Identify this snake please? 14th floor condo!

[BKKBrit]

Hi guys

Anyone know what kind of snake this is? It's tiny (a pencil is bigger) but long...I am guessing a baby...around 22cm long. Funkiest thing? It's in my laundry room on the top floor of a condo - 14 stories up in downtown BKK. The colour is a vibrant green and not black - not sure why the camera didn't pick it up. 

The cats found it. 

 

Thanks! 

 

[Crossy]

He looks like a Golden Tree Snake https://www.thailandsnakes.com/venomous/rear-fanged/golden-tree-snake-mildly-venomous-not-very-dangerous/

 

We have loads in our garden, beautiful, fast, pretty much harmless. They do climb well and they can glide (downwards of course).

 

If you don't mind him being around he'll be making a meal of any roaches and the like in your condo.

[BKKBrit]

Spot on Crossy. That's him. He's tiny...must be a juvenile but he moves so fast! Dang! I'll take him down the soi when I catch him. 

[Crossy]

If you get them young they apparently make good pets, maybe let him stay :)

[BKKBrit]

11 minutes ago, Crossy said:

If you get them young they apparently make good pets, maybe let him stay :)

 

I'm not sure the two cats would appreciate that - they found it, too. Both sitting quietly watching a large bottle of Vim. When I moved he shot out like a bat out of hell - and the cats moved faster than light in the opposite direction haha

 

[BKKBrit]

But....I am at a loss as to how to explain how he got up here. I'm in lower Sukhumvit...top floor of a condo..no trees higher than my unit and yes, I have an outdoor garden with a huge array of plants and trees but - nothing new has been introduced for months now. And this chap was no more than 22cm long......really much like a long earth worm. So I am guessing he'd be only a couple of weeks old.

 

I say 'was' because he's been dispatched already by the building engineer that came up, looked at it and said 'aoh hor...ander-rai!' and with a donk of this stick killed it. 

 

So where did come from? Could it be his mum and dad are here somewhere and they have produced a litter of these things? Or someone in the condo building is breeding them and this guy escaped? 

 

Any advice on who to call to check if there's a brooding family of these things in my condo? I'm concerned about the two cats that are soi rescues but since a few weeks old lived in a comfortable apartment with no clue about the real world. 

[kannot]

1 hour ago, BKKBrit said:

But....I am at a loss as to how to explain how he got up here. I'm in lower Sukhumvit...top floor of a condo..no trees higher than my unit and yes, I have an outdoor garden with a huge array of plants and trees but - nothing new has been introduced for months now. And this chap was no more than 22cm long......really much like a long earth worm. So I am guessing he'd be only a couple of weeks old.

 

I say 'was' because he's been dispatched already by the building engineer that came up, looked at it and said 'aoh hor...ander-rai!' and with a donk of this stick killed it. 

 

So where did come from? Could it be his mum and dad are here somewhere and they have produced a litter of these things? Or someone in the condo building is breeding them and this guy escaped? 

 

Any advice on who to call to check if there's a brooding family of these things in my condo? I'm concerned about the two cats that are soi rescues but since a few weeks old lived in a comfortable apartment with no clue about the real world. 

they are fantastic climbers, beautiful snakes had 1-2 here always a joy to see them

[kannot]

1 hour ago, BKKBrit said:

But....I am at a loss as to how to explain how he got up here. I'm in lower Sukhumvit...top floor of a condo..no trees higher than my unit and yes, I have an outdoor garden with a huge array of plants and trees but - nothing new has been introduced for months now. And this chap was no more than 22cm long......really much like a long earth worm. So I am guessing he'd be only a couple of weeks old.

 

I say 'was' because he's been dispatched already by the building engineer that came up, looked at it and said 'aoh hor...ander-rai!' and with a donk of this stick killed it. 

 

So where did come from? Could it be his mum and dad are here somewhere and they have produced a litter of these things? Or someone in the condo building is breeding them and this guy escaped? 

