Help What Kind Of Snake Is This

[BlackArtemis]

Ian: What type of snake is that yellow and black one. I haven't seen a cobra like that before.

The yellow and black stripes are a common pattern in Thailand.

Batesian and Müllerian mimicry are rampant in a tropical setting, so cool too.

It's a mangrove snake (bogia)

Do not confuse with the banded krait.

Haha, thanks. And there we have an example of Müllerian mimicry, where two species look the same but unlike Batesian the Mimick is dangerous like the model.

Batesian = Wolf in sheep's clothing while Müllerian is like gang colors haha.

Sorry, I'll stop with the ecology lessons.

[Gary A]

A friend of mine lives in Krabi province. He had some Thai guys working for him doing construction work. A very small Malaysian viper (six inches long) bit one of them on big toe. The guy refused to go to the hospital and went to the local witch doctor. He later went to the hospital and ended up losing his big toe.

[IanForbes]

Ian: What type of snake is that yellow and black one. I haven't seen a cobra like that before.

The yellow and black stripes are a common pattern in Thailand.

Batesian and Müllerian mimicry are rampant in a tropical setting, so cool too.

It's a mangrove snake (bogia)

Do not confuse with the banded krait.

Yes, Poor sucker is correct. It's a Mangrove snake. It is mildly venomous, but it is rear fanged and the fangs are small. Banded kraits are more orange brown with similar sized black stripes.

Mangrove snake...

Banded krait

I've only seen a couple of banded kraits in the wild and both disappeared before I could get a good photo.

Don't mess with these guys though. They are both smart and VERY dangerous. They also can grow to enormous sizes.

Unless you piss them off, most snakes will just try to escape.

[carmine]

Thanks for the advice certainly does look like a pit viper!

I think its only a baby though can't be longer than a foot.

Misses is on the phone trying to find someone to remove it.Hope the

Hope they come out at this time

Edit: If i would have known don't think i would have got so close to take the pic YIKES

I would'nt get any closer to that dude.....i'd also have it removed as opposed to waiting for it to go as you would be a lot better off with the peace of mind he's really gone.

[phetaroi]

Unless you piss them off, most snakes will just try to escape.

I have to give you a caution about this statement. I used to do a lot of hiking in the States when I was younger. I can think of at least 3 times I/we came upon copperheads on the trail that had no intention of moving out of the way. Same once with a rattler. Same once with an unidentified snake in Arches National Park (probably a gopher snake). And once with an unidentified snake in Ithaca, NY (probably a milk snake). Now, just in case you're going to say Thai snakes are different, I was in a temple over in Thonburi and the snake was slowly...and I would say not aggressively...moving straight toward where I was leaning on the tree he was in.

In none of these cases were we pissing them off at all.

[craigt3365]

What do the snake rescue guys do with them? Just curious...

We were coming home a few nights ago and the guards had found a cobra and killed it. It was fairly long...

[WOOHOO]

....If it upsets someone , welcome to Thailand , this is what they all do over here ,

no risks .

Monkey see, monkey do. They will nearly always eat it or give it to someone else who will though. Big difference.

[haveaniceday]

Does anyone have a list or link of snake rescue people in Thailand? Sound like they were really on the ball.

Most of the people in this thread will not agree with my opinion, but I hate snakes. I must admit most have ran away before I could ensure they wouldn't return.

The 3 times the snakes that decided my home is their new home, I chopped up, unfortunately one was a python and I felt a little bit guilty later, but the first two were very venomous and very aggressive. Ended up chopping them in half with one of those tree branch pruning tools on a 15 foot pole with a rope for a trigger that you pull. I have no regrets, one was a red belly black snake in my home, I slept much better. I did recycle it though and helped global warming by composting it, so I am a little bit environmentally friendly.

[monkfish]

To add a twist to the story the only reason I saw the snake was because it was coiled up about 10cm away from my shoes(flip flops) I saw it move as I was putting them on. So Very close call I would say.

Not sure how much of a baby, it was about 40-50cm long for sure not a fully mature adult.

