Thread: Identifying a snake

Its a rare breed of Lucky Snake, coz you put it back in the bush.

Looks a little like a Keelback,but up where you are it could be an aggressive Taipan, they look similar, was it just a little agro,Keelbacks are relatively harmless but an Aggressive Taipan is quite lethal,about the same as a King Brown,length is about right for a Scaley Charlie (AT)

Originally Posted by UncleHo

Looks a little like a Keelback,but up where you are it could be an aggressive Taipan, they look similar, was it just a little agro,Keelbacks are relatively harmless but an Aggressive Taipan is quite lethal,about the same as a King Brown,length is about right for a Scallie Charlie (AT)

I would not say it was aggressive, it was more scared and would slide away and hide in any little gap it could find, until it was in the container, then it wasn't happy and would strike.

I found it in the toilet, up on the door frame around a bit of a hook about a foot away from my head while I brushed my teeth, gave me a bit of a fright.

Sounds like it came in out of the rain,but if it was a Scaley Charlie you were lucky it didn't have a go

cheers

looking at your pic if you were further south id hazard a guess at a juvenile tiger. Looking at pics of snakes from your area could be a keelback.

Without a clear view of the head I think that it is a juvenile carpet snake.

Sounds like a coastal taipan. Any cane fields near you? Bob

This site is handy for snake id
Snakes of the Cairns region (Department of Environment and Heritage Protection)


Coastal taipan Photo : EHP
Coastal taipan Oxyuranus scutellatus

Warning: Highly venomous
The coastal taipan is light to pale brown above and paler on the sides. The snout and lower jaw is paler than the rest of the body, usually pale-yellow in colour. The head is rectangular ('coffin-shaped') with a distinct neck. They have large eyes with a reddish-copper iris and round pupils. Taipans are mostly active during the day, feeding on small mammals in eucalypt woodland, grassland, grassy beach dunes, pastures and cane fields. Taipans will defend themselves aggressively if provoked. They grow to an average length of 2.6 m.

The only reliable way to identify any snake is through scale counts such as at:AROD > snake scale count search | AROD.com.au

So many look similar that it is the only way to differentiate properly. Although telling a snake to lie still whilst you count it's scales