Snakes of Victoria

A Museum Victoria Information Sheet Series

Victoria has almost 30 species of snake. Each of the Information Sheets below describes a species of snake that lives in Victoria and includes information about what each snake looks like, how they behave and where they occur.

Alpine Copperhead Australeps ramsayi

Bandy Bandy Vermicella annulata

Bardick Echiopsis curta
 

Further Reading

Coventry, A. J. and Robertson, P. 1991. The Snakes of Victoria – A Guide to their Identification. Department of Conservation & Environment/Museum of Victoria.

Cogger, H. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Reed Books.

Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2003. Reptiles of Australia. Princeton University Press.

Your comments

Ann Sadedin 02 Jan 2010 12:29 PM
I would like to identify a snake seen near Noojee (Loch Valley walk). Maybe 4 ft long, black on top and yellow underneath. I can send a photo if you can't look at this one: http://picasaweb.google.com.au/annsad/NoojeeChristmas2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCP-9jfOonOSCJA#5421232026938570738
Robyn Campbell 22 Feb 2010 17:54 PM
At Aire River camping ground at about 9.30 a.m. on 20/02/2010, already very warm day, a small (about 30 cms) grey snake lay stretched across the track just before the bridge over the river. My partner gently touched it with tip of his fishing rod (we were concerned snake would be run over). It quickly slithered away. Is it possibe for you to identify this snake? Many thanks.
Discovery Centre 30 Mar 2010 15:51 PM
Museum Victoria

Hi Robyn - Unfortunately our Curator for Herpetology is not able to positively identify the snake you saw from description alone. Perhaps you may be able to identify the snake yourself using images on our Bioinformatics website. I hope this helps!

Thalia 14 Apr 2010 03:15 AM
Ann, that looks to be a tiger snake.
Discovery Centre 14 Apr 2010 12:36 PM
Museum Victoria

That's very possible, Thalia. In an email to Ann our herpetologist explained that the snake in the photograph is either a tiger snake with little banding, or (possibly) a copper head. Colouration in both of these species varies widely. Further images are available here. Hope this helps!


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