ID please

[Allies_snakes]

Hey, snapped this friendly friend hunting around the dam.

 

[CamdeJong]

Keelback (Tropidonophis mairii)

 

[Allies_snakes]

Thanks!

 

[jase75]

Keelback (Tropidonophis mairii)

X 2

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[CamdeJong]

No worries. I should add - these guys are colubrids, they're aglyphous (fangless) and thus non-venomous. Very reluctant to bite, eat mostly frogs and are highly resistant to cane toad poison. This is where they're most commonly seen, near water or along the water's edge foraging. They have a rough feel due to keeled scales and resemble rough-scaled snakes (Tropidechis carinatus) which are highly venomous elapids. Different head shape, pattern etc but easily mistaken I would say to the untrained eye.

 

[Bluetongue1]

A geographic location should always accompany a request for ID because it can be extremely useful. In your case it would allow us to determine if you might also have the very similar Rough-scaled snake (Tropidechis carinatus) in your region. Not only do they look remarkably similar but they share frog-eating habits and so are often to be found in similar places. It might be worth your while to checkout some pics of a Rough-scaled snake, just in case, and you can see just how similar they look. These are two species that you definitely don’t want to get confused if getting up close and personal.

Blue