# Snake ID



## Koula (Sep 15, 2010)

mate of mine had this little bugger come into his house. he wants to know what it is. Tried to get him to take better shots of its head but this is all he could snap.

Found in Iveragh (between Bororan and Banaraby, near Gladstone QLD).
It's about 20cm long, maybe 30 cm


Any idea on what it is?


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## GeckoJosh (Sep 15, 2010)

Keelback?


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## Kitah (Sep 15, 2010)

Looks like a Keelback to me, but see what the other herpers say


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## monique18026 (Sep 15, 2010)

Keelback


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## najanaja (Sep 15, 2010)

yep..there a little darker up there to down here, but a Keelbacks a Keelback,,, other wise known as a Fresh Water Snake and can eat small Cane Toads without ill effects so get it back into the wild...


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## -Matt- (Sep 15, 2010)

It's a young keelback.


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## Koula (Sep 15, 2010)

Thanks guys, have let him know what it is. He's also found another different small snake but he didnt get a pic of it. The little keelback is also being returned to the nearby creek.


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## saratoga (Sep 16, 2010)

Definately a keelback. 

Has it been injured?...whats the reddish "tissue" lump?


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## Koula (Sep 16, 2010)

saratoga said:


> Has it been injured?...whats the reddish "tissue" lump?



A little. His cat dragged it in late the other night. It seems to have a bad habit of bringing into their house small snakes at the moment. Sooner or later, cat's gunna tangle with the wrong snake. (a nice big coastal or an angry king brown)


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## redbellybite (Sep 17, 2010)

Koula said:


> A little. His cat dragged it in late the other night. It seems to have a bad habit of bringing into their house small snakes at the moment. Sooner or later, cat's gunna tangle with the wrong snake. (a nice big coastal or an angry king brown)



well sadly that is a dead keelback as cat bites kill  maybe encourage ya friend to keep his cat indoors from now on


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## persona (Sep 17, 2010)

No reason to sign the snakes death warrant. Cat injurys infect, but modern veternary medicine can save it. Many vets treat native wildlife free. 
Keeping your cat indoors, or caged outdoors may save _it's_ life too!


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## redbellybite (Sep 17, 2010)

persona said:


> No reason to sign the snakes death warrant. Cat injurys infect, but modern veternary medicine can save it. Many vets treat native wildlife free.
> Keeping your cat indoors, or caged outdoors may save _it's_ life too!


that injury and being a cat attack is a signed sealed death ,,,I have had keelbacks up and die from simply puncture wounds from cats ...dog attacks if not severe usually have a good outcome but not cats.


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## byron_moses (Sep 17, 2010)

keelback


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## Australis (Sep 17, 2010)

@rbb
Your not a medicine administering vet though. :|
Seems to be the posters main point.


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## redbellybite (Sep 18, 2010)

I do realise that AUSTRALIS ....but what alot dont understand by the time the call is made to come and get the bloody snake that the cat has dragged in after it has chewed and what not on it ..the snake is lucky to live a few hours afterwards and not everyone lives 5mins from a vet ..so my saying is, in most snake callouts especially in the likes of rural areas, vets dont even get a chance to look at cat victims cause they usually dont make the distance ....NOT ALL VETS DO SNAKES especially up here ...


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## Wild~Touch (Sep 18, 2010)

redbellybite said:


> that injury and being a cat attack is a signed sealed death ,,,I have had keelbacks up and die from simply puncture wounds from cats ...dog attacks if not severe usually have a good outcome but not cats.




You are exactly correct redbellybite - feline claws hold the death warrant with little or no evidence I am sad to say


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## persona (Sep 18, 2010)

> @rbb
> Your not a medicine administering vet though.
> Seems to be the posters main point.


No it's not. How would I know if RBB was a vet or not?


> ....but what alot dont understand by the time the call is made to come and get the bloody snake that the cat has dragged in after it has chewed and what not on it ..the snake is lucky to live a few hours afterwards and not everyone lives 5mins from a vet ..so my saying is, in most snake callouts especially in the likes of rural areas, vets dont even get a chance to look at cat victims cause they usually dont make the distance ....NOT ALL VETS DO SNAKES especially up here ...


 
I understand it may well often prove fatal given a set of 'typical' circumstances, however not every circumstance will prove 'typical' either. The poster didn't provide such details.
Fatalities are common, this is nature, **** happens,* I simply prefer to have a more positive outlook/attitude to life in general.*
The snake in question may or may not have been saved, aside from the prolapse/injury, it dosent appear to sustained major damage, and there is no justification to assume negative prognosis in this and every case, based on statistics and without examination. 
What I dont understand is why the teeth/claws of a cat should contain more virulent bacteria strains than another domestic animal anyway. The physical nature of cat injuries (since they 'toy' with wildlife) may well often be a death warrant, but
'from a single puncture/scratch' makes cat carried bacteria sound like taipan venom. 
I dont beleive in free roaming cats either, they dont belong in the bush, nobody will argue that. But demonising cats this way (even without such intention) , is not positive. 
I imagine an attempt to save a cat bitten snake rather less of a challenge than trying to save a snake with a 'goodyear' stripe!


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## cairnscarpets (Oct 3, 2010)

all cats should be shot and illegal to keep as pets.


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## 1issie (Oct 3, 2010)

cairnscarpets said:


> all cats should be shot and illegal to keep as pets.



not all cats are bad mate,our tribe of 9 cats are inside gennerally coz they are show cats,and i luv them as much as reps.and the bad cats are the feral ones that people leave and roam around.


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