There are 6 species of commonly seen green snakes in South Africa. The Green Snakes commonly seen include. HARMLESS GREEN SNAKES: Spotted Bush Snake – Philothamnus semivariegatus Green Water Snake – Philothamnus hoplogaster Eastern Natal Green Snake – Philothamnus natalensis Western Natal Green Snake – Philothamnus occidentalis VENOMOUS GREEN SNAKES: Green Mamba – Dendroaspis angusticeps […]
Pachydactyus rangei Namib Web-Footed Gecko. Being nocturnal, these geckos live mostly nestled in deep burrows in the desert sand where there is a moderate amount of moisture during the day. They venture out to the surface only when the desert’s temperature has dropped at night. We found several adult geckos on the tarred roads adjustment […]
The Marbled Rubber Frog (Phrynomantis annectens) ranges from southwestern Angola, south through western and southern Namibia to the northern part of the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It occurs from 600-1,200 m asl. It is a species adapted to arid environments, and is closely associated with inselbergs and other rock exposures. It breeds in temporary […]
Peringuey’s Adder (Bitis peringueyi) Peringuey’s Adder (Bitis peringueyi) These snakes described as common and inhabits undisturbed deserts. A small snake with an average total length of 20–25 cm, its maximum recorded total length is 32 cm. The head is short and flat with eyes located on top of the head. The head is covered with […]
The days leading up to this have been rather dismal, loads of rain and generally typically summer weather meant there was little in the ways of reptile activity in and around Durban. I decided late on Friday afternoon after packing a few things and finishing up with some work to head out to St Lucia. […]
Its been a while It has been two years since I’ve visited Mpumalanga on a herping related trip, the previous trip was a huge success with a decent species count and a good few new species I’d not photographed before so I was really hoping this trip would produce similar results. A few months in […]
Over the last 9 days a friend Theo Busschau and I ventured into some of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa’s lesser explored Nature Reserves and historical records looking for two specific species. Afroedura pondolia – Pondo Flat Gecko. Leptotyphlops sylvicolus – Southern Forest Thread Snake. The major issue is some records were over 35years old and […]
Scelotes inornatus. Distribution: Endemic to South Africa and limited to the greater Durban area of KwaZulu-Natal, from the Durban beachfront (next to the old FitzSimons Snake Park) in the north to Scottburgh in the south, and as far inland as Woodlands/Montclair. The published localities (Broadley 1994) on the northern and southern banks of the Umgeni […]
On my previous trip to this area of the Western Cape in February was quite a different experience, in February the weather was hot, dry and relatively quiet on the reptile front with hours spent in the field offering very little rewards. This time around thankfully was a vastly different experience. Earlier in the year I […]
Scelotes bipes – Silvery Burrowing Skink. Is a South African endemic that occurs in the Western Cape from Mossel Bay to near Saldanha Bay, with records from Robben Island. There appear be be five distinct subpopulations of these Scelotes, with substantial gaps between some of them. Text Source: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/44979043/0