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Burrowing Snakes 1 – WildlifeCampus Snakes and Reptiles of the Lowveld Course Module # 4 - Component # 4 Burrowing Snakes Family Lamprophiidae As the name suggests, these snakes are largely subterranean. Their heads are not very distinctive from the rest of the body and are usually rounded or blunt. There are front and back fanged fangs species in the family. Although fanged, most of them are not dangerous to humans. All species are oviparous with one exception. Burrowing Snakes © Copyright This course material is the copyrighted intellectual property of WildlifeCampus. It may not be copied, distributed or reproduced in any format whatsoever without the express written permission of WildlifeCampus 2 – WildlifeCampus Snakes and Reptiles of the Lowveld Course Sub-Family Atractaspidinae 3 species occur in southern Africa, of which two occur in South Africa. They have very small eyes with round pupils. There are symmetrical head scales and the head is pointed. Great care must be taken with this species, as they are practically impossible to handle. The difficulty (impossibility) in handling the asps is due to the interesting characteristic they can rotate their fangs to the side. The position that professional and experienced snake handlers use to pin the snake involved having their thumb right up against the side of the fang. The asp then just rotates a fang and jabs their head slightly to the side, thus snake 1, handler 0. All other species of front and rear-fanged snakes are not able to rotate fangs in multiple directions, only up-down. The Asps will even push their fang through their own lip to make sure they stab their assailant. They only have two fangs at the front of the jaw. Although venomous, no anti-venom is required to treat the bite, and there are no recorded fatalities by the Southern African species, the venom is cytotoxic. Normally they will deliver multiple bites, using only one fang by biting sideward. Amputation or partial amputation of fingers is often required. They are usually dark brown to black in colour with light ventral scales. Normally active at night searching for food, which varies from rodents to skinks and even other snakes. The species endemic to the Lowveld are: Bibron's Burrowing Asp Duerdren's Burrowing Asp Burrowing Snakes © Copyright This course material is the copyrighted intellectual property of WildlifeCampus. It may not be copied, distributed or reproduced in any format whatsoever without the express written permission of WildlifeCampus 3 – WildlifeCampus Snakes and Reptiles of the Lowveld Course Bibron's Stiletto Snake Atractaspis bibronii Characteristics: Pointed head shape Dark body with whitish ventral scales Loreal scale absent The tail ends in a sharp point Small eyes Impossible to handle! Other Names: Southern Stiletto Snake, Southern Burrowing Asp, Bibron's Stiletto Snake, Side-stabbing Snake, Burrowing Adder, Suidelike sypikslang Habitat: They occur in moist to arid savannah and into the Lowveld Reproduction: Oviparous - 3-7 eggs Burrowing Snakes © Copyright This course material is the copyrighted intellectual property of WildlifeCampus. It may not be copied, distributed or reproduced in any format whatsoever without the express written permission of WildlifeCampus 4 – WildlifeCampus Snakes and Reptiles of the Lowveld Course Description: This species is easily mistaken for two other harmless species. Unfortunately, all the species overlap one another making identification very difficult, and probably the hardest group to identify except for Blind and Thread Snakes. This species has very small eyes, usually black in appearance with a light-coloured belly and a sharp- pointed tail. The ventral scales may be blotched black, but this is unusual. During the day they take refuge under rocks, logs or in old termite mounds, emerging after rains or on humid nights. They mainly eat similar burrowing reptiles but will take small mammals or frogs. Females will lay up to 7 eggs at the end of the year or mid-summer. Hatchlings measure around 15cm. There are differences between the four species, but they are subtle and very careful observation is required. Do not pick up any of the following snakes until a confirmed identification is made. The species that cause the greatest confusion are the Cape Wolf Snake, Natal Black Snake and the Purple-glossed Snake. Burrowing Snakes © Copyright This course material is the copyrighted intellectual property of WildlifeCampus. It may not be copied, distributed or reproduced in any format whatsoever without the express written permission of WildlifeCampus 5 – WildlifeCampus Snakes and Reptiles of the Lowveld Course Confusing Species: 1. The Cape Wolf Snake (Lycophidion capense) differs in that it has two supraocular scales and not one as in the other species. The head of the Cape Wolf Snake is squarer when looked at from the top and they have two enlarged scales behind the parietal scales. The wolf snake also has a white speckled appearance. 