Bungarus andamanensis feeding on frogs

For your reports/images, made outside Europe and the "Mediterranean" countries. Not to be too narrow minded and limited to our European/Mediterranean herps.

Bungarus andamanensis feeding on frogs

Postby Ruggero M. » Wed Jun 04, 2014 3:00 pm

It was a holiday of some years ago, but I want to share anyway these pictures. Havelock Island was a real (snake) paradise, and even if our guide in Port Blair pointed out with certainty that no venomous snakes lived on that island, the andaman bungar was one of the commonest findings during night time, and even king cobras were not so rare on Havelock...

The first bungar we saw was a young animal and I initially reassured my herp-friends thinking it was a harmless Cantoria violacea: fortunately I changed my mind before my friends touched that highly venomous little snake!

Bungars came out during night, especially if it was raining: they fed on living and dead frogs they found on the country roads.
Most of the animals were small snakes well under one meter in lenght, but we saw also a very big adult specimen, of which I've personally taken no picture.

The first pictures are of a rather big snake, found night time right outside our hotel.
The snakes feeding on frogs (or regurgitating them?) were all younger animals, met during night rainfalls.

Bungarus big.jpg
Bungarus andamanensis

Bungarus flicking.jpg
Same specimen

Bungarus flicking2.jpg
Same specimen

Bungarus6.jpg
Another specimen

Bungarus1.jpg
Bungarus feeding (or maybe regurgitating?)

Bungarus2.jpg
Same event

Bungarus4.jpg
Same event

Bungarus4bis.jpg
Detail

Bungarus5.jpg
Another picture

tiny.jpg
The tiny "harmless" snake is seemingly happy with its frog!

dimensions.jpg
This awful picture to give an idea of the dimensions of a small specimen
Ruggero M.
 
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Re: Bungarus andamanensis feeding on frogs

Postby Ruggero M. » Wed Jun 04, 2014 3:12 pm

beach.jpg
Beach


I would warmly recommend the Andamans to all herpetogists interest in finding big amounts of snakes! I clearly hope the situation will remain the same I've experienced and appreciated so much years ago.

Species I've seen were:

Bungarus andamanensis (many specimens, always during night)
Trimeresurus andersoni (common, even in hotel's garden)
Boiga andamanensis (1 specimen seen and photographed)
Ptyas mucosa (1 big specimen - only seen)
Ophiophagus hannah (1 specimen - only seen)
Xenochrophis melanzostus (very common: many specimens every day and every night!)
Dendrelaphis cyanochloris (very common during daytime)
Lycodon sp. (maybe capucinus?) (common)
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Re: Bungarus andamanensis feeding on frogs

Postby Jeroen Speybroeck » Wed Jun 04, 2014 3:23 pm

Interesting!
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Re: Bungarus andamanensis feeding on frogs

Postby Ruggero M. » Wed Jun 04, 2014 3:28 pm

Jeroen Speybroeck wrote:Interesting!



Thanks! :D

And this should be, in our guide's opinion, the only snake that lives on the island... :lol:

Dendrelaphis cyanochloris.jpg
Dendrelaphis cyanochloris: a really beautiful colored and elegant arboreal snake
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Re: Bungarus andamanensis feeding on frogs

Postby Ruggero M. » Wed Jun 04, 2014 3:45 pm

Oops... forgot to mention the many Lycodon sp. we have found!

Lycodon.jpg
Lycodon sp. feeding on frog during night

Lycodon2.jpg
Lycodon sp.
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Re: Bungarus andamanensis feeding on frogs

Postby Ruggero M. » Wed Jun 04, 2014 3:50 pm

Trimeresurus are always very easy to be photographed: this specimen was a few meters away from my hotel bungalow.

Trimeresurus.jpg
Trimeresurus andersoni
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Re: Bungarus andamanensis feeding on frogs

Postby Ruggero M. » Wed Jun 04, 2014 3:55 pm

The beautifully orange colored Boiga andamanensis

Boiga.jpg
Boiga andamanensis

Boiga2.jpg
Same specimen
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Re: Bungarus andamanensis feeding on frogs

Postby Ruggero M. » Wed Jun 04, 2014 6:23 pm

Some more pictures

Trimeresurus and a small gecko.jpg
Trimeresurus near a small gecko

Trimeresurus3.jpg
Same animal: almost every night in the same place!

Trimeresurus4.jpg
Same animal, clearly "in situ"

Trimeresurus2.jpg
Nearer

Xenochrophis.jpg
Xenochrophis melanzostus: a very mordacious natricine snake

Biting1.jpg
...as you can see with this specimen

biting2.jpg
Actually a totally harmless bite
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Re: Bungarus andamanensis feeding on frogs

Postby Ruggero M. » Wed Jun 04, 2014 6:37 pm

Xenochrophis were almost everywhere

Xeno where.jpg
Xenochrophis melanzostus near the restaurant of the lodge

quiz.jpg
Can you see it?

quiz first losung.jpg
For sure!

quiz losung.jpg
Detail

Xenochrophis erectus.jpg
Daytime, while we were eating at the restaurant of the lodge

good.jpg
Some rare specimens are less prone to bite
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Re: Bungarus andamanensis feeding on frogs

Postby Ruggero M. » Wed Jun 04, 2014 6:40 pm

Habitat where we spotted for a few seconds an about two meters long Ophiophagus hannah with reddish neck region
King habitat.jpg
Mangrove king cobra habitat
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