Identify this snake?

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aza9999

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This was found in the NT outside of darwin. Some said it was a keelback, others a brown. Can anyone confirm for me please?

1z2j3h1.jpg
 
thanks, thats what i believed, as we have had a few in the area recently all from the same clutch, but had a couple people who were sure it was a brown
 
Looks nothing a brown, wrong area for a roughie so definately a keelback.
 
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keelbacks have a smile =] thats how i tell if your not sure if its a brown or keelback
 
just had a reply from John Woodland from whatsnakeisthat.com.au saying that he believes it is a juvenile brown tree snake.

Looking on wikipedia it showed a picture of one in a "classic s-pose"

800px-Boiga_irregularis_coiled.jpg


This was the posture the snake was assuming when we found it, and it was striking aggressively, so could that be correct?
 
Those big bulging eyes make it look much like a colubrid, a more reliable feature to distinguish between colubrids and elapids is the presence of a loreal scale in colubrids. Judging by that photo I think Keelback or Brown tree snake but I couldn't say which one with 100% certainty.
It's also important to understand that most snakes, especially young ones will give a threatening pose when they feel that a threat is present - so the defensive pose wont give you a definitive species ID
 
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Anyone who thinks thats a Boiga was either born legally blind or was dropped on their head as a child. Like wise for any that think its a brown of any description.....
 
"Mate, that's definitely a keelback."

I believe that was said about a coastal taipan wasn't it?
What ever highly venomous species it was that was "definitely a keelback" made me laugh (due to the dramatic difference in venom yield/toxicity, of course) :) good times
 
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The head is very much wider and clearly distinct from the neck. Therefore it is not a Brown Snake.

As best I can tell, given the limitations of the photo: 1) The rounded posterior edge of the parietals plus the regular, size and shape of the mid-dorsal post-parietals are more characteristic of the Keelback, compared to the straight and angular posterior edge of the parietals in the BTS and their enlarged and often irregular mid-dorsal post-parietal scales. 2) The unknown snake does not seem to have elliptical pupils – a diagnostic difference with BTS.

The body is rounded in cross-section whereas the body of the BTS is laterally compressed. BTS are very light brown to cream or white base colour with dark red bands. It is not a BTS.

It has shape, body proportions, dorsal scale types and scale shapes plus the dorsal colouration of a keelback. I am not aware of a similar taxon occurring in the Darwin region.

Blue
 
This pic shows the head and eyes a little better. I wasn't able to get real good shots of this one as it was being a lot more aggressive than the previous ones.

16ixet3.jpg
 
This pic shows the head and eyes a little better. I wasn't able to get real good shots of this one as it was being a lot more aggressive than the previous ones.

16ixet3.jpg
That is DEFINATELY a keelback. Brown trees have broader heads.
 
As Blue said earlier ( he must have amazing eye sight to see it in the first pic) that snake does not have elliptical pupils so it's not a Brown tree snake. As most others said Keelback it is.
 
it worries me that a website where the main function is identifying snakes can get a simple ID so wrong. how can you call your website whatsnakeisthat.com.au if you dont know the difference between a keelback and a BTS.
 
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