Is this a brown house snake?

[quincarroll]

Hi All

Found this little guy/girl in my kombuis.

Isn't at all aggressive, but I don't want to handle it until I know it isn't able to bite me and cause my hand/finger to fall off or worse, to kill me.

It's about 10-15cm long and thinner than my baby finger.

Is it a Brown House Snake?

Brown House.jpg

Thanks in advance

[kfc223]

Yes that is a brown house snake.

[Kakibos]

Hi quincarroll,

Yes harmless little Brown House Snake.

[brentraf]

Yeah, very pretty housie too. Really striking face. What are you going to do with him/her? New pet?

[quincarroll]

Hey all...

Thanks for your answers.

I know there is no way of knowing for sure, but, if I try handle it, is it likely to actually bite me? Yes I know its a constrictor, and doesn't have fangs, but I still don't feel like being bitten. I'm pretty sure it does have some of what pass for teeth?

I know that probably sounds hilarious, but I don't really know much about snakes other than if they feel threatened, they bite if they can't get away.

I want to keep the little guy to show to my kids in the morning, and then let it go in the garden. I live on a big plot, so it should have loads to eat.

[MikeBodd]

Will definitely try and bite you. Lol. I had one the other day, had to save him from the dogs.

[quincarroll]

Just let it go in the garden.

My son came through this morning, opened the box I had it in, and according to him, it jumped out of the box, so he grabbed it and put it back.

I'm glad it isn't venomous

It was quite docile other than trying to get away from me.

[brentraf]

Yeah young wild caught housies are generally really twitchy when it comes to people. Nice thing is though something that size it's bite really isn't bad at all, like a little quick pain then thats it.

Obviously still prefer not to get bitten though haha the surprise of it is worse than the pain most of the time!

[Zohar]

Hey guys, I didn't want to start another topic so I'm hi-jacking this one! (apologies for anyone thats actually been hijacked. No harm intended.) So I was out in my backyard looking for whip scorpions when I find this stunning brown snake. I picked it up and brought it in. It was pretty scared, striking away at me but it didn't get a bite in thankfully because I'm not sure if it is a brown house snake even though the chance of it being anything else is really slim.

My problem is that this snake has amazing stripes from the head going down towards the tail but slowly fades off. Is this a morph of brown house snake?

I haven't been able to take pics because it is scared. I have found a way to handle it and it is warming up to me. I will take a pic as soon as I can but in the meantime if anyone can tell me if this is possibly a brown house snake with stripes, I'd appreciate it.

Also it is not more than 30cm so I'm hoping to find more soon. It had breakfast this morning but got so scared of me that it regurgitated; that was not my intention. It swallowed a skink larger than itself! The amazing think is that the only visible difference between the skink and the snake is that the skink has legs! Other than that they are practically twins. I have hundreds of skinks in my yard and out back.

[Zohar]

Got the pix. She is much lighter than this though...

Gorgeous head...




Head and strips clear... Can't believe I got these pix! She kept striking the camera!

[Bushviper]

In certain areas it is not that unusual. You dont have a location in your profile so we have no idea where you are.

Take a full body shot picture.

[Zohar]

Hi, I'm in Verulam, Durban. Its tough to get a picture of her, she is terrified. I want to leave her alone in the enclosure I've made for her and give her sometime to settle down. I will try to get some full body pix if I can. Its not easy taking a pic with one hand while holding any snake in the other! I have no one who will come near snakes!

[kfc223]

That's pretty normal for some Kzn localities.

[Zohar]

Okay... so I managed a few shots of this particular snake... It's definitely a brown house snake because of the line over the head. The pictures are massive so some of it is cut off. You can go to http://www.fishhome.co.za/brown-house-snake/ to view the full uncut pix. You will be able to see the patterning which I think is really unique.

[Wallas]

They are such awesome snake,
Lovely pictures.