Once we had called the snake guy he told us to go inside and lock the doors and on no account should we approach it as they are very quick and aggressive.

This is the 3rd snake this year I believe one was a Banded Kriat but he scarpered as soon as he saw me and a very fast mover, literally

jumped over our wall which is about 4 foot high.

Good idea with the bucket may be an option next time attached to a very long stick though.

I don't want to kill em and certainly don't want to put my own life at risk by trying to.

Have read somewhere if they bite you should capture the snake and take it to the hospital for identification!

Does anyone know if they can bite 2 times or is all the venom used in the first bite?

Going to be very careful around the house in the evening now, it seems Pit Vipers are nocturnal snakes.

One other piece of advice I got from a Thai neighbor was watch the Geckos on your wall if they disappear you probably have a snake somewhere.

That was true we normally have about 10+ around the house but last night 0.

Edit: Just want to add I have heard most snakes will run which indeed made me feel safe around the house.

But this Pit Viper didn't want to run he wanted to fight so don't lull yourself into a false sense of security on that issue.

Edited April 24, 2010 by monkfish

[CHdiver]

After more then 4 years in Thailand I am still waiting to see my first Snake, living in a high floor Condo doesnt help I know

[MaiDong]

That cobra looks rather super-imposed IanForbes...

[monkfish]

Here is a number you can call in the Chonburi or Pattaya area if you got a snake.

They are not only for snakes but are a Voluntary Emergency Service including snake catchers.

038222474

Hope its OK to post the number on TV but it could be of help to somebody

Edit: This is the snake catcher direct number in Pattaya

Probably better if you speak Thai though

0810000070

Edited April 24, 2010 by monkfish

[phetaroi]

Does anyone know if they can bite 2 times or is all the venom used in the first bite?

The catch about snakes biting is that people assume they bite and let go. That is not necessarily true, sometimes they hang on.

[BlackArtemis]

To add a twist to the story the only reason I saw the snake was because it was coiled up about 10cm away from my shoes(flip flops) I saw it move as I was putting them on. So Very close call I would say.

Not sure how much of a baby, it was about 40-50cm long for sure not a fully mature adult.

Once we had called the snake guy he told us to go inside and lock the doors and on no account should we approach it as they are very quick and aggressive.

This is the 3rd snake this year I believe one was a Banded Kriat but he scarpered as soon as he saw me and a very fast mover, literally

jumped over our wall which is about 4 foot high.

Good idea with the bucket may be an option next time attached to a very long stick though.

I don't want to kill em and certainly don't want to put my own life at risk by trying to.

Have read somewhere if they bite you should capture the snake and take it to the hospital for identification!

Does anyone know if they can bite 2 times or is all the venom used in the first bite?

Going to be very careful around the house in the evening now, it seems Pit Vipers are nocturnal snakes.

One other piece of advice I got from a Thai neighbor was watch the Geckos on your wall if they disappear you probably have a snake somewhere.

That was true we normally have about 10+ around the house but last night 0.

Edit: Just want to add I have heard most snakes will run which indeed made me feel safe around the house.

But this Pit Viper didn't want to run he wanted to fight so don't lull yourself into a false sense of security on that issue.

Snakes can bite multiple times and as mentioned before there is something called measured delivery,relatively new discover actually, where a snake can control the amount of venom injected. As someone mentioned above juveniles have yet to learn this method and often dump their full dose in their first bite and therefore are much more dangerous than their adult counterparts. Furthermore thanks to the nuclear arms race that is adaptation and evolution, snakes venom becomes more venomous over time (as a population) this is because their prey becomes more resistant over time (also as a population). So since we never interact with them like their prey species the dosage they use for a quick kill on say, a mongoose etc, is more than enough to kill us or something larger, like an elephant.

Now, there are plenty of other constrictors etc running around, they can bite you too. The danger with them is no venom, as they lack it, but bacterial infection. So you should really get checked out no matter what bites you, that pretty much goes for any animal.

