Little Blacks Snakes

[plachonubon]

My wife's always warning me about little back snakes that live in the soil, i've seen loads of them in Ubon they're about 5-6 inches long, very shiny and black.

She swears they are highly venomous and will kill you if they get a bite in!!! no antidote even if you got to the hospital in time!!!

Is this a wind up? what are these blighters called?

[sutnyod]

My wife's always warning me about little back snakes that live in the soil, i've seen loads of them in Ubon they're about 5-6 inches long, very shiny and black.

She swears they are highly venomous and will kill you if they get a bite in!!! no antidote even if you got to the hospital in time!!!

Is this a wind up? what are these blighters called?

I 'met' them, too. They actually look like shiny worms (are quite agile) and people are just terrified of them. Rainy season is the most likely time they'd crawl into houses, so beware. I have not tested their poison, but am really careful. Had them in a hotel room in Laos once and there the staff went white when I told them I almost stepped on that black worm. Same everywhere: people are scared of them, but I have not heard of casulties...

[MarcoH]

Any pictures of those cos, i never heard or saw those....wud be nice to know how they look like

[chownah]

they're called ngoo din...which means dirt snake....they're harmless....don't even think they are capable of biting you as their mouth is too small.

[plachonubon]

they're called ngoo din...which means dirt snake....they're harmless....don't even think they are capable of biting you as their mouth is too small.

O.K. i heard them being called ngoo din but didn't think it was their real name.

are you sure they're harmless? have you picked one up?

really like to clear up the deadly or not part?

[Gimbo]

Gee folks, don't you ever go fishing?

They are earth worms, and I can assure you they are completely harmless :D

[sutnyod]

Gee folks, don't you ever go fishing?

They are earth worms, and I can assure you they are completely harmless

U-uh. They are much smaller, completely black and shiny and they 'dance' (lift upper body up) when agitated. And yes, it was Ngou Din.

[Gimbo]

Gee folks, don't you ever go fishing?

They are earth worms, and I can assure you they are completely harmless

U-uh. They are much smaller, completely black and shiny and they 'dance' (lift upper body up) when agitated. And yes, it was Ngou Din.

Okay, played around with google. And yes it's a snake and they are probably: Brahminy Blind Snake or flowerpot snakes. Is it this one:

If so it's suposed to be completely harmless.

"Flower Pot Snake" - Brahminy Blind Snake

Brahminy Blind Snakes (Ramphotyphlops braminus) are tiny (2-6 inches), brownish-black, earthworm-like snakes with nearly invisible eyes and no distinct head or tail (Figure 3).

CREDITS: Jason Butler, 2007

Figure 3. "Flower Pot Snake" or Brahminy Blind Snake, shown next to a dime for size comparison (Adult).

Unlike earthworms, these non-native snakes are smooth and are not segmented. They were introduced to Florida through the ornamental plant trade (hence the name "Flower Pot Snake") and are one of the most commonly found snakes in urban areas throughout peninsular Florida. Notably, the prevalence of this non-native species can be attributed in part to the fact that all Brahminy Blind Snakes are female, meaning that a single individual can reproduce asexually by a process called 'parthenogenesis'. These tiny snakes burrow in potted plants or flower beds, feeding on larval ants and termites, and are occasionally found in houses, as their small size allows them to slip in under doors. These snakes are completely harmless to humans, and may be removed from the house by sweeping them into a bucket or small garbage can.

But the wife also said they bite, you die...

Edited October 27, 2007 by Gimbo

[sibeymai]

Have them on the farm here. Wife also says "they bite, you die". Can't substantiate it with any deaths though. Best to use gloves and knee length rubber boots on the farm anyway for defence against bigger snakes and scorpions although they don't offer much protection against wasps as I found out recently. OUCH !!

[plachonubon]

Gee folks, don't you ever go fishing?

They are earth worms, and I can assure you they are completely harmless

yes, i do go fishing and i'm extremley bloody careful when getting my bait!!!!

i can assure you they aint worms!!!

[Farma]

I found this article about Thai blind snakes on http://library.car.chula.ac.th:82/search*t...,B/marc~b337882

I haven't had a chance to search through all the snakes named yet.The first few I looked at were all classed as harmless. When I get a chance later I will look through the rest of the list.

Part of the article is listed below.

Species diversity and distribution of the blind snake in Thailand were studied from literatures, museum specimens and field surveys in 6 regions of Thailand for 2 years from January 1997 to December 1998.

It was found that there are 11 species of the blind snakes in Thailand including

Ramphotyphlops albiceps,

R.braminus,

R.lineatus,

R.ozakiae,

Typhlops diardi,

T.floweri,

T.khoratensis,

T.muelleri,

T.porrectus,

T.siamensis,

T.trangensis.

If Wiki is to be believed the first 4 on the list can be classed as harmless.

