This morning an Eastern Stripe Bellied Sand Snake Psammophis orientalis was brought in to the Snake Farm by one of the villagers from Jimba, an area on the way to Gede, about 5 km West of Bio-Ken. It had been caught in a village house where it had gone to sleep for the night. The Stripe Bellied Sand Snakes in the Watamu – Malindi area belong to the Eastern group and differ from the ones found in the Northern part of Kenya and especially the Rift Valley. These are known as the Northern Stripe Bellied Sand Snake Psammophis sudanensis and you can tell them apart by the fact that P. orientalis has no white marks while P. sudanensis has several. The ESB Sand Snake is probably the third most common snake in our immediate area. The Snake was released into the wild in the bush behind Bio-Ken today.
Photo by Anthony Childs (Reference)
Technorati : Eastern Stripe Bellied Sand Snake, Northern Stripe Bellied Sand Snake, Psammophis orientalis, Psammophis sudanensis
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3 Comments
Couple of months ago, saw a vehicle in Tsavo E, NP run over a Sand Snake…I got out of my vehicle and tail caught the snake which was heading into the brush. Its skin was torn but I don’t think the ribs were broken. Otherwise, it was very lively and strong, about a metre long. Besides the dark speckles, it had an orange head and black and yellow stripes…so I figured it was a Speckled Sand Snake? Hope it was able to heal itself from this rude encounter with the Land Rover.
That is great news, thak you for sharing it. The pictures of your posts are AMAZING! I really enjoy reading all these stories (although I have always been scared of snakes….) Hopefully by getting more info about these beautiful animals, I will be able to gain some confidence when around them.
Very nice snakes all psammophis ssp.I’d like to visit your farm.Could you send me some more pictures of psammophis orientalis and sudanensis to see the difference between the two species?