Any Suggestions About This Snake?

[Allyt]

Hi

Another quiz item for the snake experts.

This little snake is less than a meter long and is never in a hurry to move out of sight. This particular one is thinking about crossing the road in my Mobaan and stayed there for quite a while, with apparently no wheel marks or other damage.

There is no sign of any puffy flabby skin behind the head!

Any ideas about which variety of snake this might be?

Thanks

Ally

[twschw]

It might be a Banded Krait which is poisonous. I am no expert though. I would leave it alone.

[Allyt]

Thanks but sadly not the same shape. This little fella is certainly round and does not have a formed shape to its body like that Krait.

Ally

[Nienke]

You might find your answer here: http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes.htm

[Farma]

I was thinking of the Gold ringed cat snake aka the Yellow ringed cat snake http://ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/gold-r...d_cat-snake.htm

Your location and the lack of yellow under the snakes mouth don’t quite match.

[twschw]

I didn't think my guess matched either but thought I would try

[Farma]

The Common Krait appears to match the photo.

"The second most deadly snake in the world is called the Common Krait. This Snake is located mostly in Southeast Asia and is normally black with yellow bands around it. This snake can go either on land or water and is highly venomous."

[sbk]

Common kraits are in India aren't they? And this picture doesn't show a rounded body either

[Allyt]

Thanks folks.

Farma, I am sorry to say that the body shape, if you looked at a cross section slice through of the body, is nothing like it. The rings are hadly similar and the size is all wrong.

Please keep the suggestions coming.

Thanks

Ally

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

It would be somewhat out of its normal territory (southern thailand), but it looks like a gold-ringed cat snake.

Snakes of Southeast Asia

[Farma]

No problems Allyt just offering suggestions. I remember holding a similar rounded black snake with yellow stripes many years ago in Malaysia. The snake man would visit our housing area with cobras and another he called a Krait. Maybe the Krait he had was well fed.

If all else fails take a look through this site. It has plenty of information and photos where available.

http://www.toxinology.com/fusebox.cfm?fuse...n.snakes.search

SBK the site I listed shows the Common Krait is reported in Thailand as well as other S.E. Asian countries.

[Goshawk]

It's definately a laotian Wolf Snake (Lycodon laoensis)

common and completely harmless...

edit = the Banded Krait is also quite common throughout the Kingdom, but this one is deadly (and can be mistaken for the Laotian Wolf Snake)

Edited May 1, 2008 by Goshawk