What are the morphological characteristics of the hundred-flower snake?

Also known as white-flower snake, or flower snake for short. It is a large non-venomous snake species in southern China, with a total length of 160-190 cm, and a few over 200 cm. It is slender, with a pear-shaped head. Snake meat contains protein, peptides, amino acids, fats, etc., and is edible. Snake meat has the functions of dispelling wind and overcoming dampness, unblocking meridians and activating collaterals, calming fright, and strengthening the waist and knees. It mainly treats stroke with hemiplegia, facial paralysis, tendon contracture, dampness of the spleen with numbness, bone and joint pain, and infantile convulsions. It can also be steeped to make five-snake wine for medicinal use. The dorsal scales, except for the outermost 2-3 rows, are all keeled. When alive, the top of the head and back are ochre-red, the lips are gray, and the body dorsum is gray-green or pale gray, with more than 30 large dark blotches that are slightly hexagonal. There is also a row of similar smaller markings on each side of the body, generally arranged symmetrically left and right and alternating with the central blotches, while the belly is whitish. On the neck and the rear part of the belly there are broad bands alternating black and white, and on the tail there are several rings alternating dark brown and red. Irregular small dark blue or blue-brown spots are also scattered over the body. Viewed as a whole, the snake appears slightly white-flowered, hence it is also called white-flower snake, or flower snake for short.

The hundred-flower snake lives at altitudes of 50-300 m in rock crevices, at the foot of mountain rocks, or in grass at the edges, or among rocks and grass on ditch and stream banks. This snake is active day and night, and is most active at night. Its range of activity is not wide, and its cold tolerance is poor. Around November to early December, it enters rock caves, rock crevices, and rubble holes by sand ditches to hibernate. When the winter temperature is 23-25°C, it can still come out of the hole and be active. Under artificial rearing, at room temperature of 10°C, the snake becomes numb, and below 5°C it can freeze to death. In summer, when the daytime temperature is above 35°C, the snake mostly moves and hunts in shady places at the foot of rocky mountains. It feeds on rodents, insects, @#@260@#@, and birds. The egg-laying period is mid-to-late July each year, once a year, with 6-14 eggs per clutch. The eggs are long oval and milky white. It is distributed in Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, and other places in China.