The Mozambique Spitting Cobra is a shiny, light to dark brown snake with black between the scales. The belly is salmon pink to yellow with a distinct dark band as well as dark blotching on the throat region.

The Snouted Cobra is usually brown to mustard yellow in colour with a darker back or darker mottled back. (a banded form of this snake does also occur). The belly is off yellow with a lot of feint splotching and usually one faint crossbar. There is often a dark tear under the eye and they have a pronounced rostral (nose) scale.

It’s easy to confuse a Mozambique Spitting Cobra with a Snouted Cobra. The graphics below illustrate how to recognize the key differences between the two species.