Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

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DavidG
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Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by DavidG »

Hi everyone,

I thought maybe i should put up some more herps from Singapore that i found recently, so well here we go! Atm i will only put up english names because i dont have a lot of time if thats allright with everyone :) .

Big-eyed whip snake (red list animal)

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White-spotted cat snake (must be red list from now on considering this is singapores first record in like 100-200 years)

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Twin-barred tree snake (rare snake but found in my garden bordering nature reserve lol)

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Yellow striped tree skink (finally found this rare, elusive, and TINY skink)

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Common gliding lizard (commonest of all three species in singapore but pain to photograph)

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oriental whip snake....

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5-banded flying dragon (red list animal, rarest of all three flying dracos in singapore)

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black-bearded flying dragon (uncommon although i see it more often than the common flying dragon)

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common sun skink (so common i actually never take pics)

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White-bellied rat snake (WOW i was happy to see it, but a bad picture only and after the first flash it was gone. length 2-2.5 meters)

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DOR elegant bronzeback

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DOR black-spitting cobra (pretty flat but followed by a picture of something fluffy)

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Teddybear (lol a colugo :thumb: )

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Steve Atkins
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by Steve Atkins »

nice pics, those whip snakes are incredible, as is the colugo. Forgive my ignorance, but what does "red list animal" mean
DavidG
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by DavidG »

Thanks for the reply! LOL i mean its in the red data book sorry :P
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Daryl Eby
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by Daryl Eby »

Fantastic post. Those are some truly amazing and unique animals. I love the whipsnakes and flying dragons.
DavidG wrote:Thanks for the reply! LOL i mean its in the red data book sorry :P
Um. OK. What does that mean? Is it some special level of protection?

Edit: I just Googled it and found The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. I guess I'm too provincial.
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justinm
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by justinm »

I loved the Chrysopelea, any more of that genus?
Paul White
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by Paul White »

that last fuzzy thing...what the heck is it?
DavidG
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by DavidG »

LOL Paul the way you said that! Its a colugo, aka flying lemur. The mammal is closely related to monkeys and had flaps between its front and hind legs which it uses to glide long distances from tree to tree. The colugo feeds on fruits and is nocturnal. It has a length of around 40cm. The animal is found in mature forests and has a pouch in which it holds its young, like a kangaroo :D .

Yepo i still got the paradise tree snake in my pictures, but i will post that tomorrow (sorry lol its 1am here and after all those world cup matches (im dutch) im tired :mrgreen: .
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jonathan
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by jonathan »

Those are some pretty awesome animals.
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Great photos! How do you find snakes in S'pore? Walking around the forest, looking into trees? Or in ditches? Road-cruising seems a bit on the impossible side, I've heard (too few roads in the hinterland?)
DavidG
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by DavidG »

Sorry guys, i just wrote like one page and then the web page refreshes saying its out of date :cry: . Ill make it a bit shorter this time lol.
Thanks for the replies

Okay where did i start lol...

Finding snakes in singapore is almost impossible and there are two roads which you could cruise but really its better to cruise them during the day for roadkill specimens for the raffles museum of biodiversity in singapore. The chance of cruising a live snake at night here is like 0.000001%.

Finding snakes is done by walking, not by flipping or any other technique, just walking very slowly one step at a time, scanning tree trunks and bushes from eye height and lower, and looking very carefully. There is another reason why i said if anyone ever needs a herping buddy in singapore i am very happy to help. The reason is that over the years i have become familiar with certain areas which have a higher probability of holding a snake than other areas. Although i cannot guarantee anything, i know that there is just that few percent of extra chance for finding a snake there.

You must also know what you are looking for and therefore what habitat you must look in. Some snake like the white-spotted cat snake are no-chancers for visitors just because the area is dangerously inaccesible to anyone. On the other hand, certain more accesible areas are also home to cool animals, but i find that the area where i saw the white-bellied rat snake is quite painstaking to herp. Although there should be quite a lot of rat snakes and cat snakes there, i have visited the place 30 times and found only one snake, that rat snake. Dont forget the place is infested with a $%#%load of mosquitos lol as well as bees/wasps and one king size hornet :crazyeyes: .

