What Do White Lipped Snakes Eat?

[wander]

I have wondered this and now I know.

[MickyB]

Fascinating photos wander. Thanks for sharing.

[Drifting]

Cool photos. Where did you get them?

[Overlandman]

Great shots Wander,
Skinks are the staple diet for the White Lipped Whip Snake.
I have heard stories of specimens eating Grasshoppers but have never seen this occur.
New born White Lips are as small as a garden worm, they are born around the same time as baby skinks, they also grab hold of adult skink tails, that the skink then drops,.
In captivity I have fed White Lipped Whip Snakes, baby eels (elvers), I had one specimen in captivity for 13 years, it ate day old mice, I estimated its age to be around 3 years when first caught. So he was around 16 years of age when he died
I have also caught a large wild specimen 600mm long. Average length of an adult is a maximum 500mm
In Tasmania, they come in many colours, & can be; Black, Brown, Grey, & Green, a beautiful reptile indeed.

In response to whynotwalks question, keeping reptiles in captivity, feeding reptiles to reptiles goes against the values of a herpetologist, by rubbing the scent & poo of a skink onto an elver or day old mouse was enough to trick the snake into eating the food item.

No one has died from a White Lipped Whip Snake bite, but as you know people die from jack jumper & bee stings. So you never know what effect the venom will have on you until you are bitten. One friend said it felt like his finger was hit by a hammer, after being bitten.
Regards Overlandman

[greyim]

Put it in the photo comp?

[whynotwalk]

In captivity I have fed White Lipped Whip Snakes, baby eels (elvers)

So ... elvers have left the building??

But seriously ... the very helpful booklet "Snakes and Lizards of Tasmania" (Hutchinson, Swain & Driessen) says they "are specialised predators, feeding exclusively on skinks". So you were giving them some quite exotic meals Overlandman

cheers

Peter

[wander]

My walking partner KW almost stepped on this snake while traversing the Crags of Andromeda last week. Luckily she spotted it just in time and the snake sportingly froze in this position for the entire time of our 10 minutes of foollin around with cameras. KW noted the skink was wriggling when found but looked a bit still by the time I caught up.

[whynotwalk]

A great find wander, and lovely photos.

White-lipped snake venom is particularly potent when used on skinks, rendering them paralysed within a reasonably short period. We can be thankful they aren't big enough to bother us (you'd have to try VERY hard to be seriously bitten by one!), because they are close relatives of Tiger snakes, and their venom is deadly.

cheers

Peter

[Dolerite Walker]

Well, that puts to bed the widespread rumour about a staple diet of zinc cream.

[whynotwalk]

Where's the "LIKE" button?

[agistachys]

Years ago in the Cheyne Range, I saw a snake that had choked or simply croaked while trying to eat a skink.