# small eyed snakes



## Daryl_H (Apr 6, 2011)

hi there i was justwondering if anyone else has found small eyed snakes very far south i have found the on the mornigton pensulas,
they seem to be diff to the other population i havent found one that more than 320mm in toatal lenth just wondering if this is a diff local type of they just dont grow as big cause of the lack of bigger prey:?


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## GeckPhotographer (Apr 6, 2011)

Hi Daryl, I personally have never herped that far south but the Mornington Peninsula and just west of there are definately within the range of Small-eyed Snakes. There is as far as I know no evidence suggesting that population is isolated. If their small size is related to prey it is more likely related to quantity of prey as they ussually eat mainly frogs and skinks for which there is only a small range of sizes they could eat anyway. There are other possible factors like climate but as I see hugely varied sizes in national parks within 200km of each other I think quantitiy of prey seems a liklier explanation. 
Hope that helps.


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## Daryl_H (Apr 6, 2011)

thanks geck kinda dose help


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (Apr 6, 2011)

I get called out to small eyed snakes every year. They occur in a few places here on the Mornington peninsula. Balnarring, Mt Martha, Mt Eliza and Rosebud to name just a few localities, 
have all got populations of them.
This year alone i have caught a dozen at least.
They are smaller than the northern ones and colouration varies a lot down here, from silver, grey, bluish colours to solid black black 
Biggest ones usually average 36 cms with only a couple of notable exceptions including one 45 cm this year.


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## Daryl_H (Apr 6, 2011)

ssssnakeman said:


> I get called out to small eyed snakes every year. They occur in a few places here on the Mornington peninsula. Balnarring, Mt Martha, Mt Eliza and Rosebud to name just a few localities,
> have all got populations of them.
> This year alone i have caught a dozen at least.
> They are smaller than the northern ones and colouration varies a lot down here, from silver, grey, bluish colours to solid black black
> Biggest ones usually average 36 cms with only a couple of notable exceptions including one 45 cm this year.



many have a pink tinge to the under side of the bellie?


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (Apr 6, 2011)

These five were under some paving in Merricks.


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## pseudechis4740 (Apr 6, 2011)

Have found them around the Narracan dam in the Latrobe Valley. The Mornington Peninsula is probably further south depending on where on the peninsula we are talking.


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## sookie (Apr 6, 2011)

Could sumone please explain a bit more about these small-eyed snakes.i need to get a better ref book.


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## Snakeluvver2 (Apr 6, 2011)

Encyclopedia of Australian Reptiles


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## solar 17 (Apr 7, 2011)

l used to live half way between Mt. Martha and Dromana on the Nepean Highway and there reasonable numbers on that place.....solar 17 [Baden]


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## Daryl_H (Apr 7, 2011)

ssssssnakeman they are alot bigger than i have ever found

i have only found about 15 in 5 years while herping all being under 30 cms


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (Apr 7, 2011)

A local landscaper rang me after turning up about 15 a few weeks ago when he moved a large boulder.
Thankfully,he left them alone and went and had a countermeal, and when he came back they were all gone.,


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## GeckPhotographer (Apr 7, 2011)

15 is a lot of snakes. 



Daryl_H said:


> many have a pink tinge to the under side of the bellie?



All Small-eyeds 'should' have a pink to redish tinge to the belly which does not continue onto the side enough to be seen without lifting the animal (As apposed to Red-bellied Blacks whos red tinge is obvious from the side of the animal, and often more reduced on the belly.).


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (Mar 21, 2012)

[video=youtube;CbdOH0OujL4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbdOH0OujL4[/video]

Got some footage of small eyeds the other day


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## vicherps (Mar 21, 2012)

GeckPhotographer said:


> 15 is a lot of snakes.
> 
> 
> 
> All Small-eyeds 'should' have a pink to redish tinge to the belly which does not continue onto the side enough to be seen without lifting the animal (As apposed to Red-bellied Blacks whos red tinge is obvious from the side of the animal, and often more reduced on the belly.).



Stephen not all Small-eyed Snake specimens have pinkish bellys, they can also have greyish and creamish bellys.


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## dayfnq (Mar 21, 2012)

You're not worried about being bitten by small-eyeds, snakeman?


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (Mar 21, 2012)

Of course i would hate to bitten by a smalleyed snake, I have seen a few and they were the first snake that bred for me
in 1981/82 in a small pit in my mum and dads backyard.


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## junglepython2 (Mar 21, 2012)

GeckPhotographer said:


> 15 is a lot of snakes.
> 
> 
> 
> All Small-eyeds 'should' have a pink to redish tinge to the belly which does not continue onto the side enough to be seen without lifting the animal (As apposed to Red-bellied Blacks whos red tinge is obvious from the side of the animal, and often more reduced on the belly.).



I found a couple on the weekend with cream bellies with not red/pink at all.


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## Poggle (Mar 21, 2012)

junglepython2 said:


> I found a couple on the weekend with cream bellies with not red/pink at all.



i have also caught a couple now with no pinkish tinge


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## Hoplophile (Mar 21, 2012)

*Bites from Small-eyed Snakes*

My understanding is that there have been some very bad bites from small eyed snakes. Mainly larger northern specimens but I'd regard all of them as "Dangerous" so no free handling for me. The following is a quote from the Australian Venom Research Unit at Melbourne Uni. They regard them as "Very Dangerous".

