Venomous Snakes of Udon Thani

[Michael C]

Joe, the pictures from the first post are of a Dendrelaphis pictus (Painted Bronzeback) and yes, they should be considered harmless. They have rear fangs, but the venom is weaker than many of our local ants. They always try to get away whenever the opportunity is given.

The only thing that is a real danger to your piglets is a medium to large python. The shed skin is definitely not a python. Even a cobra is not a serious threat to the piglets, since biting is an action for hunting and defense- a piglet is neither food for a cobra nor is it a threat. I would have to examine the skin to figure out exactly what kind it is, but from what I can see of it in your pictures it resembles Coelognathus radiata (Radiated Rat Snake), like the one Parrot posted. Counting all the different types of scales would give an identity to the snake. I have sent you a PM if you want to send these things to me by mail, so I am able to make a positive identification. I will be back next week and let you know what it is for sure, if you decide to send it to me.

Parrot, that is a Coelognathus radiata (Radiated Rat Snake), a completely harmless snake. As its name suggests, it feeds primarily on rats. These snakes are much better to have around than rats, which carry and transmit a multitude of threatening diseases. Although it puts on quite a defensive show (puffing up, hissing, striking wildly), the worst it can do is draw a little bit of blood from its bite. Since their mouths are clean, no worries about infection either, unless the infection comes from something else. I have never had an infection from a snake bite; although, I actually have not been bitten very often by wild snakes (can't actually remember the last time).

[SanukJoe]

Thanks Michael, your expertise confirms assumptions and takes away uncertainty, leading to a better understanding of the snake world around us. Highly appreciated!

I will send you the shed skin by mail, just curious what was inside the skin

Cheers
Joe

[Tony Croweater]

Can't identify this one from previous posts. It is around 1.5 m long, with a fairly small head which is copper-coloured - in short, is it highly venomous or indeed dangerous?

It's currently residing in our garden here in Udon.

Thank you in advance all!

[Aardvark]

Not trying to be funny Tony, but that is a very small Head on what looks to be a large body or is it the way the photo was taken ??

[Tony Croweater]

Indeed, he/she (haven't checked) does have a very small head. When I saw it last week it looked like a stocking full of bananas; seems to be cleaning up the rats around the place judging by the size of the body. Erring on the side of caution however, I will assume it's a dangerous visitor. I have seen one of our cats playing with one of the little green and yellow snakes (wrestling with it actually ), but he backed right away when he saw this fella.

[laphanphon]

one good thing, besides munching on the rats, pretty hard to accidentally step on, is a big sucker. just be careful turning corners and starting the car, especially since cool at night, may decide to crawl up into engine, so sit in car hard, to shake, and give it a turn of the key, without starting, give him an opportunity to jump down, as i killed a cat that way, though was quite happy about that

[SanukJoe]

Can't identify this one from previous posts. It is around 1.5 m long, with a fairly small head which is copper-coloured - in short, is it highly venomous or indeed dangerous?

It's currently residing in our garden here in Udon.

Thank you in advance all!

Tony, to me it's a Copperheaded Racer, which is actually a Rat snake. Totally harmless although they can snap at you.

Here a pic, taken from http://www.siam-info.com

Joe

Copperheaded Racer (Rat snake).jpg (28.7 KiB) Viewed 3507 times

[Treeg]

Tony, to me it's a Copperheaded Racer, which is actually a Rat snake. Totally harmless although they can snap at you.

I think I agree with you, the weird thing is we had almost exactly the same snake in our garden some months ago, and then also I noticed it was more grey while Internet pics of the same snake make it more green/yellow. Ours was just as grey as in the pic of Tony Croweater, same copper colored head and same patern of darker spots/lines. Maybe these types of Rat Snakes are more grey'ish around here then in other area's?

[Kevro]

Hi

I watched a documentry on National Geographic a few days ago and it seems rat snakes are the favorite food of individual Cobras. Mind you this show was in India.

Food for thought maybe.

Kevro

[tinyterry]

Re Kevro's comment. I too watched a similar program recently but this they said was in Thailand. It showed a very big individual Cobra making its way down the middle of the road in a village. It was interesting to see that the villagers totally ignored the snake. The snake then went into a wooden shed and soon was enjoying a tasty meal of Rat snake. It was incredible that it could swallow such a large snake as it did.

