# pls help with snake skin identification



## nix2nix (Oct 22, 2010)

Any ideas? Found in shed. very soft n fresh. Over 6 foot and about 2.5 inches wide. Nth QLD, Mackay bit worried as its huge its not like the usual tree snake skins I find frequently. Im hoping python???


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## Elapidae1 (Oct 22, 2010)

It's a python


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## LiasisKing (Oct 22, 2010)

pretty sure its a pythons skin


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## cement (Oct 22, 2010)

definatly python


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## nix2nix (Oct 22, 2010)

well, that makes me feel alot better  Love the non-venomous slitheries but not so much the others as i have 4 kids.. My small dog ( think large chihuahua) was locked in the same shed today.. would a snake from this skin be a threat to him? How big is snake approx if skin was 6 foot ( ai have read they stretch.. :0P
oh n how come its not mottley like a carpet snake? what type of python do i look up to see what it looks like?


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## Bushman (Oct 22, 2010)

The guys are right about the owner being a python. For yours and others interest, it's the fact that the ventral scales are relatively small that allows us to make such a call with confidence. Elapids and colubrids have much wider ventrals.

I wouldn't be locking your small dog in the same shed that you found the skin in, especially since the skin is as fresh as you say. However, the python is probably too small to try and eat your dog, as a sloughed skin is always longer than the actual snake. A rough guess is that the snake is a bit longer than about 5 foot long, if it's a 6 foot long skin. Of course if the dog attacks the python, it will probably defend itself and there's a slight chance that the snake could constrict the dog but it's more likely to be out of self-defence rather than with the intention of eating it.


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## Bushman (Oct 22, 2010)

I forgot to answer your skin-pattern question. Any colours and patterns on the sloughed skin is invariably much fainter than on the live specimen. Your best bet to see if any pattern is present is to re-invert the skin (as it's inside out after sloughing) to see if there's any pattern visible and look very closely.
If you want us to ID the species, do the various critical scale counts and take a close-up pic of the head and post it here. Scrubbies have large plates on the top of the head which readily distinguishes them from the Morelia ('carpet python') genus.


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## nix2nix (Oct 22, 2010)

thank you for info.. might lock dog nside just to be safe.
any ideas of type/ the skin is def brown/olive but distribution of olive isnt this far down. I have seen plenty of tree snakes (just common ones with yellow bellies) baby carpet pythons or something similiar and even a big brown snake ( possibly taipan as its head funny shape and it was FAST) but no plain coloured pythons.


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## -Matt- (Oct 22, 2010)

Based on your location the snake would be a Coastal Carpet Python _Morelia spilota mcdowelli_


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## Bushman (Oct 22, 2010)

It's my pleasure.  I posted a second reply at the same time as you, which covers the skin pattern/colour query. Please see above.


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## nix2nix (Oct 22, 2010)

it has 267 ventral scales.(stopped counting at anal hole) i think 47 around belly ( do you count each row cause they r offset? head is abit wrecked..... are the little mites ( im asumming thats what they are ) on the skin bad for people?
what other scales do i count?


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## nix2nix (Oct 22, 2010)

Once whilst horse riding I saw a huge black headed creamy python with yellow stripes curled up on the road..... very shiny and fat. very beautiful..


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## nix2nix (Oct 22, 2010)

ok, i turned skin out and u can see a couple of faint pattern marks.. I agree carpet python.. yeyeyey Hope i get to see him. Do they eat chooks/chicks? steal eggs?


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## blakehose (Oct 22, 2010)

Yes, they will eat chooks and chicks - you can expect it to hang around until the food supply is gone.


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## Bushman (Oct 23, 2010)

nix2nix said:


> Once whilst horse riding I saw a huge black headed creamy python with yellow stripes curled up on the road..... very shiny and fat. very beautiful..





nix2nix said:


> it has 267 ventral scales.(stopped counting at anal hole) i think 47 around belly ( do you count each row cause they r offset? head is abit wrecked..... are the little mites ( im asumming thats what they are ) on the skin bad for people?
> what other scales do i count?


I was actually going to mention that the Black-headed Python is a possibility, as you're within their range. However, they have more than 310 ventral scales, so you've eliminated that option with your ventral count of 267.
The mid-body scale count is best counted diagonally from ventral to ventral imo. 
You could also count the sub-caudals and let us know if they're single or divided. 
BHP's have mostly single (entire) subcaudals but posterior ones are divided, often irregularly.
Water Python is another possibility but they have divided sub-caudals and usually more than 270 ventrals and of course no skin patterns which you reported seeing, albeit faintly. 
So it's looking like a Carpet Python.

Snake mites don't harm people, as they're host specific.


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