Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got no answers on the other post regarding the identity of this snake.. does anyone know what this one is?

Thanks so much

Looks a lot like an Eastern Indigo, Drymarchon couperi.
The size of the smooth scales, the overall coloration, and especially the bluish-black luster are all consistent. You might try posting it on the Indigo and Cribo Forum to get their opinion.

Would need to see a side shot of the head to nail it down.
Hope this helps.

BTW, where did you get these?
It sure looks like an exhibited collection, like from a zoo.

Cheers,

John D
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I am so not lesdysxic!

0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"
0.1 Desert Kingsnake "FATTY"

>>Looks a lot like an Eastern Indigo, Drymarchon couperi.
>>The size of the smooth scales, the overall coloration, and especially the bluish-black luster are all consistent. You might try posting it on the Indigo and Cribo Forum to get their opinion.
>>
>>Would need to see a side shot of the head to nail it down.
>>Hope this helps.
>>
>>BTW, where did you get these?
>>It sure looks like an exhibited collection, like from a zoo.
>>
>>Cheers,
>>
>>John D
>>-----
>>I am so not lesdysxic!
>>
>>0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
>>1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"
>>0.1 Desert Kingsnake "FATTY"
-----
Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

>>That one is tough. It looks like some large black Australian >>region elapid.
>>If I had to guess a name, I would say Papuan Blacksnake (Pseudechis papuanus) or a Papuan Taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus canni).

I'm not familiar with those two species, so can't comment. As stated in my post, based on scalation and color my guess is Eastern Indigo. Still, guess in one hand and crap in the other and see which one fills up first!

Got any pics of those Papuans for comparison? From what I've seen of large, black Aussie Elapids, they can strongly resemble NA colubrids, so you could easily be right.

Ibrat, what zoo was this?

Regards

John D
-----
I am so not lesdysxic!

0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"
0.1 Desert Kingsnake "FATTY"

I took these at the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky...

Yes, i took them at a zoo.. But when i was looking up snake info and trying to identify them myself.. i realized it would take me forever.. lol

It did say on the zoo website that they had an Eastern Indigo.. But they had so many snakes i know they had more them one snake that was black so i wan't sure if that was the one. They don't have all the snakes listed on the zoo website that they house at the zoo and i only took photos of these few snakes....

Walterinnesia aegyptia anyone? Desert blacksnake or desert cobra. (The only thing I've stumbled across that I can't rule out so far.)

The scales bordering the parietals look all wrong for an indigo.
The prefrontals look wrong for an australian blacksnake.
The head shape and size, thickness of the neck and scalation around the nose look wrong for a taipan.

>>Walterinnesia aegyptia anyone? Desert blacksnake or desert cobra. (The only thing I've stumbled across that I can't rule out so far.)
>>
>>The scales bordering the parietals look all wrong for an indigo.
>>The prefrontals look wrong for an australian blacksnake.
>>The head shape and size, thickness of the neck and scalation around the nose look wrong for a taipan.

I think you are right about the head scalation - they don't look right for an Indigo to me either. My guess was based on the body color and scalation. Would a cobra show some hint of a hood in the neck region?

Regards,

John D
-----
I am so not lesdysxic!

0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"
0.1 Desert Kingsnake "FATTY"

>>Would a cobra show some hint of a hood in the neck region?

Only when he feels like it... Also, this is one of those snakes that may be a cobra in name only (I know very little about them).

This page accounts for most of the pics I've been able to find:
http://markmlucas.com/Venomelapidgallery.htm

Walterinnesia aegyptia anyone? Desert blacksnake

Hmmm. That's a really good guess. I can't say I disagree, although Walterinnesia usually appears blacker towards the front in the photos I have seen.

The scales bordering the parietals look all wrong for an indigo. The prefrontals look wrong for an australian blacksnake.

It is clearly an elapid. I didn't look at scales that closely, but the gestalt is all wrong for any colubrids I can think of.

The head shape and size, thickness of the neck and scalation around the nose look wrong for a taipan.

That's why I leaned towards Papuan Blacksnake. Also the lighter coloration of the neck made me think that as well.

It would really help to know which zoo these photos were taken at, and if you really want the right answers, you could simply email the photo URLs to the herp department there and they would be happy to ID them correctly for you, I'm sure.

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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Its a Sania Dessert Cobra Walterinnesia aegyptia.

Got the ID from the Louisville Zoo - they used to have an Eastern Indigo but it died and that ain't it! They were very helpful and a pleasure to talk to.

Cheers,

John D.
-----
I am so not lesdysxic!

0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"
0.1 Desert Kingsnake "FATTY"