# mystery snake



## kevincgympie (Oct 16, 2012)

Have a mystery snake spending a lot of time in my fish pond but does not eat the goldfish. In gympie, qld, it's about 1 meter long. I have red bellied blacks, scrub pythons and tree snakes on my 5 acre block as well. i saw it last year as well it has not grown much at all. any help appreciated, just like to know what i'm dealing with. photos below, thanks.
kevin, gympie, qld.


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## James_Scott (Oct 16, 2012)

Keelback. Would be after frogs in the area. Harmless colubrid.
Great photos.

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It could also be a rough scaled snake which is very dangerous. These species are very similar. Check with Ben Moore at amazing amazon.


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## vicherps (Oct 16, 2012)

Keelback (Tropidonophis mairii).


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## kevincgympie (Oct 16, 2012)

James_Scott said:


> Keelback. Would be after frogs in the area. Harmless colubrid.
> Great photos.



Thanks James, that's a relief, it is very close to a small bird hide where i take pics, so now there is no need to freak out if it crawls into the hide.

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vicherps said:


> Keelback (Tropidonophis mairii).



thankyou, one less critter to worry about...


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## Bananapeel (Oct 16, 2012)

Yeah and a nice looker too. Your photography looks amazing. I never think photos do snakes any justice but those photos really do do it justice. Not that I've seen the actual animal.


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## BIGBANG (Oct 16, 2012)

was gunna say keelback, was comparing it to some other photos just to make sure,


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## vicherps (Oct 16, 2012)

Interms of differentiating rough scales and keelbacks bluetongue1 talked about features on this http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/reptile-identification-5396/poor-fellow-please-193909/ thread.


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## Darlyn (Oct 16, 2012)

Gorgeous pics. well done.


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## kevincgympie (Oct 16, 2012)

Thanks everyone, that's a load off my mind. I was set up in a bird hide to photograph small birds and the snake just happened to come past at the right time,- i was able to snap off a few frames. I see it a lot so just needed to be certain in case i stepped on it by accident.


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## Jarrod_H (Oct 16, 2012)

Cracker photos mate, stuff the birds snap some more snake pix :thumbs up:


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## Emilie (Oct 16, 2012)

That's some of the best photography I've seen. Ripper photos of awesome keelback


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## crocodile_dan (Oct 16, 2012)

If your in Gympie the pythons would not be scrub pythons, most likely coastal carpets.

Nice to see non-herp people with a genuine fascination and admiration contributing to this forum.


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## mic772 (Oct 16, 2012)

Yes it is a keelback as said before the diference beetween the rough scale and the keelback (keeping terms simple) there is an extra scale in between the eye and the nostil as this one does. 
The keel back love swamps will some times act agressivly if startled. and they will attack. Our crew had 1 incident last week in the cleveland area and 2 years ago another crew member was bitten on the back of his leg as he walked away from one. But there not venomous as previously stated. If you do get bitten applie apropriate first aid and please seek medical attention.
If you live in the greater brisbane areas there is Rough scale snakes arround but are uncommon.


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## phantomreptiles (Oct 16, 2012)

What brillant photos!! I wish I could take pics like that.


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## Red-Ink (Oct 16, 2012)

Nice pics... they look like studio shots


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## dintony (Oct 16, 2012)

Wow... fantastic pics!! Do you have a website or have other pics we can see??


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## harley0402 (Oct 17, 2012)

you should enter the first photo into the 2013 calendar comp. it would defiantly get in there


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## dintony (Oct 17, 2012)

I was so shocked.. I expected to the see the usual "ID this" pic... you know blurry and from about 50 yards away


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## longqi (Oct 17, 2012)

mic772 said:


> Yes it is a keelback as said before the diference beetween the rough scale and the keelback (keeping terms simple) there is an extra scale in between the eye and the nostil as this one does.
> The keel back love swamps will some times act agressivly if startled. and they will attack. Our crew had 1 incident last week in the cleveland area and 2 years ago another crew member was bitten on the back of his leg as he walked away from one. But there not venomous as previously stated. If you do get bitten applie apropriate first aid and please seek medical attention.
> If you live in the greater brisbane areas there is Rough scale snakes arround but are uncommon.



Just curious as to why anyone would need medical attention for a keelback bite??


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## reb01 (Oct 17, 2012)

mic772 said:


> Yes it is a keelback as said before the diference beetween the rough scale and the keelback (keeping terms simple) there is an extra scale in between the eye and the nostil as this one does.
> The keel back love swamps will some times act agressivly if startled. and they will attack. Our crew had 1 incident last week in the cleveland area and 2 years ago another crew member was bitten on the back of his leg as he walked away from one. But there not venomous as previously stated. If you do get bitten applie apropriate first aid and please seek medical attention.
> If you live in the greater brisbane areas there is Rough scale snakes arround but are uncommon.


The bite is ALOT different also lol


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## buffcoat (Oct 17, 2012)

longqi said:


> Just curious as to why anyone would need medical attention for a keelback bite??



Bacteria...infection. If its a colubrid Id just wash with soapy water/antibacterial soap an rub some neosporrin on it. I wouldn't exactly "seek medical attention" unless you couldn't id the snake, then treat as a hot, maybe. 

Better to be safe than sorry I guess.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk 2


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## mad_at_arms (Oct 17, 2012)

As stated, great photos.


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## Wild~Touch (Oct 17, 2012)

Perfect example of the keelback "smile"

Thank you for sharing


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## kevincgympie (Oct 17, 2012)

dintony said:


> Wow... fantastic pics!! Do you have a website or have other pics we can see??



Thanks again everyone. I was set up to photograph small birds at feeding/bathing site. The lighting was by external flashes fired remotely. Snakes have come past for a drink sometimes while I'm shooting, i generally keep well away from them tho I do have a carpet snake living in the roof. they make a racket when mating...:lol:

I have a website, - i normally do sports (horses, cycling) but document local wildlife in the paddock
web address is Kevin Coppalotti


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## Rob (Oct 17, 2012)

Really nice photos. Thanks so much for sharing.


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## GeckPhotographer (Oct 17, 2012)

Awesome photos. If it was on a natural surface that first would just be absolutely superb.


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## gillsy (Oct 17, 2012)

Telling an amateur to check the scales on the head is silly IMO. The easiest way to tell a Keelback is the unmistakable smile, and as you were able to get very close and get a great shot of the head it's very very easy to tell. 

Living in gympie i'm suprised this is the first one you've seen, they're like rats on a warm humid night.


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## moosenoose (Oct 17, 2012)

Very nice photos!


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## cathy1986 (Oct 17, 2012)

awesome photos!!!

Cathy


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## anthony91 (Oct 17, 2012)

love the photos you take man!
what kind of kit do you use?


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## kevincgympie (Oct 17, 2012)

anthony91 said:


> love the photos you take man!
> what kind of kit do you use?



I use a variety of cameras but with the keelback i used a panasonic fz150, coupled with canon flashes placed off camera. i was photographing birds from a birdhide at the time.


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## vicherps (Oct 17, 2012)

mic772 said:


> Yes it is a keelback as said before the diference beetween the rough scale and the keelback (keeping terms simple) there is an extra scale in between the eye and the nostil as this one does.


The loreal scale is actually located between the preocular and the postnasal scale, this could be what you were trying to say but I just thought I would be a bit more specific.


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