Species in the genus Rhabdophis are generally called keelback snakes, and are found primarily in Southeast Asia.

Colubrid snakes are often thought of as completely harmless, but there are a handful of notable exceptions, including some species of Rhabdophis.

[5][6] Between 1971 and 2020, 5 of 43 R. tigrinus bites in Japan were fatal,[7] all of which occurred in cases not treated with antivenom.

Antivenom is manufactured by the Japan Snake Institute [8] and is an effective treatment for R. tigrinus bites,[9][10] but is an unapproved drug.

Many species of Rhabdophis have specialized nuchal glands on the back of the neck [13] that are used to store cardiotonic steroids (bufadienolides) sequestered from their diet,[14] mostly from toads but also from firefly larvae.