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snakelady-viper

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Thought I would share this.
A yellow - bellied sea snake, Pelamis platurus.
He was rescued from a beach in Port Stephens wased ashore due to the stronge seas.



Sea Snake 003.jpgSea Snake 036.jpgSea Snake 060.jpgSea Snake 015.jpg
 
How do you keep it live till you release it? From what i gather they don't last long in tanks - very much an amazing snake.

Is rough seas the only reason it was beached? Or is there something more to it than that? I'd assume they're decent enough swimmers as a yellow bellied sea snake has washed up on the shores of NZ before...
 
That is one amazing animal!

Do they feel a lot different to other snakes other than being wet? lol
 
Looks awesome.. its face reminds me of a monitor though? Hahah maybe I'm just sleep deprived..
The colours and patterns are so perfect, as if they've been painted on
 
They feel very different very leathery but soft. Highly venomous. They are ocean going snakes that are amongst floating kelp.These are all over Australia except for the Great Astralian Bite area. We had him for over 4 hours as he was exhausted due to the seas, very active after his little rest and swam off with speed. These are often washed ashore is stronge seas
 
I think he looks rather cunning! Love the tail shape. Thanks for sharing.
 
That's really cool awesome colours.


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The paddle tail is great, its very thin too but with one little whip they are off, as he gets older he will develop more yellow
 
Now that was something to see.thanks for sharing,i can see how he would be safe amongst floating kelp.stunning colour definition.
 
Do you mean like turtle skin?

Not just marine fish that tend to have better colour definition, marine snakes too lol
 
I guess it would be, not something you touch everyday lol.

I remember seeing one in the water when I was on a ship in Cairns. I could hear it before I saw it lol.

How do they move out of the water? are they sluggish and awkward?
 
they are just gorgeous animals for sure (although I'm not keen on the head shape, just looks wrong!) We found one washed up on the beach on Fraser Island when we were kids, my Dad thought it was a diamond at first and started walking it up the beach (after making my mum hold it and pose for pics) then he looked closer at the tail and realised what it really was!! Poor thing was just about dead, had been run over a few times, we tried to get it out to sea, but it just couldn't swim. Was different to this one, not the long stripes, which is how my Dad got it confused with a run over diamond python.
 
The pelarmis are an open ocean snake that live on the surface. They can go backwards just as good as forwards and this is their sneak tactic to catch fish. The storms bring them in and whether they do any good when released back at beach side is beyond me. Usually they suffer from injury, from being bashed while beached, and this is generally their demise.
They can be kept quite all right in fresh water (tub or bath)for short periods, as long as there is some plastic plants to put in there for it to hide amongst. I took one down to a fella at Darling harbour marine world once, who was giving them a go off display. It was relatively uninjured and survived the trip down from Woy Woy to Sydney on a train in a small tub with wet paper towels and rags in a back pack, quite well. They are a very nice looking animal, with some really cool traits, and are venomous, i know of a vet that was tagged but he suffered nothing and released himself from hossy.
 
A lot of sea snake are washed ashore in SE QLD and northern NSW at this time of the year, mainly Hydrophis elegans. They also have trouble supporting themselves out of water and often appear dead which can be a trap though, with care, the bite is white hot! In general it is fairly useless to just place them back into the sea, as they are often on the way out. They need to be nursed then released away from the surf.
 
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