Bushwalking often rewards me with interesting wildlife, some of which is better enjoyed from a distance, like this young Red-bellied Black Snake, basking in the morning sun beside a small, slow running stream. Even though it is young, it is still dangerously venemous & should be treated with caution.
Red-bellied Black Snake, Pseudechis porphyriacus
A few days later, walking the same track I find a similar looking Red-Belly. There is a good chance it is here for the Common Eastern Froglets I had seen in the area.
Red-bellied Black Snake, Catching some rays
Along another track in the same area I was lucky to see an older, larger Red-Bellied Black Snake. Perhaps a year old, it’s face has less brown on it.
Red-bellied Black Snake, Are you lunch?
I have seen a few Adult Red-bellies on my walks, slinking under lantana in the hopes of a meal of plump Antechinus, which I’ve seen bounding away clear of the dense cover – while the Red-belly can still be heard slowly probing around, still following it’s scent.
Red-bellied Black Snake, Looking for lunch
They are suprising great swimmers for land snakes, convenient if one of your favourite meals is frog, this one was disturbed from its hiding place under canoes where frogs were sheltering.
Red-bellied Black Snake, Swimming away!
…I wonder how they got their name!
Red-bellied Black Snake, Pseudechis porphyriacus
Looks like you made out like a bandit spotting all of those snakes! Great shots!! How close exactly do you get to them when you take these pictures?
Uhmm, you swim in the same waters as those poisonous snakes!? :S
We caught a snake about 15inches long inside our house last night. We are on a small farm and have rbbsnakes around. This one was black but underbelly is whiteish not pink or red. What colour are the baby rbb’s? We are supposed to have brown here also but I haven’t seen any but neighbours sy they have. I can’t find a picture of the baby rbb’s hence my question. Can you help? Cheers
I have read about pink bellied red-bellied blacks, personally I haven’t seen one with a pink belly in the wild …yet. If you were able to **SAFELY** take pictures of one it sounds like an interesting thing to share, much like the occasional blue version of the green tree snakes or uncommon albino snakes and lizards. Colouring and patterns in reptiles can be highly variable – like those seen in the local diamond pythons, ranging from high levels of yellow patterning through to almost completely black.
Stay safe & if the snake poses a risk to you or pets – if it’s safe to, please call a trained wildlife rescuer – before resorting to a shovel!
The snake at night was possibly an eastern small-eyed snake, but it’s hard to tell from that description. I hope he was released somewhere safely. If he comes back, take some pics. As Pete says, that would maybe allow an identification.
Stewart
Hi Pete,
I was just wondering if you could give some advice. I live in a suburban area of Sydney and have three small children. In the last week we have had three snake sightings in our small cul-de-sac. One red bellied black snake and two brown snakes (hopefully the same one). This is def not the first snakes we’ve had in the area I personally usually see one a year but I’m getting a bit paranoid about what I can do to protect my children from the snakes. I understand that they are unlikely to attack them unprovoked but three year old boys are pretty good at provoking – even when they don’t realise they’re doing it. I was hoping you might be able to give me some ideas of their behaviour. We’ve been told they hibrenate in winter by some but others say that’s not true, that they are more active at night and others say they’re more active during the day. Ive borrowed books from the library but they only tell me how to recognise them and how dangerous they are, how they attack, etc not their habits.
Are there things we can do to keep them out of our yard? we already have a dog and a cat but that doesn’t seem to be detering them – any other suggestions?
Wildlife contacts and the local snake catcher won’t come unless we can hold the snake in our yard until they get here – not something I would like to do – and they’re not available after hours.
Please help.
A few things that may help;
During winter there are fewer frogs about to feed on, the bulk of the red-bellieds i’ve seen were on warm days around boggy, frog inhabited areas, especially in the warmer months. They also had the cover of long grass or lantana to hide amongst or stone, logs or metal to hide safely under close by. By limiting their hiding options you can make your yard a less desirable habitat for snakes.
keep a list of phone numbers for your local wildlife rescuers handy, you may have more than one in your area. If safe to do so, keep an eye on the snake, then if it hides the rescuer will know where to look.