 

Any advice on who to call to check if there's a brooding family of these things in my condo? I'm concerned about the two cats that are soi rescues but since a few weeks old lived in a comfortable apartment with no clue about the real world. 

building engineer is a total twaaaaat!!

[kannot]

Just now, kannot said:

building engineer is a total twaaaaat!!

 

1 hour ago, BKKBrit said:

But....I am at a loss as to how to explain how he got up here. I'm in lower Sukhumvit...top floor of a condo..no trees higher than my unit and yes, I have an outdoor garden with a huge array of plants and trees but - nothing new has been introduced for months now. And this chap was no more than 22cm long......really much like a long earth worm. So I am guessing he'd be only a couple of weeks old.

 

I say 'was' because he's been dispatched already by the building engineer that came up, looked at it and said 'aoh hor...ander-rai!' and with a donk of this stick killed it. 

 

So where did come from? Could it be his mum and dad are here somewhere and they have produced a litter of these things? Or someone in the condo building is breeding them and this guy escaped? 

 

Any advice on who to call to check if there's a brooding family of these things in my condo? I'm concerned about the two cats that are soi rescues but since a few weeks old lived in a comfortable apartment with no clue about the real world. 

Harmless............. even to your cats

[Crossy]

I would probably have been tempted to "dispatch" the building engineer, shame, they're so beautiful and harmless

 

As to how he got up there?

 

We see them get caught by assorted flying raptors and they very often wriggle free and plummet to the ground to fight another day. It's possible yours was an escaped meal.

[BKKBrit]

Hmm..now's there a good theory. 

[Crossy]

1 hour ago, BKKBrit said:

Hmm..now's there a good theory. 

 

Of course that doesn't mean there isn't a nest of the little chaps waiting to come out and eat your kitties :)

 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

It seems to be a natural human trait to kill anything that isn't where it's expected to be, even if it might be harmless. That wasn't necessary, and the building engineer should have know that. As others have said, they're harmless and I used to get them now again when I lived in Bangkok, looking down on me from the inside of the roof over my outdoor kitchen. As for the height it got to, I believe they climb by working their way up on the corner of a building.

Very good photo, by the way, as it prepared to lunge and bite you, and sending you to a long, lingering death.... (not) 

[wpcoe]

I had a series of them in my (ground floor) kitchen in a townhouse in Hua Hin.  They are beautiful creatures and after I read up on them I knew not to fear them, BUT that said, I really didn't like having them in the house.

 

They are mildly venomous but rear-fanged, meaning they would have to grab a finger or toe and gnaw on it to inject any venom, and even then unless you have an allergic reaction of some sort, it's not life threatening.

 

And, yes, those suckers are *fast*!  Even going up a vertical brick wall. I wonder if it actually climbed the entire 14 floors.  Maybe resting for a while on a few balconies along the way?

 

Funny about the cats running the opposite direction.  

[Jedsada3]

Maybe that cute baby snake came in the bag with vegetables from the market...

[patekatek]

The following email address is for a great group dedicated to the identification and preservation of snakes in Thailand.  I've contacted them several times for snake identification:

 

[email protected]

 

I hope I'm not breaking any rules by providing this information.

 

[impulse]

28 minutes ago, patekatek said:

I hope I'm not breaking any rules by providing this information.

 

I can understand the reason for your confusion if you've been browsing through the forums.  But in spite of all evidence to the contrary, posting useful information is not, in fact, against the rules.

[55Jay]

^ +1, Vern's a pretty neat guy, loves the snakes. 

 

I've had a few goldens around and once in the house.  Last one was about a month ago, on top of the tall driveway gate.  I didn't see it up there but when I started sliding the gate open, something fell from above my head, glanced off my right shoulder, bounced off my arm, and landed next to my foot.  Happened so fast, I found myself looking down at this snake, which I recognized right away as a golden.  It sat there dazed for a second then it shot off into the garden like greased lighting.  Gone! 

