Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi

i would really appreciate some help with identifying snakes i keep at home that are native to Syria. There is so very little awareness of the importance of wildlife here. I get most of these snakes from people who kill them on sight usually.

This species is new to me and surely does not seem to be a watersnake like many of the other ones I keep. I have 2 of it. The one in the photos must have been defanged because when I got it, there was some blood in its mouth. That is so terrible. I feed it by fish and frogs by hand and it seems to be in good health. I got the other one yesterday and I it bit me but nothing happened except for some blood.

Does anyone now what is the scientific name of what is commonly called hanash here? It is an all-black thick snake that usually grows to 2 meters. Some say it is venomous, some say it is not. I have one and will post photos of it very soon. It is very beautiful.

Thanks for all the help.

http://community.webshots.com/s/image1/9/52/99/131895299iRIHQQ_fs.jpg

http://community.webshots.com/s/image11/9/65/91/131896591LXoOun_fs.jpg

http://community.webshots.com/s/image8/9/84/81/131898481Yaivpu_fs.jpg

http://community.webshots.com/s/image8/0/13/30/131901330XohcCO_fs.jpg

"hanash" seems to be a generic Arabic word for snake. it also refers to a large black snake beleaved to be venomous-but not a cobra.

Without seeing it the first candidate appears to be a Black phase Coluber jugalaris. Thses can reach over 250cm and are harmless.

WARNING! The other candidate (and the most likely from your description) is Venomous! Walterinnesia aegyptia (sometimes called Black Cobra)can reach 130cm and is a thick bodied burrowing species. It does not display a hood but instead strikes an "S" shaped pose and hisses while trying to hid it's head. It often strikes with a closed mouth.

Will be looking for your pictures,

Frank
-----
"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

That's a lovely little snake-looks more like a type of racer or whip snake than a water snake.

I found this page that shows the Dahl's Whip Snake, Coluber najadum and it looks very similar but the one pictured has more spots.
http://www.herp.it/indexjs.htm?SpeciesPages/ColubNajad.htm

Also the Coluber rubriceps- which is normally more of a reddish color may be what it is.

I wish I could read some of the pages I pulled up! You may have better luck doing a search on google.com
Good luck with your snake.
Lora

I only tried to identify the snake in the photos. I don't know what the hanash may be. Rearfang may be right so be careful!
Lora

thanks for the link. i had visited it before but wasn't sure this is the same species because the number of spots. i will now search for info on feeding and whether it is venomous or not.

thanks.

>>hi
>>
>>i would really appreciate some help with identifying snakes i keep at home that are native to Syria. There is so very little awareness of the importance of wildlife here. I get most of these snakes from people who kill them on sight usually.
>>
>>This species is new to me and surely does not seem to be a watersnake like many of the other ones I keep. I have 2 of it. The one in the photos must have been defanged because when I got it, there was some blood in its mouth. That is so terrible. I feed it by fish and frogs by hand and it seems to be in good health. I got the other one yesterday and I it bit me but nothing happened except for some blood.
>>
>>Does anyone now what is the scientific name of what is commonly called hanash here? It is an all-black thick snake that usually grows to 2 meters. Some say it is venomous, some say it is not. I have one and will post photos of it very soon. It is very beautiful.
>>
>>Thanks for all the help.
>>
>>http://community.webshots.com/s/image1/9/52/99/131895299iRIHQQ_fs.jpg
>>
>>http://community.webshots.com/s/image11/9/65/91/131896591LXoOun_fs.jpg
>>
>>http://community.webshots.com/s/image8/9/84/81/131898481Yaivpu_fs.jpg
>>
>>http://community.webshots.com/s/image8/0/13/30/131901330XohcCO_fs.jpg
-----
Chris Harrison

Hi,

The snake in the photos is probably Coluber rubriceps rather than C. najadum, although I need to check the guide books for the distinguishing features.

>>Does anyone now what is the scientific name of what is commonly called hanash here? It is an all-black thick snake that usually grows to 2 meters. Some say it is venomous, some say it is not. I have one and will post photos of it very soon. It is very beautiful.

Where in Syria is it from? Coluber jugularis occurs primarily in the Mediterranean climate zone, whereas Walterinnesia is a desert snake. Also, Coluber jugularis has very larg eyes (rather like the Coluber najadum in your photos, whereas Walterinnesia has small eyes. If you post the photos, it should be very easy to tell.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Wolfgang
-----
WW Home

after searching the internet based on the information every one kindly supplied. i concluded that it is a subspecies of Coluber najadum called "Coluber najadum dahli" based on info in the following two sites:

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/batraciens/batraciens_reptiles_lesbos.htm

http://www.nafcon.dircon.co.uk/euro_snakes.html#colubernajadum

so it is not venemous at all, right?

... it's definitely C. rubriceps, not C. najadum. This and C. najadum are very similar. The difference is that C. najadum has a white area in front of the eye, and a series of dark spots on each side of the neck (but not a collar), whereas C. rubiceps lacks a white area in front of the eye, but has a collar across the back of the neck. Very subtle differences, and these are obviosuly very closely related species. They are harmless as far as is known.

Cheers,

Wolfgang
-----
WW Home

thanks a lot for the detailed info. i thought it couldn't be C. rubriceps because its not reddish.

have a nice day.