Colubrids

Family Colubridae

Whip Snakes

These snakes are so called because they are so thin that they look like whips. There are 4 species in Singapore. The species one is most likely to encounter is the Oriental Whip Snake (Ahaetulla prasina), which is mildly venomous snake and bright green all overall. It inhabits wooded areas, including forests and parks. It can only be mixed up with the Malayan Whip Snake (A. mycterizans) as they look alike. The distinguishing feature is that the latter has much bigger eyes. The Speckle-headed Whip Snake (A. fasciolata) has speckles all over the head, hence the name. It has colour ranging from brownish to light greenish, but not the bright green of the Oriental and Malayan Whip Snakes. Whip snakes are so called due to their thin body. The Keel-bellied Whip Snake (Dryophiops rubescens) does not belong to the same genus as the rest.

Oriental Whip Snakes: Botanic Garden. Pulau Ubin ©Lau SY

Oriental Whip Snake at Sungei Buloh ©Tan KH

Keel-bellied Whip Snake at Chek Jawa ©Ben Lee

Cat Snakes (Genus Boiga)

These snakes are so called because their eyes look like cat eyes. There are 4 species in Singapore. Dog-toothed Cat Snake (B. cynodon) is mostly light brown with black bands all along the body. It is mildly venomous. Yellow-lipped Cat Snake (B. dendrophila), also known as Mangrove Snake, is a stunning black and yellow. It is mildly venomous, but is harmless to human. This is the cat snake one is most likely to encounter in Singapore. The other two are White-spotted Cat Snake (B. drapiezii) and Jasper Cat Snake (B. jaspidea).

Dog-toothed Cat Snake in Sarawak, Malaysia ©Con Foley

Mangrove Snakes: Rifle Range ©Eddy Lee. Dairy Farm ©Lau JS

Reed Snakes

There are 3 species in Singapore: Dwarf Reed Snake (Pseudorabdion longiceps), Variable Reed Snake (Calamaria lumbricoidea) and Pink-headed Reed Snake (C. schlegeli).

Flying Snakes (Genus Chrysopelea)

These snakes are so called because they can "fly" from tree to tree. In fact, they glide rather than fly. There are 2 species in Singapore. Twin-barred Tree Snake (C. pelias) is uncommon and easily identified by the red-black-white markings on its back. Paradise Tree Snake (C. paradisi) is quite common in secondary forests, mangroves and even parks. It is mildly venomous, but not dangerous to human. It has black and yellow scales. Some have red dorsal colours making it a very beautiful snake. It is sometimes traded as pets.

Twin-barred Tree Snake. Chestnut Ave ©Eddy Lee

Paradise Tree Snakes. Left: Sungei Buloh ©Eddy Lee. Right: Dairy Farm ©Tan KH

Paradise Tree Snake at Kranji Marsh ©Tan KH

Bronzebacks (Genus Dendrelaphis)

Bronzebacks are distinguished by the bronze colour extending from the back of the head all the way down the back to the tail. They are not dangerous to human and are less than 2 m in length. There are 6 species in Singapore - Painted, Striped, Elegant, Blue, Red-necked and Haas'. The Painted and Striped Bronzebacks are distinguished from the rest by having more than one black stripe running down the whole length of the body. Striped Bronzeback (D. caudolineatus), however, has even more stripes than the Painted Bronzeback (D. pictus), with the black stripes even within the bronze back. Red-necked Bronzeback (D. kopsteini) is distinguished from the rest by having a red neck which is clearly visible when it puffs up. Elegant Bronzeback (D. formosus) can be told apart from the Blue Bronzeback (D. cyanochloris) by the three black strips near the tail. Haas's Bronzeback (D. haasi) is distinguished from the rest by having a broken black stripe instead of a continuous one.