The forest trails btw are only walkable during the day unless you want to risk getting a high fine. Although this is no good for herpers, it does allow some rest thankfully for the animals. Really the mac ritchie forest is too infested with joggers and such from 6am to 10am and 6pm to 7:30pm.

Okay sorry lol i gotta pick up my d90 from the repair centre i think, i hope this info helps, but if you need more just tell me :thumb:

Thankyou,

David
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Hooboy, that sounds like real work. No ditches, no night drives, no flipping....I'm sure you guys develop quite the "snake eyes" the way you look for animals! I'd give my middle teat for a pair of sharp "forest eyes", but as is, I find most of my subjects by literally stumbling onto them. I'm sure that I'll need to get my forest eyes up to standard in a hurry once I've moved to Sarawak next year...there's no driving and no ditches in the National Parks either, but I'm still hoping that I'll find a few nice normal forests with roads and gutters somewhere - hell, the place is as big as England, there's gotta be something of the sort!
DavidG
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by DavidG »

Haha yea! Dont worry, you will find bucket loads of stuff :D! Headed to mount kinabalu in 2 weeks so might be able to figure out some bornean herping techniques lol. You must remember that the forest of Singapore does not compare with that of malaysia in terms of quality and quantity. Im sure you can drive your way to some snakes here and there. Anyways another technique i learned yesterday is that at night most diurnal snakes sleep on palm leaves at a height of maybe 1.5 to 2 sometimes 3 meters. Or at least it appears that way in bukit timah nature reserve. Found a dendralaphis formosus yesterday, ill post it up later :)
joeysgreen
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by joeysgreen »

Those gliding lizards are neat. Dendrelaphis food! Sorry to see that one DOR but it's still a beaut. I think all those hidden blues come out after death; a beautiful shame. I've seen the same in a forumulized specimen I have.

Ian
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moloch
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by moloch »

Hello David,
Some snake like the white-spotted cat snake are no-chancers for visitors just because the area is dangerously inaccesible to anyone
I am curious about the "dangerously inaccessible" comment. What is the source of the danger?


Regards,
David
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

at night most diurnal snakes sleep on palm leaves at a height of maybe 1.5 to 2 sometimes 3 meters.
Thanks - will definitely remember that!

Is Naja sumatrana difficult to pose and photograph, as it's a spitter?
I am curious about the "dangerously inaccessible" comment. What is the source of the danger?
If you get caught, they cane you....
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Ross Padilla
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by Ross Padilla »

Very nice finds. Some very strange looking stuff compared to what we have. Being that tough to find herps must really make you appreciate each and every find. Thanks for sharing. :thumb:
DavidG
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by DavidG »

Hi everyone,

I cant describe how much i appreciate all the great comments :thumb: , thanks guys!

Well lol nothing to do with caning, but basically getting there is a walk across firing ranges and through life firing areas :twisted:

Ah thanks Ian thats pretty interesting to know about those blues :) . I wonder what makes them come out so much?
I used to never bother looking for gliding lizards but for some reason they have become a real treat to find. I hope to rediscover some of the lost dracos here in Singapore :D

Not to sure about naja sumatrana because i never photographed a life one before. I am only 17 so i would rather not take the risk of get the venom in my eyes :P
I really think thats the most dangerous part, but i guess it should be photographable. On the other hand i do have pictures in my mind of the snake. Once i saw one crossing a deserted road with its hood up, and a butterfly flew around it and kept landing on its nose :lol: , but sadly that was maybe 6 years ago and now the area is basically destroyed or overcrowded due to development :cry: .

Haha yes Ross you are right about that. Every snake i stumble upon is a real treat although after a while the common whip snakes start getting a bit boring. Personally i really love finding and photographing lifers, but with every lifer you get there are less new species for you left to see in the wild. In other words, chances of finding a lifer get smaller and smaller especially because most of the snakes you miss out on are the very rare ones.

Thanks again everyone, i cant explain how much i appreciate the comments and how very happy i am to have found this forum. I will keep posting, but these posts are usually maybe once a week considering the difficulty of finding herps here :beer:

David
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by joeysgreen »

If you get caught, they cane you....
getting there is a walk across firing ranges and through life firing areas
Both are good enough reasons in my book :?

