Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey all,
back in the early 80's i got this snake from an importer and he called it an african grass snake. anyway it looked allot like our green snakes except a lil bigger approx 5ft but slender like our greens and it had the most incredible turquosie blue head like a sockhead in vivid blue there were no patterns white/yellowish belly green body with blue head round pupils very calm ate lizards and occasionally pink mice, ive seached and i cant find anything that resembles it, does anyone know what it could have been?species?latin name? thanks,,,,,,,,thomas davis

One possibility is (pick your genus..it seems to be in a state of flux) Opheodrys, Eurypholis, Entechinus major. Asian snake that reaches the size specified, although the head color may not match up.

~~Greg~~

def. not our greens only similiar in general appearance but these had a bright blue head. would you have any pics of Entechinus major i couldnt find any in a websearch but did some reading and it sounds like it could be it,maybe,anyway,,,thanks,,,,,,,thomas davis

I found pix in 2 books..the best was of Opheodrys major in Mehrtens' Living Snakes of the World, the other, which mentioned the other genera, is the Atlas by Obst, Richter & Jacob.

~~Greg~~

Sounds to me like some species of Philothamnus. There are many subspecies in Africa although none seem to have a blue head.

Dan

And it looks like it does have some blue on it's supraoculars

looks similiar very much so, but this had a total blue head like a sockhead in blue and i do remember the guy had probably 10 or12 of them and they all had that strikingly BLUE head so far philothamnus seems the likliest,but,,, thanks for the pic ,,,,,,
thomas

Several of the African species of Philothamnus are described as being green with a bluish green head. If you got an extreme example, I guess the head could be considered turquoise?
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Chris Harrison
Central Texas

I have had several Philothamus that had turquoise heads. Not a rare thing at all. Without specifics it is impossible to place a species on this as at least three I know of do regularly have turqoise to blue heads.

Philothamus is the correct genus however for snakes sold by that name.

The Japanese and Chinese green snakes do not have turqoise heads -unless they are abberant. Elaphe prasina can be turquoise, but again it is not African.

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

I realize he was looking African, but the largest Philothamnus barely reaches 5 feet, if at all, & the largest species is plainly marked with black banding, which ruled that out. That's why I tossed in Opheodrys major..due to the fact it reaches the stated length. Besides, we all know there are some dealers who easily could get the continent of origin wrong.

His snake probably was a Philothamnus, but it may not have been quite as close to five feet as he remembers it to be.

~~Greg~~

again it came from an importer which said it was from africa but that may not be the case as i do remember he had lots of stuff from all over, also it maybe was shy of 5ft.(i was 16) had the build of our greens but the blueblueblue head (def. NOT one of our greens) it was amazing, it was actually my first experience w/import and it went really smooth i had the snake for more than a year ate lizards and occassionally pink mice but it eventually escaped ive allways wanted another even more so now that i have such a large variety myself.even to just find out ssp. i dont think or didnt at the time think they were rare as the guy had several and was sellin them for like 20bux each this was 1980-81, i have an asian vine(ahuetula prasina)and it is somewhat similiar in the green color scheme but this one had the blue head round pupils and headshape of our greensnames except diff. hard to type it it was very beautiful though and quite breathtaking even to nonsnake folks i got lots of joy from that snake and the sad thing is i dont have a clue about its name! anyway thanks and any pics of possibilities would be great ,,,,,,,thomas davis

my snake collection

1.0 asain vine
3.5 b.c.c
1.1 dumerils
0.1 green anaconda
1.1 ball pythons
1.0 biak gtp
2.4 eastern chain kings
2.4 fla.kings
2.3 cali.kings
1.2 speck kings
1.1 prarie kings
2.4 pueblan milks
1.2 bullsnakes
1.1 n.pines
1.2 cornsnakes
1.1 great basin gophers

,,and eventually a pair or 2 of some type of blueheaded colubrid suppossedly from africa

Your best bet. It gets to 130 CM. Is blue-green anteriorly (blue head). And (in some populations) lacks the black crossbars the species is normally known for so it appears bright green.

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

That is a very beautiful snake. Would love to find one. Also found this:
http://forum.kingsnake.com/whats/messages/7259.html
Has some nice pics!