Elegant Bronzeback at Chestnut Area ©Eddy Lee

Haas' Bronzeback at Lower Peirce ©Tan KH

Haas' Bronzeback at Central Catchment ©Tan KH

Painted Bronzeback: Wild one in Zoo compound ©Steven Chong. Lower Peirce ©Ben Lee

Painted Bronzeback at Lor Halus ©Tan KH

Red-necked Bronzeback at Lower Peirce: ©David Tan. ©Con Foley

Racers

Red-tailed Racer (Gonyosoma oxycephalum) is a green snake with a black eye band and a red tail. Other racers found in Singapore are Common Malayan Racer (Coelognathus flavolineatus) and Copperhead Racer (C. radiatus)

Red-tailed Racer at Lower Peirce ©Ben Lee

Red-tailed Racer at Jelutong Tower ©Tan KH

Common Malayan Racer in Malaysia ©TTan KH

Wolf Snakes (Genus Lycodon)

There are two species of wolf snakes in Singapore - House and Banded.

House Wolf Snake in Singapore ©Eddy Lee

House Wolf Snake at Republic Crescent ©Tan KH

Young Banded Wolf Snake in Malaysia ©Tan GC

Kukri Snakes (Genus Oligodon)

There are three species of kukri snakes in Singapore - brown, striped and barred. Brown Kukri Snake (O. purpurascens) has black stripes all along the body. Striped Kukri Snake (O. octolineatus) has a dorsal red stripe and black side stripes. Barred Kukri Snake (O. signatus) has red stripes on a dark body.

Brown Kukri Snake in Malaysia ©Tan GC

Rat Snakes (Genus Pytas)

White-bellied Rat Snake (P. fusca) maintains a vertical posture when disturbed. It has a dark back and a white belly. It is rare and inhabits forest streams. The other rat snakes found in Singapore are Keeled Rat Snake (P. carinata) and Indochinese Rat Snake (P. korros).

White-bellied Rat Snake at Hindhede Nature Park ©Lau JS

Keeled Rat Snake in Thailand ©Con Foley

Brown Snake (Genus Xenelaphis)

Malayan Brown Snake (X. hexagonotus) is an uncommon snake. It prefers habitat close to water and are often seen in water. It is brown above, white below and has black bands all along its body.

Malayan Brown Snakes at Lower Peirce: ©Tan GC. ©Eddy Lee

Water Snakes

There are 7 species that can be found in Singapore. Dog-faced and Puff-faced Water Snakes are common in inland habitats, e.g. Sungei Buloh. They are mildly venomous but harmless to human. Dog-faced Water Snake (Cerberus rynchops) is brownish-greyish above, pale below and has broken black bands across its body. Puff-faced Water Snake (Homalopsis buccata) is brownish-greyish above and mottled-yellowish below. In the juvenile, there are prominent black bands across the upperparts.

There are 4 species that can be found in Pasir Ris Park, namely Dog-faced, Gerard's, Crab-eating and Cantor's Water Snake. Gerard's Water Snake (Gerarda prevostiana) is also known as Yellow-lipped Water Snake due to the yellow lip.

The newest edition is the Blackwater Mud Snake (Phytolopsis punctata) found in Nee Soon Swamp in 2014.

Dog-faced Water Snakes at Sungei Buloh: ©Steven Chong. ©Danny Lau

Puff-faced Water Snake attacked by Water Monitor at Sungei Buloh ©John Spencer

Gerard's Water Snake at Pasir Ris Park ©Tan KH

Gerard's Water Snake at Pasir Ris Park ©Tan KH

Keelbacks

There are 5 species of snakes in Singapore called Keelbacks. 4 of them are from the genus Xenochrophis, while one of them is from genus Macropisthodon. The Striped Keelback (X. vittatus) is an introduced species. The rest - Blue-necked (M. rhodomelas), Southern Chequered (X. flavipunctatus), Spotted (X. maculatus) and Triangle (X. trianguligerus) - are native.

Blue-necked Keelback at Panti, Malaysia ©Con Foley


Spotted Keelback at Panti, Malaysia ©Con Foley


Triangle Keelbacks: Sarawak, Malaysia ©Con Foley. Penang, Malaysia ©Eddy Lee

Other colubrids:

Malayan Bridle Snake (Dryocalamus subannulatus)
Orange-bellied Ringneck (Gongylosoma baliodeira)
Tricoloured Ringneck (Liopeltis tricolor)
Black-headed Collared Snake (Sibynophis melanocephalus)
Painted Mock Viper (Psammodynastes pictus)
White-spotted Slug Snake (Pareas margaritophorus)

Reference

http://www.reptile-database.org/db-info/taxa.html#Ser