[h=1]Small-Eyed Snake (Rhinoplocephalus nigrescens)[/h] in 

Small eyed snakes





|- 
| colspan="2" |










|- 
| valign="top" | The small-eyed snake, also called the eastern small-eyed snake, is widely distributed along the east coast of Australia, from Victoria to Cape York. This snake lives in wooded areas, where is hunts small reptiles or frogs at night. The body is slender and usually black or greyish-brown. The average length is around 0.5m, with a maximum of 1.2m. Small litters of 2 to 5 young are liveborn. Little is known of the toxicity of this snake's venom, although illnesses have occurred, usually in snake handlers, and one fatality has been associated with a bite from this species. Myotoxicity is a feature of envenomation. The venom is neutralized by tiger snake antivenom.

|-


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## Kerinamc (Mar 21, 2012)

I'm on the gold coast, and we had a black snake with pink belly, thought it was a baby red bellie black. Was only about 20cm long.mmustve been a small eyed snake? But are they found here?


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (Mar 21, 2012)

Don't see to many with pink bellies here, usually creamy coloured or white.The young of the white lipped which also is common here can be black or brown and has red sides and is often confused for a rbb.


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## Kerinamc (Mar 21, 2012)

It was a real bright pink, beautiful looking. My son freaked out and and the dog went it..... Kept it in a jar for a while, invade there was anymore around. Haven't seen any since.. Yes the dog got in trouble, but she was a bad one for snakes. So nobody yell at me for a dead snake!!!! And she's gone to heaven now, hence I can finally have a snake!


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## Poggle (Mar 22, 2012)

View attachment 243785
View attachment 243786


a couple from one night.

Would love tyo have a couple of these as pets. How did you find them to keep baz?


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## saratoga (Mar 22, 2012)

Poggle said:


> View attachment 243787



Probably not the best way to hold your snake hook when being photographed!!


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (Mar 22, 2012)

Thats funny, i would have cropped that pic, lol.

In a covered pit in the backyard, feeding on skinks and froglets, they were great and did real well. 
I think a member here keeps them in a natural looking glass terrerium and they seem to be doing well for him.
Use of gecko hides that stick to the glass make for interesting visual to.


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## junglepython2 (Mar 22, 2012)

One from the weekend.


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## Poggle (Mar 22, 2012)

saratoga said:


> Probably not the best way to hold your snake hook when being photographed!!



Thats not my hook...... hehe , yeah should have cropped. over compensating perhaps lol


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## dayfnq (Mar 22, 2012)

No worries snakeman, I was just wondering because you (at least i assume it is you) handled them with confidence in the video. Are they usually that calm? 
Cheers, Justin


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## dozerman (Mar 22, 2012)

ssssnakeman said:


> Don't see to many with pink bellies here, usually creamy coloured or white.The young of the white lipped which also is common here can be black or brown and has red sides and is often confused for a rbb.



Hey I came across one today , dead on road south of Nowra NSW. Black back , pale cream coloured belly approx 500mm long.


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (Mar 22, 2012)

I dont know if they are all that calm but ive only ever had one try to bite me when i touched its tail, so i try not to do that. i find them to be unlikely to bite if they are held like i was doing it in the video but in saying that, I would not advise anyone to copy anything they see on Youtube, and especially on 
my channel.
Ive only ever had contact with them here in Victoria and I have heard the temperment becomes less predictable the further North you go.
They often get run over at night on the back roads around here to being nocturnal.


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## dayfnq (Mar 22, 2012)

Thanks for the info, snakeman. Look forward to your next clip!


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## Poggle (Mar 22, 2012)

ssssnakeman said:


> I dont know if they are all that calm but ive only ever had one try to bite me when i touched its tail, so i try not to do that. i find them to be unlikely to bite if they are held like i was doing it in the video but in saying that, I would not advise anyone to copy anything they see on Youtube, and especially on
> my channel.
> Ive only ever had contact with them here in Victoria and I have heard the temperment becomes less predictable the further North you go.
> They often get run over at night on the back roads around here to being nocturnal.



Yes i have found the species north to be rather "touchy" and "emotional" compared to their couthern counterparts. They are very quick to flick back on themselves, the one i had the other night was certainly the extremity. Beautiful little snakes, and if i was down south would prob give it a go free handling, but up here the ones i have come across have been a bit to snap happy for that yet


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## fourexes (Nov 28, 2012)

dozerman said:


> Hey I came across one today , dead on road south of Nowra NSW. Black back , pale cream coloured belly approx 500mm long.


I'm east of Nowra (coast not Nowra East) and have found a pink/red bellied one out here. I never even knew they existed until then. Jet black head, with a dark silvery body and pink ventrals so it must not be a locale thing. It was well under 300mm long though.


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## jack (Nov 28, 2012)

not from nowra east? methinks he doth protest too much 
sounds like a fairly typical specimen for this area. i really am quite fond of this species and i enjoyed keeping them years ago.


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## fourexes (Nov 28, 2012)

jack said:


> not from nowra east? methinks he doth protest too much
> sounds like a fairly typical specimen for this area. i really am quite fond of this species and i enjoyed keeping them years ago.



I was merely quoting I was on the coast in reference to locale.... not to say there's anything wrong with eastie..... lol my brother lives there, lovely place...:lol:


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## jairusthevirus21 (Nov 28, 2012)

Iv collected a few with pink bellies from around the Chinchilla area in QLD.


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## buffcoat (Nov 29, 2012)

ssssnakeman said:


> These five were under some paving in Merricks.
> View attachment 194114



Those things look exactly like Mexican Black King snakes. So they are akin to our garter snakes? Small lizard and fish eater with some small rodents for diet?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2


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## dozerman (Nov 29, 2012)

fourexes said:


> I was merely quoting I was on the coast in reference to locale.... not to say there's anything wrong with eastie..... lol my brother lives there, lovely place...:lol:



So Im guessing you live at Worrigee huh ?:lol:


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## fourexes (Nov 29, 2012)

dozerman said:


> So Im guessing you live at Worrigee huh ?:lol:



No that's Nowra Heights or H.M.A.S Worigee :lol: too good for me there.


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