Can you please identify my snake?

[Abbouf]

I bought this snake for $12 from some ghetto shop. I have no idea what it is. Please help.

[FWK]

Dice Snake. Nonvenomous snake indigenous to Europe and pretty similar to North American Water Snakes. But why would you buy a snake having no idea what it was or what its care requirements were?

[Roman]

Sorry FWK, but this is not a dice snake (Natrix tessellata).

- A dice snake has its eyes slightly above its head (like a green anaconda), the snake in the picture has its eyes at the side of its head

- Dice snakes have round pupils, the snake in the picture seems to have vertical cat-like pupils (this might be because of the poor picture quality and the perspective, but for me the pupil does not seem to be round).

- The coloration of Natrix tessellata consists of 4 to 5 rows of (almost) square spots which are either alternating or might even form stripes or bands. The snake in the picture shows only small spots.

- Abbouf is from Lesotho, an enclave in South Africa. He bought the snake in a “Ghetto shop”, so I suppose the snake was caught in the immediate proximity. The most southern distribution of the dice snake is the Nile delta in northern Egypt, so it just scratches Africa. To Lesotho it’s still several thousand miles distance to the south…

Abbouf, I don’t know what you have. It is some kind of colubrid, but if it is a water snake, some kind of ratsnake or even a rear fanged snake is impossible to say for me. I don’t have much literature about the herpetofauna of South Africa and what I have shows no snake which is even similar to what you got. I suppose your best bet would be to post this picture in a South African reptile forum. They should know what it is…

Anyway, I would get it out of the water. Put it into a dry enclosure with a water bowl. Even if it is some kind of “water snake” they also stay on land and enter the water only to escape some predators or in search of food.

Be careful that it does not bite you. I don’t think that it is a “real” venomous snake but it might be a rear fanged snake.

Roman

[FWK]

Well I'm not going to claim to know Dice Snakes as well as you seem to Roman, I only recognized it as a Dice Snake from seeing adds on Kingsnake classifieds, but I think you are misinterpreting the photo a bit. I also initially thought it had cat eyes but on closer inspection I became pretty confident the the image of the pupil is slightly warped by the angle we are looking through the lens of the eye. I could be wrong but I feel that it does have a round pupil. The head, in my opinion and based on what little I can see of it, is spot on for a water snake. I will admit that the pattern isn't exactly a dead on match for the Dice Snakes I've seen before but given their large range I would expect quite a bit of variation in pattern and colors. I am aware of the range of Dice Snakes and the fact (we are assuming based on the flag on Abboufs profile that he is in Lesotho, he didn't say that is where he was when he found the snake) that Lesotho is a long way from its home. But I also looked up the snake indigenous to Lesotho and nothing was even close so I feel pretty safe in thinking it is an import.

[Frisky]

Abbouf, can you possible post another picture of the whole snake from above. Is that a sort of arrow I see on the neck of the snake. When it opens its mouth, is it black inside, does it rub its body against itself making a rasping sort of sound. If all the boxes and questions I have are answered yes, then you have an Egg Eating Snake. I will find a picture of one and add it to this thread.