Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Guys,

Don't have any details on this except that it was found in
the Ft. Myers area. Doesn't look like anything native to me.

Ideas?

Thanks,
Ed

I would be very careful with it. It looks a lot like a very aberrantly patterned coral snake form the head and the tail. The body shape doesn't look quite right unless it's just really skinny.

A better photo of the head would help a lot...
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

P.S. If it turns out to be a coral a lot of venomous keepers (including myself) would be interested in it.
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

I didn't want to say anything until someone else pitched in because I wasn't very confident about it but I too was thinking that it must be some sort of very rare morph of an Eastern Coralsnake.

Yeah, after going back and comparing to a few coral pictures I have, I'm 99 percent certain it's a coral and most likely the native eastern.
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

Thanks guys, I knew it wasn't typical.

I don't have the snake, just trying to identify it
from the picture. Someone found it while collecting fossils.
I don't even know if the person kept it or not.

Thanks again!

Ed

>>Yeah, after going back and comparing to a few coral pictures I have, I'm 99 percent certain it's a coral and most likely the native eastern.
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>>What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

Hmmm,.....it's one of two things.....

a) a VERY good hoax played on the forum here with an EXTREMELY uncommon, very little known species of the world from another country.

b) or it actually IS indeed an EXTREMELY aberrantly patterned, VERY VERY thin Eastern Coral Snake(Micrurus f.fulvius)......

The head looks VERY much like the "REAL DEAL" Coral Snake to me as well, so use EXTREME CAUTION!,....I've seen some crazy aberrant Coral's in my day, but NEVER one as crazy and skinny as that one,...that specimen is just out of this world insane!..LOL!

I have many snake books, and one atlas in particular that weighs just shy of 10 pounds, with 591 pages, and there ain't nothin that comes close to that one!

If it is a Coral Snake(and I think it very well might be), that specimen, if it looked healthier would be worth HUGE BUCKS to the right individual, ....believe me!

~Doug

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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Yes, the hoax also crossed my mind as well. Let's not forget that it's from Florida though. It could very well be absolutely anything

LOL!!,....Yeah,..That thing had me scratching my head for a LONG while!

The crazy aberrant pattern and colors, on top of being way thinner than Paris Hilton, really makes that thing confusing,....but that head sure does say Coral Snake!..

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Pretty unlikely it's a hoax. It was posted in a fossil collecting forum under a "creatures found while collecting fossils" thread.

Unless you think I'm making this up, which I'm not. My first
instinct was that it was some sort of escaped exotic.

Thanks,
Ed

>>Yes, the hoax also crossed my mind as well. Let's not forget that it's from Florida though. It could very well be absolutely anything

maybe snail eating snake?

http://www.humboldt.edu/~rap1/Herps/Snakes/026.jpg

That was my first thought also - something from the genus Imantodes or maybe Sibon but I don't know if that head shape really convinces me. Wish there was a pic with a better angle...
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Diego

I also believe it to be an aberrant Micrurus f. fulvius. Way too thin. Looking closely, I think an occasional tinge of red is visible. By the way, this is exactly why snake identification over the telephone is a hit or miss deal.

I hope it gets into the hands of someone who can worm it & get some weight on it.

~~Greg~~
Florida's Venomous Snakes

Greg,....

I'm also convinced that it's an EXTREMELY immaciated, VERY oddly aberrant Micrurus f.fulvius, although a closer head shot would certainly dramatically help matters. I don't know how long it's been in captivity, or if it was found in that condition, but the folds of skin and it's overall appearance certainly looks like it doesn't have much more time left. That's too bad, because that's truly one of the most bizarre aberrancies I've seen in a long long time!

If I had it, you can bet your bottom dollar I would do literally ANYTHING to keep that one going!....what a darn shame, such a "one-of-a-kind" creature.

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

"I don't know how long it's been in captivity, or if it was found in that condition, but the folds of skin and it's overall appearance certainly looks like it doesn't have much more time left. "

I do not believe it is in captivity. The original poster said that it was on some fossil forum and had been found during a dig. The picture was taken on-site and nobody here knows if it was kept or released. If we knew which fossil board it was from then one of you guys could contact the person who found it and go hunt down that snake yourselves

It was also said to have been found in or on someone's porch.
It was supposedly given to UF I think as well.
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

It will be forever in a pickle jar.
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

I've been in email contact with the woman who found the snake so I feel obligated to provide the truth. That snake was found on the woman's back porch in Palm City a couple weeks ago (Sat, May 31). Suspecting it was something unusual, she took it to the Nature Coast Wildlife Center whose "snake experts" couldn't provide an ID. It was then transported to the University of Florida where it was examined by Dr. Harvey Lillywhite and the herp collection managers at the Florida Museum of Natural History. All agreed it was an aberrant Eastern Coral Snake (Micrurus fulvius).

The snake is now at the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford, FL. Hopefully they can nurse it back to health.

Here's another photo of the snake sent to me by the collector:

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Pierson Hill

Well, nice to see the truth came out. I apologize if I spread
misinformation, but the fact is that a picture of it was posted
under a "Critters found while fossil collecting" thread in a
fossil collecting forum. There was no intent to spread bad info. In fact, I could care less how it was found, I just wanted to
get it identified.

I heard the snake died, is that true?

Thanks,
Ed

>>I've been in email contact with the woman who found the snake so I feel obligated to provide the truth. That snake was found on the woman's back porch in Palm City a couple weeks ago (Sat, May 31). Suspecting it was something unusual, she took it to the Nature Coast Wildlife Center whose "snake experts" couldn't provide an ID. It was then transported to the University of Florida where it was examined by Dr. Harvey Lillywhite and the herp collection managers at the Florida Museum of Natural History. All agreed it was an aberrant Eastern Coral Snake (Micrurus fulvius).
>>
>>The snake is now at the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford, FL. Hopefully they can nurse it back to health.
>>
>>Here's another photo of the snake sent to me by the collector:
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>>Pierson Hill
>>

It was not found in FL.. but rather in S.A.
It's Geodeira polysticta.
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

Doesn't it seem 'peculiar' that Google searches return no results for "Geodeira" or "Dr. Frank Gettleberg"?
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Pierson Hill

What? I can't play?
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

...for perpetuating a myth...
as we all know or knew from the beginning, it was indeed a M.fulvius. One that I would've loved to have found!
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

...is the final answer? (ive read over 200 threads between this forum and the other concerning the id. of this photo, and im still not clear on what it is, thank you).

It is an aberrant Eastern Coral Snake. Or, it was. The snake did not make it.