2. The Natal Black Snake (Makrelaps microlepidotus) has a rectangular supraocular scale, In the Purple-glossed species and the Bibron’s Burrowing Asp, it is squarer in shape. They have 7 upper labials and 8 lower labials whereas the Bibron’s Burrowing Asp has 5. The tail is also longer. 3. The Purple-glossed Snake (Amblyodipsas polyepsis and other Amblyodipsas spp. has a pointed head shape and doesn’t have any preoculars. Bibron’s Burrowing Asp has 1 preocular. They normally have 7 lower labials compared to 6, but the Purple-glossed snake has been recorded having 6 or 8. It also normally has 6 but may have 5 upper labials, while the Bibron’s Burrowing Asp has five (5). Below are diagrams showing the head scale of the snakes together, to allow for easier comparison. The shaded scales indicate what is normally restricted to that species for identification. Burrowing Snakes © Copyright This course material is the copyrighted intellectual property of WildlifeCampus. It may not be copied, distributed or reproduced in any format whatsoever without the express written permission of WildlifeCampus 6 – WildlifeCampus Snakes and Reptiles of the Lowveld Course Distribution: They occur in moist to arid savannah and into the Lowveld Distribution of Bibron's Stiletto Snake Burrowing Snakes © Copyright This course material is the copyrighted intellectual property of WildlifeCampus. It may not be copied, distributed or reproduced in any format whatsoever without the express written permission of WildlifeCampus 7 – WildlifeCampus Snakes and Reptiles of the Lowveld Course Duerdren's Burrowing Asp Atractaspis duerdeni Characteristics: Pointed head shape, more so than Bibron's Burrowing Asp Dark upper body with light ventral scale Impossible to handle! Loreal scale absent Small eye The tail ends in a sharp point Burrowing Snakes © Copyright This course material is the copyrighted intellectual property of WildlifeCampus. It may not be copied, distributed or reproduced in any format whatsoever without the express written permission of WildlifeCampus 8 – WildlifeCampus Snakes and Reptiles of the Lowveld Course Other names: Duerdren's Stiletto Snake, Beaked Burrowing Asp, Side-Stabbing Snake, Haakneussypikslang Habitat: They occur in arid savannah and bushveld Reproduction: Oviparous - presumed to be similar to Bibron's Burrowing Asp Description: This species is similar to Bibron’s Burrowing Asp except for distribution, habitat and the description or colouration. Again this species can be misidentified as described for Bibron’s Burrowing Asp. The species has very small eyes, usually black in appearance with a light-coloured belly. The belly colouration normally extends slightly up the side of the body. The head is also beaked, differing from all the other species described relating to the identification of this species and Bibron’s Burrowing Asp. During the day they take refuge under rocks, logs or in old termite mounds, emerging after rains or on humid nights. They mainly eat similar burrowing reptiles but will take small mammals or frogs. This species is reported to be less aggressive than Bibron’s Burrowing Asp, but bites are still often inflicted. Distribution: This species occurs in Savannah, bushveld and thornveld. Distribution of Duerdren's Burrowing Asp Burrowing Snakes © Copyright This course material is the copyrighted intellectual property of WildlifeCampus. It may not be copied, distributed or reproduced in any format whatsoever without the express written permission of WildlifeCampus 9 – WildlifeCampus Snakes and Reptiles of the Lowveld Course Sub-Family Aparallactinae 7 species occur in the Lowveld. They are slender snakes that spend their life burrowing and are often found in termite mounds. As the common name, centipede-eater infers, they do almost feed exclusively on centipedes. They are back fanged, and the venom is to immobilise and kill their prey. The anal scale is single and the subcaudals are not divided. They have small smooth scales over the entire body. The head is not easily distinguished from the body. Species examined in this course include: Black-headed Centipede Eater Reticulated Centipede Eater Common Purple-Glossed Snake Natal Purple-Glossed Snake Eastern Purple-Glossed Snake Transvaal Quill-Snouted Snake Bi-Coloured Quill Snouted Snake Burrowing Snakes © Copyright This course material is the copyrighted intellectual property of WildlifeCampus. It may not be copied, distributed or reproduced in any format whatsoever without the express written permission of WildlifeCampus 10 – WildlifeCampus Snakes and Reptiles of the Lowveld
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