Pseudonaja textilis

5 Eastern Brown Snake at Belconnen, ACT

Request use of media

Identification history

	Pseudonaja textilis	8 Oct 2021	wombey
	Unidentified	8 Oct 2021	Anniecarr

Identify this sighting

Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

4 comments

wombey wrote:

8 Oct 2021

It is an Eastern Brown. Copperheads always have a white part of each lip scale giving it an appearance of teeth, diagnostic for this species irrespective of what other body colour they have. No other large Elapid in the SE Australia has this. The best way to get a handle on this is to look at CNM images of Copperheads and look at the white on the lips, once you have that in your head they are easy to id.

Anniecarr wrote:

8 Oct 2021

Thanks, Wombey.
I did look at those images and noticed the white parts of the lip scale. They made me think it was an Eastern Brown after all. But its beautiful golden head made me think of Copperhead. You can tell that I am no snake expert! I will know next time I come across a Copperhead. The old adage: if there is a choice between the common species and a rarer one, it is probably the common species. I have never seen a Copperhead in town, only in the country. I appreciate your knowledge, thanks again.

wombey wrote:

8 Oct 2021

Very good. The other thing is that although it is called a "Copperhead", very often the head colour is not very different the the rest of the body and certainly not really copper as the name suggests.
John

Anniecarr wrote:

9 Oct 2021

Thanks again, John. Common names are so fascinating! Sometimes they are very accurate descriptors, other times not so much! Now is a good time for observing reptiles: the ones I have seen recently have all looked fabulous - fresh and shiny in what I assume are clean new scales after shedding. I do appreciate the service provided by moderators on CNM in answering id questions from amateurs like me! Cheers Annie

Please Login or Register to comment.

Location information

Sighting information

1 Abundance
8 Oct 2021 01:34 PM Recorded on
Anniecarr Recorded by
Collections
Reptiles and Frogs Snakes

Additional information

Alive / healthy Animal health

Species information

Pseudonaja textilis Scientific name
Eastern Brown Snake Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-invasive or negligible
Up to 1685.3m Recorded at altitude
402 images trained Machine learning

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Verified by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes