Snake ID required

[Bigfoot]

Interesting pic and query from another forum I frequent - anyone know what type of snake this is? It was found in an English garden but certainly doesn't look like a native species - athough maybe an albino?

I'm hoping Jonathan D will know straight off

 

[david1]

no clue must be an escape artist...

 

[JonathanD]

Albino grass snake.

 

[JonathanD]

Any other pictures of it?

 

[Bigfoot]

Thanks for the quick reply, I had a funny feeling it was an albino.

Cheers

 

[JonathanD]

If you can get some more pics and let me know the location it was found in the UK, I could be 100% positive. Albino snakes are a nightmare to ID. It would also be highly unusual for a wild snake to have lived as long as that one is without being predated.

 

[Bigfoot]

Here's another pic:-

 

[JonathanD]

Anything of another angle of the head so I can see the scalation between the nasal cavity and eye?

Where was it found?

 

[Bigfoot]

I've asked where it was found and have asked for other angle shots.

 

[JonathanD]

Cool. .

 

[Paul W]

It's scales don't look like they are keeled which would mean it's not an Adder, Grass or Aesculapian snake, the only British snake without keels is the Smooth Snake. Albinos are also bred by owners and very sought after pets, most likely and escapee.

 

[Pete11]

Looks more like Pantherophis guttatus. ( Corn Snake ) , most probably , as said an escapee.


Pete

 

[JonathanD]

Strangely, albino's do have less defined keels. I need a good shot of the rostrals to get a good ID.

 

[JonathanD]

Based on the scalation patterns I can see and the robust ventral articulation, I'm pretty certain (97%) it's Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta or black rat snake. Obviously a captive bred albino morph of some kind. The scalation is wrong for any Pantherophis.

 

[Bigfoot]

The location was Cambridgeshire. Sorry, no other pics are available

 

[JonathanD]

No matter. I'm sure it's a black rat snake. I'm on my PC now and not on my phone and it's quite clear. I should have confirmed it right away just by the posture. But sometimes you can look so hard at the minutiae that you miss the big and quite obvious tell.

A non native American snake bred for the pet market. You don't see these in the wild and it is a morph or hybrid. Bred for the unique colouration.

 

[Bigfoot]

Cheers - thanks for the investigative work. I can now tell the photographer, who almost soiled his pants when the thing lunged at him!

 

[JonathanD]

Yeah. Classic rat snake strike pose and aggressiveness.

 

[santaman2000]

They also release a rather bad smell when threatened.

 

[JonathanD]

I quite like it.