Thursday 17 April 2008

Asian Vine Snake (Ahaetulla prasina)

OTHER NAMES: Boie's Whip Snake, Gunther's Whip Snake, Oriental whip Snake
Latin Etymology: Ahaetulla (Sinhalese word for "eye plucker") prasina ("leek green")
Adult Asian Vine Snake (subspecies A. p. prasina) at Sungei Buloh, Singapore - February 2019

Featured Subspecies: Ahaetulla prasina prasina
Weight: ?  /  Length: 1.8m
NO UK STATUS IUCN Red List: Least Concern

I had been meandering through Sungei Buloh, killing time while I waited for the tide to go out; as I returned back to the main river area however, a trio of people caught my attention not far from the visitor centre.  A herpetology enthusiast had spotted this little snake and was showing a passing father and child.  Being from the UK, snakes are always a novelty, so I appoached to take a closer look myself.  These are fascinating little creatures - unlike all species I'd seen before, arboreal and very slender.  They are actually faintly poisonous, but not aggressive to humans, so when offered the chance to hold it for a moment I took the opportunity before we returned it to its home in the foliage.

Related Species:
Order: Squamata
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Ahaetulla
SUBSPECIES: A. p. medioxima, A. p. preocularis, A. p. prasina, A. p. suluensis

 - Sighting Locations -
SINGAPORE - A fairly common resident
 - CAMBODIA/SINGAPORE 2019 TRIP: One at Sungei Buloh

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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