>>Hi,

>>I need some help identifying a snake. Pictures (warning--large pics) and information are at:

>>http://stringornothing.com/mystery.html

>>Thanks!



Closest match I could find is it is probably some species of

Lytorhynchus (leafnose snake)...north african snake.



Best photo of one I could find was Lytorhynchus diadema on this site: http://www.tomhalvorsen.co.uk/snakegallery.htm



scroll down about half way.. between the photo of the pueblan milksnake and mandarin rat snake in the first column.



I couldn't find much natural history on them other than: "Awl headed snake (Lytorhynchus diadema) - 45 cm

Sometimes known as the leaf-nosed snake due to the large scale covering the tip of the nose. Night active, they spend the day hiding in burrows. Coloured light grey/brown with dark blotches and a distinctive head marking of brown bars. Although harmless to humans they put on a quite dramatic aggression display if disturbed. The body is formed into two coils like a figure eight and then repeatedly straightened, giving loud rasping noises from the rubbing of the scales."



One other site did mention in passing they were rear-fanged, but considered harmless due to difficulty in injecting venom through the rear facing teeth. I think that is pretty similar to North American hognose snakes, though how toxic their (leaf nose) venom is compared to hognoses is I don't know.



A very old discussion from 4 years ago I found on one of the forums here mentioned they were mostly lizard eaters though one guy said he got his onto pinkys without much trouble.
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PHWyvern

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