Young Micrurus fulvius?

[Aether]

Hi everyone, today I found another small snake. It should be a young venomous coral snake, but since it's pretty different from adults I wanted to ask. Is it a coral snake?
http://oi57.tinypic.com/264qoav.jpg

http://oi59.tinypic.com/2ltn9mq.jpg

http://oi59.tinypic.com/28lwgtt.jpg

[that1guy]

Yes, it is a coral snake, the colors don't lie.

[FWK]

Hello again Aether. I'm pretty sure it is a Micrurus alleni, aka Allen's Coral Snake. Micrurus fulvius are only found in southeastern U.S. How was it to work with? I've only handled one Texas Coral Snake (Micrurus tener) and it was the squirmiest darn thing I've ever worked with. Vipers are much easier to handle than that Coral was lol.

that1guy the red touching yellow thing (or white, as in this case) only works in North America. Google pictures of Erythrolamprus mimus, a harmless colubrid also found in Costa Rica.

[that1guy]

I see, my mistake.

[Aether]

Thanks both of you. Hey FWK, professional as usual I see. You'll will read lot more threads as the rainy season will come :)
Yeah, I had lots of troubles catching it exactly because it was squirming so much and hiding its head under dirt and leaves...it took me like 20 or more minutes to catch it, being afraid of its venom too. But once in my hand it become almost motionless.

[Minkness]

That's a pretty cool snake. Brave man to try and catch it if you suspected it was venomous.

[Aether]

Well I was almost sure it was a coral, even before trying to catch it I checked on internet. Anyway, when in doubt with snakes, I always assume they're deadly :o

[Aether]

I posted the photo on a facebook page about costa rican snakes, they told me it's a Micrurus nigrocinctus, is it right?

[FWK]

Frankly, I don't know. Micrurus nigrocinctus, M. alleni, and M. clarki are all visually very similar and all found in Costa Rica. If people more familiar with the area think it's a M. nigrocinctus that's probably what I'd go with.