[2] The specific name or epithet, mechowii, is in honor of Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander von Mechow, a Silesian-German explorer of Africa.

Adult males may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 58 cm (23 in).

[4] The dorsal scales are smooth, without apical pits, arranged in 17 rows.

[5] The head scalation is the same as Xenocalamus bicolor, except there are no supraoculars and two postoculars.

Intergrades of these two subspecies can be found in North-Western Province, Zambia.