Cheers Terry

[KHONDAHM]

Excellent thread! I "was" thinking about building my house with a low wall and pretty bushes in front and behind. So much for that thought. With 2 kids running around the compound and having been educated about the dangers of so many snakes in the area, I'm now thinking more along the lines of:

and a few pet

[Tony Croweater]

Thanks all for the info. I agree with Treeg in that the appears the variety that hangs around our part of Thailand seems to be more silver/grey coloured. Its appetite for rats supports the lumpy form of this one's body when I saw it last week. Judging by the markings on the head too, it looks like that's our snake. I won't dispose of it, but just let it go about its business of eating the rat population in our yard.

[Michael C]

Sorry, Tony, I was in Bangkok and the surrounding provinces last week, where it looks like I may have to set up a residence soon.

The others were right, it was our regional variation of Coelognathus radiata (Radiated Rat Snake).

Kevro, individual Cobras only eat other snakes, but the Rat Snake they they prefer here appears to be Ptyas korros (Indochinese Rat Snakes). No big worry about individual Cobras if you live in or near the city (keep in mind that many documentaries often do not portray reality).

Khondahm, the snakes that most of the forum readers are finding, Chrysopelea ornata, will make it easily up those walls and since they are primarily arboreal, a mongoose will not get to them You are just as well off building a shorter wall, as you planned, and not getting a mongoose, which will bite you much more than it will bite any snakes.

[KHONDAHM]

Khondahm, the snakes that most of the forum readers are finding, Chrysopelea ornata, will make it easily up those walls and since they are primarily arboreal, a mongoose will not get to them You are just as well off building a shorter wall, as you planned, and not getting a mongoose, which will bite you much more than it will bite any snakes.

I joked about doing as I posted with my wife and perhaps setting a few mongooses loose outside the walls rather than inside. She likes the idea as it would kill any cats (which she hates) and rats, but warns me that the neighbors would likely hunt, capture, and eat them. Personally, I'd rather my kids get the occasional mongoose bite over the occasional snake bite any day of the week, if you know what I mean.

I recall a traveling snake show (a single HUGE cobra and boa around a guy's kneck) slithering its way down the dirt road in front of our village home in Song Dao with its handler prodding it along - all the while kids were running around and gawking at it. Crazy.

Anyway, this is a great thread to have. I'll step out now and just be a sponge. Cheers!

[parrot]

Given that most Thais don't have screen doors and typically leave their doors wide open during the day and early evening, I've often wondered whether it's common for them to find a snake in their pants in the morning.

[Michael C]

Joe, I received your shed snake skin today and after examining it and comparing it to my references, it appears that your shed snake skin belongs to a large male Psammophis condanurus indochinensis and the first one to be found in Udon Thani (Chaiyaphum is the closest record). This is also the first one that I have seen (even a shed skin). The initial identification from the pictures as Coelognathus radiata were based on the striping (even though it started closer to the head than usual). This snake should be considered harmless. It feeds on frogs, lizards and small rodents.

Khondahm, the harmless snake bites (harmless snakes far outnumber the venomous ones) are very clean; however, there are a great number of diseases and bacterial infections that could result from a mongoose bite. Give me the harmless snake bite any time over the mongoose bite.

Parrot, I have kept snakes for much of my lifetime. They are escape artists and often find their way out of their enclosures. Of all the snakes that have come out of their enclosures and all the snakes that have made their way into my house (only 3 wild snakes so far), I never found one in my trousers. I never heard about anyone that had ever found one in their trousers either. I did receive a nasty and potentially harmful scorpion sting from one in my trousers earlier this year (luckily mid-thigh) and have heard about people finding centipedes in their trousers, but not snakes.

For those terribly afraid of snakes, there is a chemical repellent that can be used for them: http://tongs.com/snake-a-way.aspx (just don't complain about all the rodents that come later).

[SanukJoe]

Joe, I received your shed snake skin today and after examining it and comparing it to my references, it appears that your shed snake skin belongs to a large male Psammophis condanurus indochinensis and the first one to be found in Udon Thani (Chaiyaphum is the closest record). This is also the first one that I have seen (even a shed skin). The initial identification from the pictures as Coelognathus radiata were based on the striping (even though it started closer to the head than usual). This snake should be considered harmless. It feeds on frogs, lizards and small rodents.

Thanks Michael, I can have a look around the pig house to see if it's still there and take pics. Just don't know how it looks, can you post a pic of this snake?

Nice to know there is some rare animal on my farm

Joe

[jackspratt]

A couple of recent visitors to the moo ban. Can't recognise from the earlier posts.



Bit over a metre long, and caught in a paddy field on the edge of the moo ban.

2nd to follow.

[jackspratt]

2nd one, caught/killed in the soi out the house. About 60cm long.

(Sorry about the phone camera image).

[KHONDAHM]

Wife killed these 2 today. Harmless?



Suburbs of Pattaya