My brother in law gave me a call about a snake in their house, once I saw it I realized it was a baby reticulated python and told em it didn't have venom, we grabbed it, but it still tried to bite us, we pissed it off since it was in a corner, not the snake's fault. They were cool with me releasing it alive about a kilometer away from their house, they didn't like it being too close since in a year or two it would be big enough to eat their chihuahua, something I always worried about when I let my poodle/bichon mix run around the yard. hel_l, my wife was walking him here in the US on a leash and a Hawk tried to get him

[NADTATIDA1]

Monkfis just curious did they ask for money to take it away?

[tijnebijn]

....If it upsets someone , welcome to Thailand , this is what they all do over here ,

no risks .

Monkey see, monkey do. They will nearly always eat it or give it to someone else who will though. Big difference.

Well yes I might be a monkey , one of those who recognises letters .....

What you say is not entirely true , from what I know they only eat ngoe sing and some

eat others like cobra , but most won't try those over here in the North , in Isan I know they do .

All the others they do not eat .

Don't say I know nothing , I stay eleven years in Thailand , speak very well Thai and Mueang , and seen

many many snakes , and they don't eat them , except ngoe sing and some fat cobra's ......All the rest they throw

on the road or infront the home , superstition for other snakes not to enter their home , if they do chop chop .

[wintermute]

Alabama black snake.

[monkfish]

Monkfis just curious did they ask for money to take it away?

No they didn't ask for any payment and seemed very happy to take the snake away alive in a 7/11 bag on the back of a moped which made me smile.

[monkfish]

To add a twist to the story the only reason I saw the snake was because it was coiled up about 10cm away from my shoes(flip flops) I saw it move as I was putting them on. So Very close call I would say.

Not sure how much of a baby, it was about 40-50cm long for sure not a fully mature adult.

Once we had called the snake guy he told us to go inside and lock the doors and on no account should we approach it as they are very quick and aggressive.

This is the 3rd snake this year I believe one was a Banded Kriat but he scarpered as soon as he saw me and a very fast mover, literally

jumped over our wall which is about 4 foot high.

Good idea with the bucket may be an option next time attached to a very long stick though.

I don't want to kill em and certainly don't want to put my own life at risk by trying to.

Have read somewhere if they bite you should capture the snake and take it to the hospital for identification!

Does anyone know if they can bite 2 times or is all the venom used in the first bite?

Going to be very careful around the house in the evening now, it seems Pit Vipers are nocturnal snakes.

One other piece of advice I got from a Thai neighbor was watch the Geckos on your wall if they disappear you probably have a snake somewhere.

That was true we normally have about 10+ around the house but last night 0.

Edit: Just want to add I have heard most snakes will run which indeed made me feel safe around the house.

But this Pit Viper didn't want to run he wanted to fight so don't lull yourself into a false sense of security on that issue.

Snakes can bite multiple times and as mentioned before there is something called measured delivery,relatively new discover actually, where a snake can control the amount of venom injected. As someone mentioned above juveniles have yet to learn this method and often dump their full dose in their first bite and therefore are much more dangerous than their adult counterparts. Furthermore thanks to the nuclear arms race that is adaptation and evolution, snakes venom becomes more venomous over time (as a population) this is because their prey becomes more resistant over time (also as a population). So since we never interact with them like their prey species the dosage they use for a quick kill on say, a mongoose etc, is more than enough to kill us or something larger, like an elephant.

Now, there are plenty of other constrictors etc running around, they can bite you too. The danger with them is no venom, as they lack it, but bacterial infection. So you should really get checked out no matter what bites you, that pretty much goes for any animal.

My brother in law gave me a call about a snake in their house, once I saw it I realized it was a baby reticulated python and told em it didn't have venom, we grabbed it, but it still tried to bite us, we pissed it off since it was in a corner, not the snake's fault. They were cool with me releasing it alive about a kilometer away from their house, they didn't like it being too close since in a year or two it would be big enough to eat their chihuahua, something I always worried about when I let my poodle/bichon mix run around the yard. hel_l, my wife was walking him here in the US on a leash and a Hawk tried to get him

OK I guess this answered my worst fear!! snakes can bite twice

After a few snake encounters now I am kind of preparing myself for the worst eventuality of getting bitten.