Ramphotyphlops is a genus of non-venomous blind snakes found in southern and Southest Asia and Australia, with one species inhabiting the Americas, as well as many islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. They occur in a wide variety of habitats. Currently, 49 species are recognized

Edited October 27, 2007 by Farma

[Farma]

plachonubon if you want some decent sized earthworms for fishing bait I’ve seen what can only be described as giant earthworms near Ban Thaen to the west of Khon Kaen.

These things were 1 inch round and about 2 foot long. Over the years I only saw 3 of them. All the sightings were close to a Wat located in the middle of farms and near a creek. I’d heard about a place in Victoria Oz that had giant earthworms but this was a first for me in Thailand.

[Gimbo]

plachonubon if you want some decent sized earthworms for fishing bait I’ve seen what can only be described as giant earthworms near Ban Thaen to the west of Khon Kaen.

These things were 1 inch round and about 2 foot long. Over the years I only saw 3 of them. All the sightings were close to a Wat located in the middle of farms and near a creek. I’d heard about a place in Victoria Oz that had giant earthworms but this was a first for me in Thailand.

Have plenty of those in the garden, and they are quite agile too. That's why I thought it was earth worms you all where so worked up about.

The wife told me that the old ladies in the villages says that if these bite you, it means you will have bad luck. Yup, if bitten by an earth worm you must be truely and unlucky person he he...

But also getting anxious to know more about these snakes!!

[Farma]

I’ve spent a few hours searching for info on the rest of the blind snakes on the list. Unfortunately I can’t find detailed information in English for most of these snakes. The ones with detailed information are reported to be harmless.

The snakes on the Chula list posted above appear on the Siam-info site as mildly poisonous snakes/non poisonous snakes.

[SnakeBite]

Here is a small list of NON poisonous snakes in Thailand and the first on the list is the Blind Snake or black snake.

http://www.siam-info.de/english/snakes_non-poisonous.html

[macb]

Having spoke to the wife and having seen mutant worms that look as if they have been subjected to the HULK syndrome :

One of my builders was picking this up to use as fishing bate they are black looking but the wife assures me they are large worms or Thai pronunciation SAI DUANG (Earthworm)

[macb]

Just to expand this Topic:

What is very popular is what they call a FROG snake they can grow to 2/3 meters and look like a cobra very dark brown in colour and move fast, we se a lot of these:

Ant one else any knowledge on these I want to clear up the fact that locals say not venomous ??

Edited October 28, 2007 by macb

[plachonubon]

Here is a small list of NON poisonous snakes in Thailand and the first on the list is the Blind Snake or black snake.

http://www.siam-info.de/english/snakes_non-poisonous.html

Well that certainly looks like my little black killers!!!!

What i don't understand is why ALL Thais think they are so deadly?????

Any ideas on that?

[sutnyod]

What i don't understand is why ALL Thais think they are so deadly?????

Maybe because nobody was seen eating one?

No recipe exists with Ngu Din as the main ingredient?

That would surely make me suspicious....

.... and after 2-3 generations that suspicion would have festered in the belief that they are poisonous.

[jay-uk]

I'm not sure about the type of snake you refer to and whether or not deadly but we had a snake on our land that was huge around the time we laid soil and had our house built/finished in Ubon. The locals kept saying it was a "Landlord" to the area coming to see who had disturbed him. Over the course of a week or so the snake kept coming close to the house and in-laws were saying prayers in front the house to remove the "snake spirit" from our land. I do not belive or disbelive this kind of stuff' but the snake never came again after that. Maybe it was just in lorry load of soil dropped outside or maybe it really was a landlord as thy say...I'll never know but some strange things do happen in Thailand which cannot always be explained. All the talk of snaked reminded me of that story from 4 years ago..

Jay

[Screws]

Here is a small list of NON poisonous snakes in Thailand and the first on the list is the Blind Snake or black snake.

<a href="http://www.siam-info.de/english/snakes_non-poisonous.html" target="_blank">http://www.siam-info.de/english/snakes_non-poisonous.html</a>

Well that certainly looks like my little black killers!!!!

What i don't understand is why ALL Thais think they are so deadly?????

Any ideas on that?

& why are they scared of jingjoks and petrified of dook gairs?

[plachonubon]

Here is a small list of NON poisonous snakes in Thailand and the first on the list is the Blind Snake or black snake.

<a href="http://www.siam-info.de/english/snakes_non-poisonous.html" target="_blank">http://www.siam-info.de/english/snakes_non-poisonous.html</a>

Well that certainly looks like my little black killers!!!!

What i don't understand is why ALL Thais think they are so deadly?????

Any ideas on that?

& why are they scared of jingjoks and petrified of dook gairs?

well who wants a jin jok to land on the? and tookae certainlt agressive if you grab the once they bite very hard to get rid of!!

i'm going with the can't eat it must be poisonus theory !!

[SnakeBite]

Poor education and superstition are the main reasons for these fears. When the Thais have the monks still selling them amulets to ward off evil things or to bring good fortune, it's hard to bring them into the real world.

