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Leptotyphlops dulcis
Baby snake, pink colored. The eyes were not formed! Wondering if its a Blind Snake,
Sonoran Desert
I bet that was it, they were probably disturbing his home and he was off looking for another one!
Also, not sure if you realize this, but you put in the suggested ID that we just discussed it not being because of the coloration, lack of spur on the tail, and the fact that it is not very well established in the Americas yet.
Great Ashley! I am excited! Thankyou for your expertise. It was probally above ground as they were moving dirt out there that day!
Yep they only get about 7 inches, this guy was pretty close to full grown! That's really cool to see one above ground, you should be really excited about that! Usually the only way to find them is by flipping rocks and hoping they are under them since they usually spend all their life burrowed. I have only managed to find one blind snake in North America, and I've spent a lot of time looking for snakes and amphibians!
Full grown Ashley? It was about 5 inches long is all! He was wiggling outside the other night so we caught him, took pictures and went and turned him loose.
I also thought maybe it was a Sonoran Coachwhip since it was pink. I dont see a spur on his tail either.
Well the species LandmarkExpert suggested is from Africa and Asia and is just now becoming established in the Americas, it hasn't become as widespread over here yet. And they have a spur on the end of their tail, and in the third photo you can see the end of the tail and there is no spur.
I definitely say this is Leptotyphlops dulcis.
Thankyou AshleyT and LandmarkExpert.
Very interesting Ashley about the scales. I zoomed on on his head on my pc and it has three scales running between the eyes. One like the center one and then one on each side. So, do we have a Leptotypholops Genus here?
And this isn't a baby, this is a full grown blind snake! These guys are pretty hard to find, how did you come across it?
Yes, a blind snake in the Leptotyphlops Genus. There are two possibilities, L. humilus and L. dulcis. To tell the difference, you count the number of scales on top of the head between the eyes. L. dulcis has three scales, and L. humilus has one scale.
The Brahminy Blind Snake as LandmarkExpert suggested is a much darker color overall and its characteristics do not match with what you have pictured here.
Spotted on May 13, 2013
Submitted on May 25, 2013