If you havent already, do a certified first-aid course, first-aid for many emergencies, including a snake bite, can save a life.
I foud a dead baby snake in my drive way and it was black with a pink belly so we thougt there could be more.
Some photos would help with an ID, please send some through to info@peterstreet.com.au
Man i didnt know red bellys could swim i was fishing and a snake went past me i told my Dad and he said it was an eel to make sure it wasnt i stopped dead frozen and it went of swimming. Igot home and i had a look at different eels and none of them had a red belly. Thanks pete i now know that they can swim and will be carefull..
Jack
Hi Pete
I saw a snake at 2am Sunday morning just gone – it was in my bedroom (I have a bedroom in a garage). We tried to keep watch on it whilst contacting wildlife organisations but none of them were available. We ended up losing the snake in the room somewhere. I haven’t slept in there but have received lots of different advice including it is probably there under the bed, it probably left the room. I am not sure what I should do. A wildlife rescuer came out yesterday and had a look around but said their job is to come and pick it up not search for it and when we see it again to call them.
I have also been told to put a bucket of water out for it.
I’ve also heard that it probably isn’t a red belly black snake because they don’t usually come out at night???
Advice please???
Thanks
I’m sure the wildlife rescuer wished he could have been called out sooner, snakes are impressive hiders, capable of contorting and compressing their bodies through and into awkward spaces for example when I had my first hatchling pythons – one escaped into the insides of a computer where it clambered up and into the tiny crevice between the top of the case and the power supply – of course discovering this before spending hours pulling apart everything else in the office would have been ideal, it was still great to have my python back safely.
Leaving heat matting, food (a dead mouse) out and water (in a deep wide bowl for example a ceramic dog dish or cheap plastic cat litter tray) would perhaps be better suited to luring out an escaped pet snake than a wild one, especially a red belly as they eat mostly frogs, some reptiles and few mammals. Snakes also have the advantage when it comes to patience, they are capable of going weeks even months without food or water. Still it’s worth a try.
If you’ve any tiled areas where you suspect its hidden, you could try laying down a dusting of talcum powder to see where it travels when your not home, and when you are home if you leave plastic shopping bags around in the edges of your rooms you may hear it rustling when its on the move – once you do, keep and eye on it and give the wildlife rescuer a call to take care of the rest
If you were able to safely get a photo of it if it reappears i’d be happy to identify it for you
Good luck,
Pete
Thanks Pete. Yes they indeed they wished they could have been contacted earlier but volunteers are scarce especially at Christmas time. Do you think it will leave the house and go and look for food or is it set to stay for a while!
So if one chooses to look after a baby red bellied black snake like my friend that just got a snake permit (LICENSE) what would he feed it as he isn’t sure what they eat when they are still young.. And when they’re grown do they start eating dead mice?
Hi Skitzo,
Red-bellied Blacks definately will eat frogs in the wild, (I can confirm this having relocated one on a rescue recently that regurgitated a half digested striped marsh frog!) I havent observed younger ones eating personally although i’m pretty sure they eat small frogs based on where i’ve seen them basking when i bushwalk – places i’ve seen and heard lots of small frogs calling.
In captivity, I have seen Red-bellied Black’s feeding on fresh killed mice (it is illegal to feed live vertebrates to your pets, it is also illegal to feed them other protected fauna including reptiles and frogs!) Snakes rely strongly on scent to discern what is food – if there was a snake being a trouble feeder, read up on scenting food items, like rubbing skink wee on a mouse, to trick a snake that eats skinks into start eating mice.
Looking up more on the diet of RBBS’s it’s recorded as “60%frogs, 31% reptiles 9%mammals” thanks to a book I recommend if you want to learn a stack more
about native snakes, “Australian Snakes – A Natural History by Rick Shine”
Red-bellieds are not a snake I would recommend as a first snake for most people. There are many captive bred pythons on the market such as Stimson’s Pythons that are established feeders (it’s illegal to collect snakes from the wild without a very different kind of permit to your reptile keepers license). A captive bred python would give you a great introduction to the hobby (I can even recommened a few python breeders if your interested).
Cheers,
Pete