Help to identify Black Snake from Guinea

daawuuda · 06-15-21, 01:09 PM

Dear users,

I'm doing some volunteer work in Guinea (Fouta Djallon) and I've found this snake inside the garage near the gate.

As I don't have experience with snakes and I'm aware that there are some very dangerous species here, I had to kill her.

The snake was very aggressive when I was trying to hit her with a very long stick, she attacked the stick multiple times.

As I'm sure that there are more snakes like this near the house, I would like to know which snake it is and how to handle it without the need to kill.
People here don't know their names.

I hope that the pictures here will help someone to identify it.

Thank you very much.

Best regards,
David

poison123 · 06-16-21, 06:58 PM

Any full body shots?

ReptiWorldWide · 06-16-21, 11:38 PM

Just from doing a quick search, it appears to be a PNG Montane Keelback snake. This species is nonvenomous, however since I have not done much reasearch in that area, I would still be very careful with this snake species. The easiest way I have found to move snakes without touching them, is to put something like a large tupperwear along a wall, and gently touch the snake's tail too direct it along the wall and into the tupperwear (or other types of containers). From here all you do is pop the lid shut and release the snake elsewhere. While I do understand why you had to kill the snake, I apreciate you taking the time to learn about this snake so that you don't have to kill them in the future.

daawuuda · 06-18-21, 04:12 AM

Hi Daniel, thank you for your help.

I only have this one, that's really a mess...
I didn't have much time as someone needed to do some work on the garage gate and I was leaving on next day.

Just to clarify, this Guinea is the one in West Africa, which the capital is Conakry.

daawuuda · 06-18-21, 04:35 AM

Buenos días ReptiWorldWide!

Mi mamá es española :-)

Thank you very much for the suggestion.
I was doing some research about that snake that you referred and it seems that it is more common in Papua New Guinea, which is very far away the Guinea where I am, which is in West Africa.

I also saw that all of Keelback snakes seem to have round pupils and this one as elliptic pupils.

Although the scales on the top of the head have some similitudes, the scales of this one in the rear part of the head are small, while the ones of all the Keelback that I've seen are big. You can see this difference in the attached pictures.

What about the fact that she was very aggressive?
All other snakes that I've found will run immediately after you touch them. This one calmly tried to find a way to escape, and when she realized that there was no way, she adopted a defensive position with half of the body elevated in a diagonal position in my direction.
And then she attacked the stick multiple times.

daawuuda · 06-21-21, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poison123

Any full body shots?

I'm sorry for the delay, it seems my replies are not saved...

I only have this poor picture of the body.
I was really in a rush as it was my last day there and the gate was being repared.

daawuuda · 06-21-21, 06:29 AM

Hola ReptiWorldWide,

Mi mamá es española :-)

Thank you very much for your great help!

I've done some research about PNG Montane Keelback and it seems they are found in Papua New Guinea. I'm in Guinea Conakry in Africa.

I've also noticed that the snake I've found has elliptic eyes while the Keelback have round eyes, and the scales between the eyes and the neck are small while the Keelback are big (pictures attached).

ReptiWorldWide · 06-21-21, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daawuuda

Hola ReptiWorldWide,

Mi mamá es española :-)

Thank you very much for your great help!

I've done some research about PNG Montane Keelback and it seems they are found in Papua New Guinea. I'm in Guinea Conakry in Africa.

I've also noticed that the snake I've found has elliptic eyes while the Keelback have round eyes, and the scales between the eyes and the neck are small while the Keelback are big (pictures attached).

Hi!
Sorry... haha I feel so dumb! Anyway, I agree with you that the snake looks very different, it was simply from the quick research I did (on snakes of papua new guinea...) that it looked the most similar. Being that I am in Spain, I am not familiar with the snake species of your region, so I am not much help right now... If I have time later I will try and do some research and see if I find anything.
Anyway, I will post anything I find later!