Herps of Singapore

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Schmike
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Schmike »

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Kevin Messenger
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Kevin Messenger »

That kopsteini is gorgeous!! Noel told me he was with you on some of these. Tell him to stop being lazy and to make a post himself. ha
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Schmike
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Schmike »

Kevin Messenger wrote:That kopsteini is gorgeous!! Noel told me he was with you on some of these. Tell him to stop being lazy and to make a post himself. ha
That Kopstein's had to be held on to prevent it from escaping. Thus, it flared up displaying the beautiful colours of it in defensive mode.

The shots of the juvenile Oriental, Cantor's and Dog-faced was from that awesome night that he mentioned recently.

He definitely have more shots to post.
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

veeery nice!
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Schmike
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Schmike »

Thanks. These are just the few better shots that I have.

I still have lots of improvements to work on and finding some of them here is still the biggest problem for me.
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justinm
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by justinm »

The Dendralaphis are stunning, and I love seeing things that are uncommonly posted. Great monitor shots!
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Jeroen Speybroeck
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Jeroen Speybroeck »

Kevin Messenger wrote:That kopsteini is gorgeous!!
Absolutely!!!
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chrish
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by chrish »

Very nice. Great selection of stuff and great photos.

I like the watersnake in situ shots.
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Schmike
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Schmike »

justinm: The Malayan Water Monitor is the common species we have here in Singapore.


Jeroen Speybroeck, chrish: Thanks to the beautiful snakes for letting me take the shots of them be it willingly or reluctantly. :lol:
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Schmike wrote:Thanks to the beautiful snakes for letting me take the shots of them be it willingly or reluctantly. :lol:
We should all implement this into our evening prayers....
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Robyn@TRR
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Robyn@TRR »

Great pics, love those whips!
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jordo
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by jordo »

Great post. I'm hoping to herp there in the next few year. Can't wait!
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Schmike
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Schmike »

Hans Breuer (twoton):
Maybe I should patent and copyright that sentence... :D

Robyn@TRR:
Thanks.

jordo:
It's not easy over here. There's few places where some frogs (the more common ones) can be found much easily than others but most snakes and lizards are pretty hard to find here. I'm still trying hard to hunt down some wonderful species one by one.
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Schmike
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Schmike »

Was out on the hunt for something else but found this instead.

A common local species but this is the first time I finally see it in the wild. I was too busy looking at the branches for something else and did not notice it on the ground till I suddenly saw something black and white 2-3 meters away from me "looking" at me with its hood wide open.

2 crappy shots of it:
Image
Equatorial Spitting Cobra (Naja sumatrana) by Edwin Tan (Schmike), on Flickr

Image
Equatorial Spitting Cobra (Naja sumatrana) by Edwin Tan (Schmike), on Flickr
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Jason B
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Jason B »

Excellent stuff! Finding that Heosemys must have been a thrill. That's one of the coolest critters in existence.
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Schmike
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Schmike »

Jason B wrote:Excellent stuff! Finding that Heosemys must have been a thrill. That's one of the coolest critters in existence.
Definitely, that is my favourite local turtle species.
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Viridovipera
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Viridovipera »

Awesome shots of some awesome critters!
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moloch
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by moloch »

Hello Edwin,

That was a great collection of photos. It really is good to see you and others posting from Singapore. What an amazing place ... so small but yet there is such a staggering diversity of life. Singapore has more species of butterflies than in all of Australia.

Regards,
David
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

moloch wrote:Singapore has more species of butterflies than in all of Australia.
No kidding!!
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Schmike
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Schmike »

Thanks guys.

I didn't know that. Learnt something new today.
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Noel Thomas
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Noel Thomas »

Schmike wrote:
Kevin Messenger wrote:That kopsteini is gorgeous!! Noel told me he was with you on some of these. Tell him to stop being lazy and to make a post himself. ha
That Kopstein's had to be held on to prevent it from escaping. Thus, it flared up displaying the beautiful colours of it in defensive mode.

The shots of the juvenile Oriental, Cantor's and Dog-faced was from that awesome night that he mentioned recently.

He definitely have more shots to post.
Nice shots Edwin. I'm not much of a forum user Kevin, you know that. I'll try and compile something soon. I have yet to touch any of the Hong Kong stuff. In fact, I'm glad to have at least posted the finds from our last few trips in the US on Flickr.
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Schmike
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Schmike »

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chrish
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by chrish »

I know a lot of folks here won't like this shot because it isn't pristine, but I think it is awesome because it shows how pollution/litter affects so many animal's lives. "Beauty amongst the trash".

Looks like it might have been gravid as well?
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Schmike
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Schmike »

This was taken at the edge of the mangrove by the sea.

The girth of the snake makes it looks gravid? Maybe I should return to that area to see if there's any nest there.
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chrish
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by chrish »

Schmike wrote:This was taken at the edge of the mangrove by the sea.

The girth of the snake makes it looks gravid? Maybe I should return to that area to see if there's any nest there.
It just looks suspiciously thick in the middle to posterior part of its body. If that was food item, it shouldn't be so far back or quite as evenly distributed. Just a thought though...
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Kevin Messenger
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Kevin Messenger »

could it not have been a meal of the serpentine persuasion? just a guess, if it's not eggs
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Schmike
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Schmike »

My thought was it was pretty well fed when I saw it. I still have lots to learn about them. So far, I only know which are the ones I can get closer to, which are the ones I have to keep a distance from and when the animal is getting pissed off. I have yet to have enough experience with them and it's a very big challenge to find them over here.
DavidG
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by DavidG »

I agree, finding n. sumatrana in Singapore is like looking for an easy way to understand the schrodinger equation. The two things just don't go together, they are oxymorons.
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chrish
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by chrish »

Kevin Messenger wrote:could it not have been a meal of the serpentine persuasion? just a guess, if it's not eggs
Actually, that was my other thought but I didn't know if sumatrana was a snake eater. A snake meal will also make an evenly large lump in a snake, although I still think it is a little bit thicker towards the posterior.
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by DavidG »

Update: This is not in any way intended to steal the posting from the author. Just wanted to confirm a sighting of a black spitter (n sumatrana) today near my house. The sneaky shoelace like snake slithered swiftly down a dark drain - after which, it dissapeared. Grrr, cobras
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Schmike
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Schmike »

A disappointing night with very low tide. But found this tiny little fella wriggling in the shallow puddle hunting for food.

Image
Crab-eating Water Snake (Fordonia leocobalia) by Edwin Tan (Schmike), on Flickr

Image
Crab-eating Water Snake (Fordonia leocobalia) by Edwin Tan (Schmike), on Flickr

Image
Crab-eating Water Snake (Fordonia leocobalia) by Edwin Tan (Schmike), on Flickr

Image
Crab-eating Water Snake (Fordonia leocobalia) by Edwin Tan (Schmike), on Flickr

Image
Crab-eating Water Snake (Fordonia leocobalia) by Edwin Tan (Schmike), on Flickr

That pair of tweezers is 10.5" long.

(Edited to corrected the ID.)
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Noel Thomas
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Noel Thomas »

That ain't Cerberus dude. Fordonia leucobalia perhaps?
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Schmike
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by Schmike »

You are right! Compared with close up in Nick's site. It sure looks like it. Time to update the IDs.
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MaartenSFS
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Re: Herps of Singapore

Post by MaartenSFS »

Too much win here. Be careful or the forums may explode. I'm envious of you Singapore and HK people.. We need an Asian forum!
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