Anybody know what this is???

by **Mongoose** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 6:38 am

Do you have any photo's of the head from the top?

by **bugs** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 1:24 pm

I have caught Fork marks in large numbers and know what they look like and that snake is defnitely a fork marked sand snake

by **drummer** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 2:42 pm

Contortrix wrote:Quite hard to tell from those pictures but it resembles Psammophis sibilans but hard to tell but as said earlier defenetly some species of Psammophis.

i think i agree...it does resemble Psammophis sibilans . Plus it is possible as they are exported frequently...and as others said i definetly don't think it is south african....and if it was smuggledw...why the hell would somone risk their naught for trinisalis

by **mwd45** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 5:04 am

Is it a true venomous snake?

I mean I see what looks like teeth, however, it looks like a Garter Snake. These are very common in the U.S. and very difficult to keep captive.

If it was not for the length of the head and the supposed teeth in the Head Shot, I would claim it to be a Garter Snake..

Picture resized and reposted on SAReptiles' gallery - BB

by **alexander** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 8:38 am

This is a Psammophis no doubt, people are trying to id a wide genera without distribution and that is not easy. These snakes are back-fanged and are venomous, but often have to chew to to get enough venom into the predator or the prey.

by **Bushviper** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 8:56 am

MWD45 the massive picture you posted is of a Thamnophis and there are marked differences. The snake is question has a broken line of less than one scale wide down the back whereas you pic shows a snake with a stripe 3 scales wide! The Garter snake has keeled scales and the snake in question has smooth scales.

PS could you resize your picture and repost it as if stretches way off the page.

by **Gregg Madden** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:36 pm

mwd45 wrote:Is it a true venomous snake?

I mean I see what looks like teeth, however, it looks like a Garter Snake. These are very common in the U.S. and very difficult to keep captive.

If it was not for the length of the head and the supposed teeth in the Head Shot, I would claim it to be a Garter Snake..

It is not a garter... Also, garters are among some of the easiest snakes to keep and breed in captivity...

by **Trayton** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:54 pm

And it is in memory of Natal Black when he was on the forums that i say this...

...i've done extensive research...and its definately a snake!

by **Kevin & Denise** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 4:20 am

Hey everybody, thanks alot for the info and possible id's of this guy. I have no other pics of him unfortunately. However I can talk to the owner of the place and see if he wouldn't mind taking some recent ones. Any particular body shots that you are after?
Like I said he came in as an egg eater, I fortunatley knew right away that he was not. However upon opening the "sack" he was shipped in he jumped out of it and right over my shoulder. This snake is definitely one of the fastest I have seen, and trying to handle it is completely out of the question. He does not hesitate to bite,and upon biting you can actually feel him chew/pump his jaw into you.
One question, how potent or dangerous is he to humans? After recieving him a while ago, I have been reading alot about these snakes, and have gotten alot of mixed information about them.
Thanks again...

Kevin

by **Bushviper** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 6:15 am

The venom is lethal for small lizards and frogs but of no consequence to humans. If you allow him to chew unrestrained then obviously the effects will be much greater. It is better to not take chances with any species with back fangs as there are still some more lethal ones lurking out there, of that I am pretty sure.

The chances of an allergic reaction is not excluded either.

by **drummer** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:25 am

Trayton wrote:And it is in memory of Natal Black when he was on the forums that i say this...

...i've done extensive research...and its definately a snake!

haha to classic. T-shirts need to be made

by **bugs** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:04 pm

Hi Kevin
Here is a link to some fork marked sandsnake pics also sometimes referred to as Kalahari sand snakes. Is this the same as what u have?
http://www.hardaker.co.za/-kalaharisandsnake1 .htm

by **bruno69** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:03 pm

it must be sum kind of sandsnake,if u look at the head and thin body

by **Hellemar** » Sat May 10, 2008 7:45 pm

Hi...

Better late then never...

According to those pics I´m 100% sure that it is some kind of Psammophis sp - no doubt about it... Exactly what species it is, is hard to tell and it seems that we need a lot more work on this genus but I think that you aren´t that wrong if you call them, and treat them as they where Psammophis sibilans or Psammophis moccambicus... I did some work on mine when I had them and you can read about them and see some pics of them here...

http://www.sareptiles.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2989

http://www.sareptiles.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2990

http://www.sareptiles.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2898

Henke

Anybody know what this is???

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