And David, don't get down on us for only making a weekly post :roll: . If I were to do that people would never want to see another wood frog for as long as they live. You live in a herp paradise compared to many!

Ian
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by Paul White »

Well lol nothing to do with caning, but basically getting there is a walk across firing ranges and through life firing areas :twisted:
so how do you get in? You know when they're not shooting?
I'll let other people mess with that. I do take some risk but getting shot is a bit much.
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Ah thanks Ian thats pretty interesting to know about those blues :) . I wonder what makes them come out so much?
Green color in animals is composed of yellow and blue particles. After the animal's death, the yellow particles will decompose first, leaving a blue body. I've seen blue frogs and snakes both.
Once i saw one crossing a deserted road with its hood up, and a butterfly flew around it and kept landing on its nose
Wow, what a powerful image that must have been. Bound to either turn you into a fervent naturalist right then and there, or scar you for life. :mrgreen:
You live in a herp paradise compared to many!
Amen to that. Please share with us anything you can find - one man's trash is another man's treasure....
DavidG
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by DavidG »

Haha thanks again for the replies,

Yea dont worry, i will post everything i find :thumb: ! Just hard to find stuff lol!
Green color in animals is composed of yellow and blue particles. After the animal's death, the yellow particles will decompose first, leaving a blue body. I've seen blue frogs and snakes both.
That is interesting to know about the blue colouration, thanks Hans!
Wow, what a powerful image that must have been. Bound to either turn you into a fervent naturalist right then and there, or scar you for life.
Yea if i had a camera than 8-) , but than again i still remember it well and those memories keep me going :D !
so how do you get in? You know when they're not shooting?
I am part of the vertebrate study group which has been permitted entry by the government (they informed of when it was safe) for research occasions a couple of times although sadly our official surveys have now finished. Otherwise there is no way into the military area which may be sad but actually its amazing! Why? Because this is probably the only primary forest in Singapore which is pretty much undisturbed by humans, the way it should stay.


Im headed into the forest tomorrow for herping, today was just plain exercise lol! So uh lets hope for the best!

David
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Noel Thomas
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by Noel Thomas »

Great pictures and posts David. Check your inbox, PM sent.
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vincemartino
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by vincemartino »

More please :thumb:
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

DavidG wrote:Im headed into the forest tomorrow for herping, today was just plain exercise lol! So uh lets hope for the best!
How was it?
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fickle-minder
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by fickle-minder »

Hello David!I live in singapore and need a herping buddy.Like you said,the chances of finding a snake is 0.000001%!
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JakeScott
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by JakeScott »

When you say it's difficult to find animals alive on the road at night, is that due to high traffic or just rarity? Also you mentioned that some areas are dangerous, do you mean terrain-wise or the people are dangerous...or both?

Cool to see those dragons!

-Jake
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by dickbartlett »

The colugo rocks!
It has no pouch, thoug. Maybe cups the flying membrane but no pouch.
DavidG
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Re: Some recent sundalanders (some dors)

Post by DavidG »

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the comments! There are too many for me to comment on individually haha :thumb: (at least, not now, its late and gotta get up early tmrow)!

I am sorry that I do not post very frequently, nor comment on other people's posts very often! If it is any compensation, I do read most of the posts on this forum and simply stand in awe for the masses of amazing photographs that are being compiled into our herp-database (as I like to call it)!!!! My replies may also quiet often be very superficial- I tend to either write too much, or write too little... This does not mean that I do not thank you all for commenting on the post! I essentially never make enough time to write on fieldherp forum.

In spite of this, I promise that I will start posting some more pictures. I have had some time off to do some herping, and whilst I have not seen many spectacular things (in terms of rarity), I will note that as some of you have commented, the herps from singapore are new to many of you, and I guess you will want to see them :) . Some stuff to 'look forward to' : Proper head shots of 3 m zaocys fusca, a tiny-twin barred tree snake living in a drain, the mean-@$$ red-necked bronzeback that tried to tag me (no pictures.... also, I don't risk being bitten by any snakes, not even colubrids), some more flying dragons, a rainbow coloured skink, and maybe another colugo picture if you'd like...

That's it, guess I still wrote too much again!
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