Guess there is no real way of knowing what to do at the time but good to be prepared.

I think the best bet would be to try and grab it whilst the fangs are still sucking away at the flesh and bang it on something hard?

But not sure that would be possible, how quickly does the poison effect.

Also wondering how the hospital goes about treating if you don't know which snake was the culprit?

Is it a matter of trail and error with different antidotes?

I assume the first antidote they would try is for the Malayan Pit Viper? from I have read 50% of all snake bites in Thailand are from little bugger.

Or do different bites cause different symptoms enabling them to identify the snake involved.

I believe a Pit Viper bite causes extreme blistering around the wound due to the fact that the poison kills your blood cells.

A lot of questions but does anybody have the answers? can't seem to find them on the internet any how's.

[hawthorne]

My wife warned me about Cobras in her house the first time I visited, I about shited. As she corrected the statement they have been found in the house on a rare occassion. I am still not comfortable staying there. I do not mind a snake I can see but one I do not know is there scares the crap out of me. If it is in the area I live killing it is no problem if I think it is poisonous. But if you have snakes get rid of the source of their food if you can, rats and trash are those most controllable. Old wooden shacks are notorious for housing rats and attracting snakes. She says most people in her town do not die from snake bites because when they get bit they grab the snake and take it to the hospital to make sure they get the correct anti venom. My luck I would get bit two or three times trying to catch the snake.

[IanForbes]

Good on you for having it removed safely, monkfish. I like snakes, but I DO know that venomous ones should be removed from populated areas. When I was in Australia I had to kill several tiger snakes and Black snakes because they were in the subdivision where we were staying. You can't have children accidently stepping on them. But, I always left them alone when in the wilderness. I didn't even kill the tiger snake that bit me. Luckily I was fishing at the time and wearing waders and thick socks and luckily the fangs barely scratched my skin. My waders still have the two little puncture marks. My wife always said that I attracted snakes, but it was more of a case that I spend a lot of time in places where snakes frequent... streams and bushy areas near water.

Unfortunately, man moves into wildlife's environment and then expects the animals to move somewhere else. African countries have killed of most of their wildlife and are still doing so today.

It doesn't surprise me that your Malayan pit viper was aggressive when approached. It looked quite comfortable in the spot it chose to sleep and it's no different than us when someone wakes us up. And, although most snakes do not want confrontation, when they are going somewhere (to water or a den) then they seldom deviate from their path.

[Thongkorn]

There are many types of Vipers. they may have different colour markings, the only thing about them that is common is the shape of there head, The head looks like the three of clubs, You should treat all snakes as poisonous, Some snakes can bite and not inject venom, like the Cobra,If you have a problem with Cobras in your garden, there are plants you can put around your house to deter them.

Edited April 24, 2010 by Thongkorn

[tijnebijn]

There are many types of Vipers. they may have different colour markings, the only thing about them that is common is the shape of there head, The head looks like the three of clubs, You should treat all snakes as poisonous, Some snakes can bite and not inject venom, like the Cobra,If you have a problem with Cobras in your garden, there are plants you can put around your house to deter them.

Yeah I've heard that before , what's the name of the plant ? Might be interested in those .

Edited April 24, 2010 by tijnebijn

[BlackArtemis]

To add a twist to the story the only reason I saw the snake was because it was coiled up about 10cm away from my shoes(flip flops) I saw it move as I was putting them on. So Very close call I would say.

Not sure how much of a baby, it was about 40-50cm long for sure not a fully mature adult.

Once we had called the snake guy he told us to go inside and lock the doors and on no account should we approach it as they are very quick and aggressive.

This is the 3rd snake this year I believe one was a Banded Kriat but he scarpered as soon as he saw me and a very fast mover, literally

jumped over our wall which is about 4 foot high.

Good idea with the bucket may be an option next time attached to a very long stick though.

