# ID confirmation please



## sd1981 (Dec 7, 2012)

Hi there, I found a 2-3 ft snake on the road, which had been run over and was being attacked by a crow. It had olive brown scales with a bluish hue over its scales and creamy brown belly scales.... I'll attempt to attach a pic... Found in Ipswich SE QLD

and was well and truly dead when I got to it...


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## richoman_3 (Dec 7, 2012)

eastern brown snake


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## Red-Ink (Dec 7, 2012)

Eastern Brown...

- - - Updated - - -

By... mere seconds richo lol


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## sd1981 (Dec 7, 2012)

I thought so, but I'm not a snake guy so I wanted to be sure, thanks guys...


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## Gruni (Dec 7, 2012)

Well done guys, squished up like that I had no idea, I still need to see the snake spread out if I have any hope of an ID.


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## Red-Ink (Dec 7, 2012)

Gruni said:


> Well done guys, squished up like that I had no idea, I still need to see the snake spread out if I have any hope of an ID.



If there ever was a snake species here that you want to be able to identify at a glance in the wild it's these guys lol


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## Bluetongue1 (Dec 7, 2012)

EBs are highly variable in colour. They can range from greyish brown through to brown to quite red. They can also be light through to very dark. The diagnostic feature is the ventrals – cream base colour with orange to brown short streaks. Once yon have seen an example, you can readily recognise it on other individuals.

Blue


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## -Peter (Dec 7, 2012)

Bluetongue1 said:


> EBs are highly variable in colour. They can range from greyish brown through to brown to quite red. They can also be light through to very dark. The diagnostic feature is the ventrals – cream base colour with orange to brown short streaks. Once yon have seen an example, you can readily recognise it on other individuals.
> 
> Blue


Last course we had a wild caught mature Sydney Pseudonaja textilis with cream ventrals and no flecks or streaks and another with black flecks. They are indeed extremely variable in colour.


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## eipper (Dec 7, 2012)

Plenty of Pseudonaja have cream to yellow bellies with ventral markings.


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## Bluetongue1 (Dec 7, 2012)

*Scott*, My comments were in respect to the specific location given. That is my shortfall in not stating this.

*Peter*, All I can say is that these individuals are exceptional animals and not representative of the norm. The lesson to be had here is to treat any unidentified snake as potentially dangerously venomous.

Blue


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## Jonno from ERD (Dec 8, 2012)

Hi Blue,

Are you referring to Ipswich as the specific location? If so, they aren't immune to the variability encountered in _P.textilis_ throughout their entire range...in fact, I would say they are amongst the most variable of the examples I have seen, apart from the Brigalow Belt.


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## Bluetongue1 (Dec 9, 2012)

*Jonno*,

Scott was letting me know that the description I provided of the ventrals was not exclusively diagnostic of an EB and that it is common amongst many species of Pseudonaja. I acknowledged my mistake. What I should have stated is that for the locality of Ipswich, it is diagnostic for an EB as that is the only species of Pseudonaja occurring in the region.

As for the variability of dorsal colours, I would not even try to describe what forms are found where. I will add that in my limited experience with these snakes in the field, they move in a really smooth, rapid manner that I find distinctive. I do not know if others would concur with that perception. 

Blue


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## Mulgaaustralis (Dec 9, 2012)

Someone is really good at reading books.


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