yellow bellied black lol

[Danster]

Sorry I have no pics, but my good friend today saw in the bush what he said looked like a red belly black snake, which we have a lot of around here ( just west of the blue mountains), and I know the myth lol, but what are they really? Are they just a young red-bellied black, a colour phase of a red belly, or what? Curiosity has gotten the better of me lol. Thanks in advance for the replies.


Sorry! Half asleep when I wrote this post; left out one important element- The described snake had a pale yellow but definitely yellow belly, the rest was described as a red --bellied black snake; same head shape as well. My mate has lived in the bush all his life and has seen plenty of snakes, that`s why this one has struck him as odd. Sorry about the non-descript earlier; probably had a lot of you shaking your heads lol!

 

[Tsubakai]

It depends what area you live in - up here its either common tree snakes or water pythons that get lumped with this name.

 

[GeckoJosh]

How big did he say it was?

 

[Mr.James]

Really without a decent description it could be anything.. tiger snake, eastern small-eyed, mustard bellied snake.. etc.. etc..

 

[Wrightpython]

what about copperhead

 

[GeckoJosh]

what about copperhead

Seems likely as they are common in the area

 

[-Peter]

Lithgow, could be a copperhead but the species there is ramsayi which tend to be white or cream underneath, not yellow but they are very dark on top

 

[GeckoJosh]

Lithgow, could be a copperhead but the species there is ramsayi which tend to be white or cream underneath, not yellow but they are very dark on top

Yes but some have yellow lower lateral scales

 

[Wrightpython]

i have ramsayi myself and the colours to vary from creamy white to pale yellows with redish hues to black on top

 

[Danster]

Sorry everyone; see original post for edit....

 

[Fuscus]

montane GTS are often very dark and can fit the description yellow-bellied black snake

 

[Bushman]

Can you please give us a better description Danster?
Roughly how long and thick was the snake?
Did it have any white markings on the upper lips?

 

[Danster]

Hi everyone and thanks for the input, much appreciated. I will be seeing my mate again late this afternoon, and will try and find out what else he can describe about the snake. Has got me very curious, hopefully he took some notice of finer details lol. Will keep you posted.

 

[Treknotechelaps]

I have heard of people referring yellow-belly blacks to Alpine Copperheads many times before.