(Source: [Australian Museum]())*
## Sources
1. [Eastern Brown Snake. Australian Museum.]()
2. [Tallowin et al. (2018). Pseudonaja textilis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T42493315A42493324.]()
3. [Lechtenberg et al. (2013). Crystal structure of the prothrombinase complex from the venom of Pseudonaja textilis. Blood.]()
4. [Birrell et al. (2006). Molecular Diversity in Venom from the Australian Brown Snake, Pseudonaja textilis. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.]()
5. [Rao & Kini (2002). Pseutarin C, a Prothrombin Activator from Pseudonaja textilis Venom: Its Structural and Functional Similarity to Mammalian Coagulation Factor Xa-Va Complex. Thrombosis and Haemostasis.]()
6. [Whitaker (1999). Behavioural ecology of the eastern brownsnake, Pseudonaja textilis, and implications for human envenomation. PhD thesis, University of Sydney.]()
*Published October 11, 2026. Last updated October 11, 2026.*
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