Demansia psammophis (Yellow faced whip snake)

[dobermanmick]

Hi just got this little fella in our front yard
Have i identified it correctly ?Sorry for the bad pics
After a While of holding him He started drolling venom and flicking himself around a bit ,Not overly aggresive just wanting to get away he never struck at me .

[/img]

 

[Jason]

great looking little snake very cool, i wish we got snakes in our yard.

 

[Dicco]

That's a Yellow Face alright. Nice catch.

 

[peterescue]

lucky you, painful bite, like to chew, nothing dangerous but causes swelling and tenderness in the area around the bite. Takes a fair while to heal up fully.

 

[zen]

Yellow-faced Whip Snake (Demansia psammophis)

Yes, looks to be a Demansia psammophis judging by the photo.
Characterized by the distinctive dark comma or 'teardrop' marking below the eye.
This species also often has red-brown colour on the neck & forebody.

 

[zen]

Here's a close-up of the head of a Demansia psammophis to illustrate my point:-

Although this specimens 'comma' or 'teardrop' is not as pronounced as some, it's always present if you look closely.

Also notice the huge eye characteristic of diurnal species of Australian snakes. In this species it is 17% of head length.

If you look really closely you'll see the reddish tips on the forebody scales.


zen

 

[dobermanmick]

Thanks Zen Thats a great head shot !

 

[zen]

Demansia psammophis

Here's a body shot of the above specimen.

This specimen is from the Sydney area and has less reddish-brown colour than specimens I've found in northern N.S.W, which can be quite rich & distinct.

Mick, your specimen has the richer colouration that I've observed up in that part of Australia.

I don't know if it's a feature that varies regionally or if it's an idiosyncratic variable.
Maybe someone else can elaborate on this?.

Aside: I like the 'Zorro' Z (for zen?) in this shot. I might use it for my avatar, when I work out how to do it.?
It's either that or a Death Adder in a Yin-Yang position.
Snakes can be so aesthetic and obliging sometimes. :wink:


zen

 

[zen]

Thanks Mick ( I assume it's Mick??)

My pleasure!


zen

 

[dobermanmick]

Yep my names Mick
I also like the Z for Zen in that body shot But I dont know if i would have noticed it if you hadnt said it
Thanks again zen you have been a great help !
Also Welcome to the site (i noticed you have only just joined)

 

[zen]

Cheers

Cheers Mick,

Thanks for the warm welcome.
I think I'm going to like it here.

Any time!

zen {aka john or forest}, take your pick!

 

[Parko]

Nice find Mick, i've seen a few of these guys in Kanangra boyd national park
and also Royal national park and they are such a pretty snake in the flesh.

Zen there is also an infinity symbol in your pic, if you look at the snakes tail,
which would go nicely with your beliefs. 8)

 

[zen]

Demansia psammophis

nice one Parko!

thanks for pointing that out. i didn't see it till now.
that's very observant of you.
i always liked this photo. now i know why!
your spot on there, i enjoy it more deeply now. thanks


Back to the Whip Snake.

i forgot to mention that there's a distinctive pale-edged dark line across the snout from eye to eye.

Also, re: the point i made above about the ones from up north having stronger reddish-brown forebody colour:-

Cogger states that their colouration...

tends "towards uniform light steely-grey or olive-grey above in south-eastern populations"...

and they have "an indefinite, broad, vertebral zone of reddish colour in north-eastern populations."

So that confirms my observation that this characteristic is a regional variation, being richer in colour the further north you go.


zen

 

[zen]

Another pic

Just thought i'd show this photo to illustrate how steely-grey the Sydney specimens are.

There's just a hint of the reddish-brown colour in the forebody.


zen

 

[MrBredli]

lucky you, painful bite, like to chew, nothing dangerous but causes swelling and tenderness in the area around the bite. Takes a fair while to heal up fully.

Indeed, i was tagged by one of these a few years ago on the finger, just below my finger nail. You could feel the venom sitting just under the skin. Hurt like hell. The pain was pretty much gone after an hour though.

If you think watching a python eat a rat is fun, you should see one of these guys chase down a skink.. absolutely awesome!

 

[peterescue]

you were lucky, mine lasted 2 days.

 

[Brodie]

Has anyone been tagged by a Black Whip? Whats that like?