# Brown or ??????



## ronhalling (Feb 20, 2014)

Ok to start with this is not my pic, i borrowed it from facebook so if it belongs to someone here and they object to me using it i will take it down. Having said that this was put up as a please identify, all they gave was a location: Kincumber (central coast NSW) and the pic which will follow, most that made a coment said Brown but i have never seen a Brown like this.  ..............................Ron


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## Trimeresurus (Feb 20, 2014)

Juvenile eastern browns do get those bands sometimes, can't personally say exactly what it is from that photo though.


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## jase75 (Feb 20, 2014)

Yes its a Eastern Brown, banding is typical of some juvenile browns.

Sent from my XT925 using Tapatalk


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## ssstevespythons (Feb 20, 2014)

Hey Ron, there was a similar Facebook post recently. I didn't know but 95% of people identified it as a Brown. Spoke to a friend recently and apparently most EBs start of with that stripping. 
It's pretty stunning colouration. 
I can only assume its a camouflage when they are young.


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## ronhalling (Feb 20, 2014)

Yeah Steve it was on the central coast herp lovers page a couple of days ago, i think i will hyave to change my prescription as i posted i thought it might have been a juvy Woma, lol what i meant to say was i think it might be a juvy bhp, oh well they got a laugh out of it and i suppose while they are laughing at me they are not knifing anyone else in the back, sorta what facebook has become now.  ....................................Ron


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## JAS101 (Feb 20, 2014)

wow I like the banding .


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## bigguy (Feb 20, 2014)

The location given was not Kincumber, but in fact the Hawkesbury area. Its is definitely a juvenile Eastern Brown.. They are nearly always that banded around the Sydney area up until they reach around 1 metre, and than the bands fade and they take on their adult colouration. However, sometimes you see adults that don't loose these stripes and this is where you get the myth the Browns cross with Tigers.


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## Bluetongue1 (Feb 20, 2014)

All young Eastern Browns have the dark head patches but banding is variable and you can get the different forms coming from the same clutch. To further an earlier comment on camouflage, it has been proposed that banded individuals have a higher chance of surviving in long grass and undergrowth, where there are lots of thin, long shadows, while unbanded have a better chance in more open areas with less vegetation. 

Blue


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## kwaka (Feb 21, 2014)

Bluetongue1 said:


> banded individuals have a higher chance of surviving in long grass and undergrowth, where there are lots of thin, long shadows, while unbanded have a better chance in more open areas with less vegetation. Blue



That would be why I have never seen that kind of gnarly banding on a juvy EB here in plains country!!


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## zulu (Feb 21, 2014)

Most are banded here around sydney on the cumberland plains ,caught a little juvenile banded at the back of nowra in the sandstone of gullys. Caught a juvenile swimming in a waterhole at mareeba it had a band near the neck. Some big adults still retain some banding on the cumberland plains western sydney.


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## bigguy (Feb 21, 2014)

Blue As I stated and Zulu has backed it up nearly all hatchling Eastern Browns on the mid coast of NSW are banded over all their body. Some other areas you never see banded bodies, maybe just a black head with a single band on the neck.


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