Hi Mr.Achyuthan,
thanks a lot for sharing these amazing photographs of some
endemic snakes from the Andaman islands.
Which camera do you use??.......i will be obliged if you
share some of your experiences of spotting snakes in
Andamans....and photographing them.
here are the informations on these species of snakes from
Andamans:
1. Blue-green Bronzeback treesnake:
Dendrelaphis cyanochloris
The body is long slender, eyes are large...tail is quite long
thin and wire-like. One or two dark lines divide the dorsal
and ventral parts of the body. The tongue is red. The skin
between the scales is blue in colour.
Habitat: It lives in the undergrowth and trees.
Diet:It feeds on lizards,tree frogs,birds ...and is known to enter
thachted roofs to find sparrows.
Habits: It is diurnal arboreal and the scales on the lateral
sides of body and tail have sharp edges which help it to climb
with ease. This snake can jump from one branch to next.
Range: It is found in the forests of North Bengal (Darjeeling
district) upto Arunachal Pradesh in the north east,and also the
Andaman islands.
2.Andaman Pit-viper:
Trimeresurus andersoni
This snake is long and thick with a triangular head wihch is
distinct from the body. The colour is brown, blackish or
sometimes pale brown with whitish and dark bars. The pupil is
vertical and thin. There is a heat-sensing pit between the eye
and nostril.
Habitats: It is found in the forested plains, underbushes and is
also seen on the wet roads in the monsoon.
A female Andaman Pitviper caught near Port Blair gave birth
to 5 babies in April....the babies were different in colour
from the greenish-brown mother snake, and were given frogs
caught from rice fields. (Romulus Whitaker)
Habits: This snake generally doesnt bite, but sometimes may
bite if disturbed or stepped on it at night. There is no record
of detah due to its bite. The area swells up and its painful.
It strikes very fast.
There is no antivenom for this snake because the patient
generally recovers within a few days, as the dose of venom
injected is low.
Diet: It feeds on field mice, frogs and toads.
Range: It is common in the Andaman islands, and there is record
of one snake from Car Nicobars.
3. Andaman Catsnake:
Boiga andamanensis
Body is slender, long and laterally compressed. The colour is
pale brown and sometimes red with dark brown bars. The eyes
are large with vertical pupils.
Habitat: It is found in the trees and is often seen in the
hay and dry grasses of villages.
Habits: It is completely nocturnal and arboreal....that throws
the anterior part of body into coils when attacked or
disturbed..and strikes repeatedly.
It is rear fanged and the venom is toxic only for small
mammals and birds.
Diet: Small birds, Geckoes and small bats.
Range: Andaman islands only.
Regards
Shantanu Bhattacharya
Dept. of Biology
VMS, Joka, Kolkata.
On Feb 20, 6:16 pm, Achyuthan Herp <[email protected]> wrote:
> Enjoy these beauties !!
>
> --
> Regards,
> N.S.Achyuthan
>
> Csc1.JPG
> 164KViewDownload
>
> DSC_9458.jpg
> 74KViewDownload
>
> DSC_9425.jpg
> 97KViewDownload
>
> Untitl-1.jpg
> 60KViewDownload
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