Banded form inside a tree hole, Bukit
Timah, Singapore.
Striped form on moss-covered tree
trunk, Danum Valley, Sabah, Borneo.
Banded form insde cave at Bukit Timah, Singapore. Note the dorso-lateral flattening which
allows the snake to grip surface irregularities on the rock wall. |
Bridle snakes are so named
because of the resemblance of their slender bodies to the reins or 'bridle'
used to control horses.
The Malayan Bridle Snake occurs in primary and
secondary forests and has a mainly arboreal lifestyle. It is a master
climber; the specimens shown here were easily able to grip the trunk of a
dying tree or the overhanging
wall of a damp cave in their search for geckos, one of their chief prey
items.
This is a relatively small
species, which can be identified by the yellow-grey body colour, with thick,
regular brown bands on the dorsal side which do not continue under the
ventral side. A second form exists where the patterning comprises alternate
brown and yellow stripes.
The species ranges from
southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore to Borneo, Sumatra and
parts of the Philippines.
Family : COLUBRIDAE
Species : Dryocalamus subannulatus
Maximum Size : 60 cm
References
: H2, H3
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