Blinding Beauty

Blind Snake

Blind Snakes are mostly found in Africa and Asia.

Moist leaves, logs, humus in wet forests, dry jungles, and even city gardens are a few places where blind snakes can be found laying about. They mostly like urban and agricultural areas underground in ant and termite nests. Larvae, eggs, and pupae of ants and termites are their favorite meals.

These snakes are often mistaken for earthworms. Simply because the head and tail look the same like an earthworm except the tip of the tail ends with a tiny pointed spur, and they do not have a narrowing neck. The eyes of a blind snake are covered with translucent scales (clear scales). You would probably have a hard time finding their eyes since they look like tiny little dots under the head scales. The translucent scales render these guys almost entirely blind. This causes them to have a difficult time forming images, but they are still capable of registering light intensity.

The adults are thin and small averaging between 2 to 6 inches long. That is a little longer than a regular sized pen! In my opinion they sort of remind me of baby leeches...(ugh thank goodness these little guys aren't anything like those slimy blood sucking creators). Coloration of adult blind snake varies from shiny silver-grey to charcoal-grey or purple. Juvenile blind snakes are colored just like the adults.

Most blind snakes lay eggs, but in a few species, the eggs may hatch inside the mother so that she gives birth to live baby snakes. The flowerpot snake may be parthenogenetic (PAR-thih-no-jeh-NEH-tik), which means that the females do not need males to fertilize their eggs in order to have babies. It is the only parthenogenetic snake, and one of the few parthenogenetic vertebrates in the entire animal kingdom. 

Vertebrates (VER-teh-brehts) are animals with backbones. Among blind snakes overall, small or especially thin species have fewer eggs — sometimes just one, raisin-sized egg. Larger species may have more than fifty eggs that are the size of large grapes. Eggs probably hatch in one to two months, but some hatch in just a week. Many of the blind snakes mate during only one season a year, usually in late spring, but others appear to mate all year long.

*Reproduction Facts Courtesy of*Blind Snakes: Typhlopidae - Behavior And Reproduction

*Photo Courtesy of:* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Malby

Leopard Gecko Hatching - YouTube

Watch a beautiful Miracle happen.

Leopard Gecko Hatching - YouTube

AHH!! I Thought That was a Twig!

*South African Vine Snake*

The South African Vine snake is found in Mozambique, Eastern Zimbabwe through the Eastern part of South Africa.

Vine snakes have a unique pupils they're slitted sideways making them look like a key hole.

They have pointed heads, with a dull grey, or grey brown colorization also, including amoebic-like spots. Following up with a red-black tongue.

Females can lay up to 4-13 eggs and are extremely aggressive when guarding their eggs. (What mother wouldn't be?) When the babies are full grown they can reach 1 meter long!

The reason they are called vine snakes is because, to keep from being detected they will actually sway back and forth. Making an illusion. 

They can actually be mistaking for a twig blowing in the wind but, when in danger stay real still.

South African Vine snakes diets consists of: lizards, frogs, small birds, and even other snakes.

Vine snakes are pretty timid snakes, they'll only attack if provoked.

They have potentially lethal haemotoxic venom.

There isn't any cure for this particular bite in Africa.

Even though it is seldom encountered and deaths are extremely rare...I recommend this guy staying in the wild. 

*Remember don't own a reptile or any kind of pet without finding out if;A: It's legal to own.B: You have done a lot of research and absolutely know how to care for the animal.and C: If it is non-venomous or venomous. 

Be Safe!

Eyes in the Trees

*Big Eyed Tree Frog*

These beautiful frogs are known as big-eyed tree frogs.

Tree dwellers like these spend their whole life time in trees where it is safe.

These guys originate from Africa.

Tree frogs are small green frogs, who become more of a brown color as they mature.

The only time they will ever descend from the trees is to mate or lay their eggs.

Both male and females grow to only be 2 to 2 1/2 inches in length, females being slightly larger.

Males throats are a bit looser and can be a bluish shade of color.

The way males attract females is they will make a chirping or croaking sound.

Tree frogs are insectivorous, meaning they eat insects such as: small crickets, fruit flies, meal worms, wax worms, and any other small insect that is easy to ingest.

Big-eyed tree frogs have been recorded to living up to as long as 13 years.

*Photo Courtesy of:* http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benutzer:Werner,_Deutschland

A Serpent of a Different Color

*Indigo Snake*

Indigo snakes come from Florida, coastal plain of Southern Georgia, South Alabama, and Southeast Mississippi. 


These snakes are known to be the largest native snake species in the U.S. 
The largest one was measured to be 9 feet long.


Indigo's are known to frequent in multiple habitats such as: flat wood land areas, high pines, dry prairie, fresh water marshes, and human-altered habitats.


Indigo snakes are non-venomous, and are immune to venomous snakes like the rattlesnake.
The indigo snake gets it's name obviously from it's colorization.


They come in a blue-black color.
Some also come in a reddish-orange to tan color on the throat, cheek, and chin.


What these snakes feed on: turtles, toads, small birds, eggs, fish, frogs, toads, lizards, other snakes, and small mammals.


Female indigo's can lay about 4-12 eggs.
Here's something I didn't know, they are able to store sperm and delay fertilization. Indigo snakes are certainly an interesting reptile. Don't you think?
*Photo Courtesy of:* http://www.stewart.army.mil/dpw/fish/indigoaorlongDIRK2.jpg