I don't want to kill em and certainly don't want to put my own life at risk by trying to.

Have read somewhere if they bite you should capture the snake and take it to the hospital for identification!

Does anyone know if they can bite 2 times or is all the venom used in the first bite?

Going to be very careful around the house in the evening now, it seems Pit Vipers are nocturnal snakes.

One other piece of advice I got from a Thai neighbor was watch the Geckos on your wall if they disappear you probably have a snake somewhere.

That was true we normally have about 10+ around the house but last night 0.

Edit: Just want to add I have heard most snakes will run which indeed made me feel safe around the house.

But this Pit Viper didn't want to run he wanted to fight so don't lull yourself into a false sense of security on that issue.

Snakes can bite multiple times and as mentioned before there is something called measured delivery,relatively new discover actually, where a snake can control the amount of venom injected. As someone mentioned above juveniles have yet to learn this method and often dump their full dose in their first bite and therefore are much more dangerous than their adult counterparts. Furthermore thanks to the nuclear arms race that is adaptation and evolution, snakes venom becomes more venomous over time (as a population) this is because their prey becomes more resistant over time (also as a population). So since we never interact with them like their prey species the dosage they use for a quick kill on say, a mongoose etc, is more than enough to kill us or something larger, like an elephant.

Now, there are plenty of other constrictors etc running around, they can bite you too. The danger with them is no venom, as they lack it, but bacterial infection. So you should really get checked out no matter what bites you, that pretty much goes for any animal.

My brother in law gave me a call about a snake in their house, once I saw it I realized it was a baby reticulated python and told em it didn't have venom, we grabbed it, but it still tried to bite us, we pissed it off since it was in a corner, not the snake's fault. They were cool with me releasing it alive about a kilometer away from their house, they didn't like it being too close since in a year or two it would be big enough to eat their chihuahua, something I always worried about when I let my poodle/bichon mix run around the yard. hel_l, my wife was walking him here in the US on a leash and a Hawk tried to get him

OK I guess this answered my worst fear!! snakes can bite twice

After a few snake encounters now I am kind of preparing myself for the worst eventuality of getting bitten.

Guess there is no real way of knowing what to do at the time but good to be prepared.

I think the best bet would be to try and grab it whilst the fangs are still sucking away at the flesh and bang it on something hard?

But not sure that would be possible, how quickly does the poison effect.

Also wondering how the hospital goes about treating if you don't know which snake was the culprit?

Is it a matter of trail and error with different antidotes?

I assume the first antidote they would try is for the Malayan Pit Viper? from I have read 50% of all snake bites in Thailand are from little bugger.

Or do different bites cause different symptoms enabling them to identify the snake involved.

I believe a Pit Viper bite causes extreme blistering around the wound due to the fact that the poison kills your blood cells.

A lot of questions but does anybody have the answers? can't seem to find them on the internet any how's.

Different venoms take different amounts of time (deals with the whole nuclear arms race I talked about) Plus, if you are allergic, you can be worse off much quicker.

I wouldn't make a move on a snake that just bit me. Grabbing it will only encourage it to dump more venom into you or bite more times. Many times the bite is the last "GET THE #$%^ AWAY FROM ME" and they will run off on their own. The best thing to do is simply get a good look at it, don't go chasing at it and get all worked up after being bit. Call for help and describe it as fast as you can so you don't forget what it looks like.

Many of us have smart phones now, you could simply download pictures of the snakes of Thailand in your phone.

Don't stress too much

[geronimo]

There are many types of Vipers. they may have different colour markings, the only thing about them that is common is the shape of there head, The head looks like the three of clubs, You should treat all snakes as poisonous, Some snakes can bite and not inject venom, like the Cobra,If you have a problem with Cobras in your garden, there are plants you can put around your house to deter them.

Yeah I've heard that before , what's the name of the plant ? Might be interested in those .

We had a spectacled cobra in our garden one time. It was huge and when the snake guy turned up, he spread dry plaster around the perimeter and said that snakes won't cross it because the lime irritates their skin.

