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Friday, December 28, 2012

Singapore Snakes

Suborder Serpentes

File Snakes (Family Acrochordidae)

Banded File Snake (Acrochordus granulatus) is an aquatic snake of our sea shores. However, it is not a sea snake, which is highly venomous. The Banded File Snake is non-venomous. It superficially resembles a Banded Sea Snake (aka Yellow-lipped Sea Snake).


Banded File Snake at Senoko ©Eddy Lee


Asian Pipe Snakes (Family Cylindrophiidae)

The only species in Singapore is Red-tailed Pipe Snake (Cylindrophis ruffus).


Dead Red-tailed Pipe Snake at Neo Tiew Lane 2 ©Tan KH


Pythons (Family Pythonidae)

Reticulated Python (Broghammerus reticulatus) is the longest snake in the world. Pythons are constrictors, meaning they kill their prey by coiling around them and squeezing them. It is so called because of the beautiful pattern on its body. Sometimes, this snake appears in the news because it was spotted in a canal. It can, however, be found in various habitats, including forests, wooded areas, rivers, lakes, and even out in the sea.


Reticulated Pythons: Central Catchment. Chinese Garden ©Ben Lee



Sunbeam Snakes (Family Xenopeltidae)

The only species in Singapore is Sunbeam Snake (Xenopeltis unicolor).

Colubrids (Family Colubridae)


Elapids (Family Elapidae)


Vipers (Family Viperidae)



Typical Blind Snakes (Family Typhlopidae)

There are 2 species in Singapore, namely the Brahminy Blind Snake (Indotyphlops braminus) and the White-bellied Blind Snake (Argyrophis muelleri). They are so called because they are essentially blind, due to their burrowing behaviour.


Dead Brahminy Blind Snake at Yishun ©Tan KH


Dead Brahminy Blind Snake at Neo Tiew Lane 2 ©Tan KH


Brahminy Blind Snake attacked by ants at Botanic Gardens ©Tan KH

Reference

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

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