Examination and dissection of museum specimens provided original data on morphology, sexual dimorphism, feeding habits and reproductive biology of the rare western keeled snake (Pythonodipsas carinata) from Namibia and Angola. This small, slender snake is nocturnal. Females mature at a larger size (47–51 cm snout-vent length. SVL) than males (29–31 cm SVL), and attain considerably larger maximum sizes (to 77 cm SVL). At the same body length, males have significantly longer tails than females. Relative to SVL, analysis of covariance detected no significant differences between the sexes in head length, head width, body width, or head shape (i.e., width relative to length, or relative eye size). All prey items were vertebrates, with lizards comprising 67 % of the diet, rodents 25 %, birds 4 %, and unidentified vertebrate bones 4 %. Among lizard prey, geckos (39 % of all prey) and skinks (18 %) predominated. Nocturnal geckos (Afroedura, Chondrodactylus, Palmatogecko and Pachydactylus) as well as diurnal ones (Rhoptropus and Narudasia) were eaten. All skink prey were Mabuya sp. Mammalian prey were eaten primarily by larger snakes. The unusual fragmented head shields and enlarged palatine teeth of Pythonodipsas carinata may be adaptations that permit sleeping diurnal prey to be extracted from retreats.