[sharecropper]

That cobra looks rather super-imposed IanForbes...

Also the shadow of the snake's head and neck, and Ian's body don't seem at quite the same angle for one source of sunlight?

[elkangorito]

Pressure Immobilisation Technique (from http://www.health.qld.gov.au/poisonsinform...bs_pressure.asp ).

See a movie of 'How to apply a Pressure Immobilisation Bandage' at http://www.avru.org/firstaid/firstaid_pibmovie.html

The pressure-immobilisation first aid technique was developed in the 1970's by Professor Struan Sutherland. Its purpose is to retard the movement of venom from the bite site into the circulation, thus "buying time" for the patient to reach medical care. Research with snake venom has shown that very little venom reaches the blood stream if firm pressure is applied over the bitten area and the limb is immobilised. Pressure-immobilisation was initially developed to treat snakebite, but it is also applicable to bites and stings by some other venomous creatures. It is currently recommended for most life threatening venomous bites and stings in Australia.

Pressure-immobilisation is recommended for:

* all species of Australian snakes, including sea snakes.

* funnel web spiders.

* bee, wasp and ant stings in allergic individuals.

* blue ringed octopus.

* cone shell stings.

Do not use pressure-immobilisation first aid for:

* spider bites other than from a funnel web spider.

* jelly fish stings.

* stonefish and other fish stings.

* bee, wasp and ant stings in non-allergic individuals.

* bites by scorpions, centipedes, beetles.

Additional information:

* Research stresses the importance of keeping the patient still. This includes all the limbs.

* Do NOT cut or excise the bitten or stung area.

* Do NOT apply an arterial tourniquet. (Arterial tourniquets, which cut off the circulation to the limb, are potentially dangerous, and are no longer recommended for any type of bite or sting in Australia.)

* Do NOT wash the bitten or stung area. The type of snake involved may be identified by the detection of venom on the skin.

* Note: Even if the bitten or stung person is ill when first seen, the application of pressure-immobilisation first aid may prevent further absorption of venom from the bite or sting site during transport to hospital.

* If the bandages and splint have been applied correctly, they will be comfortable and may be left on for several hours. They should not be taken off until the patient has reached medical care.

* The treating doctor will decide when to remove the bandages. If a significant amount of venom has been injected, it may move into the blood stream very quickly when the bandages are removed. They should be left in position until appropriate antivenom and resuscitation equipment has been assembled.

* Bandages may be quickly reapplied if clinical deterioration occurs, and left on until antivenom therapy has been effective.

[khaowong1]

Good news!

My snake is gone and a positive identification on behalf of TV members indeed a Malayan Pit Viper!!

The misses called the police who gave us the number of the local snake catcher they were here within 10 minutes of calling.

Must say even they seemed scared of this guy and were very cautious during the catching process so probably wouldn't recommend DIY with Pit Vipers.

All in all an excellent service they didn't even ask for a fee but I insisted they took a 100B for the inconvenience of coming out late at night.

One thing to be aware of is he didn't seem at all scared, this guy held his ground even when threatened with a mop and he wasn't in a corner.

The bad news! it was only a baby and the mummy probably isn't to far way!

"i swear mom, i haven't seen your son"

[elkangorito]

Baby snakes do not hang around their parents...they are equiped with everything they need from birth. In other words, 'Mum' may no longer be anywhere near 'child'...unless you provide a food source for the whole family.

[Thongkorn]

There are many types of Vipers. they may have different colour markings, the only thing about them that is common is the shape of there head, The head looks like the three of clubs, You should treat all snakes as poisonous, Some snakes can bite and not inject venom, like the Cobra,If you have a problem with Cobras in your garden, there are plants you can put around your house to deter them.

Yeah I've heard that before , what's the name of the plant ? Might be interested in those .

The name of the plant is Salert Pang Pong , that's how it sounds when Thais say it , it looks similar to Ginseng, Snake charmers are feed it from being a child , so if they get bit they have some resistant against the bite , Monks also use it.