[Mai Krap]

Unless one is a herpetologist, snakes in Thailand should always be considered poisonous. There are some deadly small snakes here, one is the "Hour Glass Snake" supposedly because a bite from it means you have one hour to live. I have killed many snakes here and encountered very large King Cobras too. In general the snakes here can be very similar to each other and easily confused, they can be anywhere, anytime, so beware.

[llso]

I wondered too about my wife and villagers telling me everything was deadly poisonous. Having a background in Biology and science i researched and found that most of the things that they considered deadly were either harmless of very midly poisonous. My thinking is that when you are growing up in the vilage it is easier to just say everything is poisonous and will kill you than to try to differentiate what thing are poisonous or not.

LL

[Travel2003]

Okay, played around with google. And yes it's a snake and they are probably: Brahminy Blind Snake or flowerpot snakes. Is it this one:

If so it's suposed to be completely harmless.

"Flower Pot Snake" - Brahminy Blind Snake

Brahminy Blind Snakes (Ramphotyphlops braminus) are tiny (2-6 inches), brownish-black, earthworm-like snakes with nearly invisible eyes and no distinct head or tail (Figure 3).

CREDITS: Jason Butler, 2007

Figure 3. "Flower Pot Snake" or Brahminy Blind Snake, shown next to a dime for size comparison (Adult).

Unlike earthworms, these non-native snakes are smooth and are not segmented. They were introduced to Florida through the ornamental plant trade (hence the name "Flower Pot Snake") and are one of the most commonly found snakes in urban areas throughout peninsular Florida. Notably, the prevalence of this non-native species can be attributed in part to the fact that all Brahminy Blind Snakes are female, meaning that a single individual can reproduce asexually by a process called 'parthenogenesis'. These tiny snakes burrow in potted plants or flower beds, feeding on larval ants and termites, and are occasionally found in houses, as their small size allows them to slip in under doors. These snakes are completely harmless to humans, and may be removed from the house by sweeping them into a bucket or small garbage can.

But the wife also said they bite, you die...

Hahahaha

I showed the picture to my wife, and she just jumped.

Amazing!

Anything remotely snake like will make her jump.

Even eels.

Other then that, she eats anything.

Absolutely anything.

[macb]

WEll yesterday my German Shepherd hunted and killed this one its what we call a rat snake tries to get away and does not like confrontation the locals say it is not venomous

Then the kids dragged me outside to look at this one it was green and very alert and quick don't know if venomous or not

Yesterday the wife shouted ngoo (Snake) i ran outside like the big white Hunter : She said careful Cobra I could not see anything she gave me the daughter and ran to the neighbours the came looked found nothing except a hole that went under the concrete base of the car-port, the descriptive from the wife was long and as thick as our 9 month old daughters leg and moving slowly the local thought was it was a white cobra !!! No pictures I did not see it either

[AYJAYDEE]

Poor education and superstition are the main reasons for these fears. When the Thais have the monks still selling them amulets to ward off evil things or to bring good fortune, it's hard to bring them into the real world.

that doesnt sound much more superstitious than eating the body and drinking the blood of christ every sunday at mass

[paddlesup]

WEll yesterday my German Shepherd hunted and killed this one its what we call a rat snake tries to get away and does not like confrontation the locals say it is not venomous

Then the kids dragged me outside to look at this one it was green and very alert and quick don't know if venomous or not

Yesterday the wife shouted ngoo (Snake) i ran outside like the big white Hunter : She said careful Cobra I could not see anything she gave me the daughter and ran to the neighbours the came looked found nothing except a hole that went under the concrete base of the car-port, the descriptive from the wife was long and as thick as our 9 month old daughters leg and moving slowly the local thought was it was a white cobra !!! No pictures I did not see it either

A "white cobra" - that's a new one on me and it's certainly not in the handy "Snakes of Thailand" book I have. Maybe it's an albino variant on the spitting or king cobra? Or like the "lethal" black Brahminy blind snake, a product of the fanciful Isaan imagination when it comes to serpents and ghosts.

The alert green snake is almost certainly a ngoo khieow, which are great hunters and are useful round the house for keeping tookay populations in check. I've seen them in some fantastic battles with a tookay which lasted for up to 30 mins. The snake usually wins!

[phibunmike]

Here is a small list of NON poisonous snakes in Thailand and the first on the list is the Blind Snake or black snake.

<a href="http://www.siam-info.de/english/snakes_non-poisonous.html" target="_blank">http://www.siam-info.de/english/snakes_non-poisonous.html</a>

Well that certainly looks like my little black killers!!!!

What i don't understand is why ALL Thais think they are so deadly?????

Any ideas on that?

I have found that the Thais near me, including my wife, seem to think almost every snake is deadly, and even extend this to millipedes and Tokay geckos. (The latter they believe can leap from the wall, attach to your throat, and choke you ).

I think once the idea forms that something is dangerous, no-one goes near it, so no-one ever finds out that they are not; thus the belief survives. Until I picked up and handled millipedes, my wife was terrified of them; now my nieces also pick them up, so gradually there will be one village in Thailand where people know millipedes are harmless.