[3] The preferred natural habitat of C. jerdonii is forest, at altitudes of 200–1,900 m (660–6,230 ft).

Its upper surface is covered with uniform, small granules, smooth on the back, a little larger and keeled on the snout; a few erect spine-like tubercles are on the flanks.

The rostral is four-sided, nearly twice as broad as deep, with a median cleft above; the nostrils are pierced between the rostral and the three nasals; eight to 10 upper and seven or eight lower labials are present; the mental is large, triangular or pentagonal, with small chin-shields passing gradually into the granules of the throat, which are rather large, flat, and smooth.

The tail is cylindrical, tapering, and covered with smooth scales, in its basal half with a few scattered larger tubercles; the median series of subcaudals is enlarged.

In color, it is grey-brown above, clouded with darker; the small lateral spines are white, sometimes with a black cervical spot; it is whitish beneath, the throat is sometimes brown-dotted.