[toofarnorth]

I too would say a Golden Tree snake or possibly a Wall's Bronzeback , its habitat  ranges form sea level to 3000 m.  How high do you live ?

when you get " Must be a King Cobra ' ignore please.

[rijb]

I've only seen lounge lizards at that height.

[BKKBrit]

15 minutes ago, toofarnorth said:

I too would say a Golden Tree snake or possibly a Wall's Bronzeback , its habitat  ranges form sea level to 3000 m.  How high do you live ?

when you get " Must be a King Cobra ' ignore please.

 

14th Story in downtown Sukhumvit. Plenty of trees around but they reach to maybe the 2nd or 3rd story.  It's been positively identified as a Golden Tree Snake and judging by the activity of my two cats this evening in the garden area under the stairwell....he wasn't the only one.

[Autonuaq]

Snakes come and climb on the building on surfaces you do not expect them to do it.

the wall of a condo is fro them just the same as we use the stairs.

Snake hide in places you also not expect them. Most of them are around, and you did not notice them. Even can stay in your house or condo for long time inside.

 

but always watch out because the business end can be harmful since you have some the look the same at the business end and the tail color makes the difference. Like the green snake totally green and the green snake with the brown tail. th brown tail is the one that will cause you huge problems when bitten.

 

Also young cobras look nice and nearly the same as the once seen here when they are young.  Black and white sport marks. The onw here not so dangerous, the young cobra kills you.

 

 

Edited September 27, 2016 by Autonuaq

[lemonjelly]

Golden tree snake, brilliant climbers.

[The Dancer]

9 hours ago, Crossy said:

If you don't mind him being around he'll be making a meal of any roaches and the like in your condo

Yep, keeping a mildly venomous snake to ward away the roaches reminds me of when I got married to cure me of my one-night habits.

Edited September 27, 2016 by The Dancer

[kannot]

had an 8-9   foot oriental rat snake  right outside the front door  the other day, huge  thing, Wife squealed a  bit but as  soon as I opened the door to get a photo....whossssssssssssssssssssh gone in  a  shot.........instructed staff NOT to  kill it if they see a "big  snake"

exactly  like this with triangular shaped profile https://www.thailandsnakes.com/non-venomous/oriental-rat-snake-non-venomous-not-dangerous/

Edited September 27, 2016 by kannot

[evadgib]

We once found one of those in an ironing board that we'd left outside!

 

A fortnight ago I stepped on an 'Oriental Green Whip Snake' while walking the dog. Fortunately they're non venomous too :)

 

Edited September 27, 2016 by evadgib

[Stevemercer]

Yes, we had a big oriental rat snake in the shed yesterday. But my wife panicked and called some snake catchers who killed it and presumably ate it. I think they (the 'snake catchers') took my motorbike gloves and boots as well. A shame I wasn't home to just shoo the snake on its way.

 

We get a few tree snakes and they are very fast. I quite like them, but they sometimes crawl into our water pumps when they aren't pumping. Of course, when someone turns on the water, and the pump starts, they get mangled and sometimes jam up the pump.

Edited September 27, 2016 by Stevemercer
correction

[wpcoe]

9 hours ago, lemonjelly said:

Golden tree snake, brilliant climbers.

 

And, I almost forgot, great "flyers"!  

 

 

The somehow flatten their bodies and glide considerable distances.  I wonder what would happen if it launched off the OP's 14F balcony. 

[Fallangpakwan]

I was walking round the golf course a few years back then saw a length of wire rope straight out against the curb a foot from my foot,no it's not it's a snake; I leaped  across the road; took all of 20 milliseconds for all that to go through with. Turned out to be a 2.5 m long cobra that was sunbathing I was told; it perked up, looked at me trying to get a photo of it, then hurtled off into the grass. Will never forget it.