Red-naped Snake

Snakes of South East Queensland

Red-naped Snake

Furina diadema
Other common names: None known.
Red-naped Snake

Species Profile

Significance to Humans:

Weakly Venomous
The Red-naped snake is not considered significant. Weakly venomous but considered harmless due to inoffensive nature and reluctance to bite.

General description:

Small smooth snake with a reddish brown dorsal coloration. Individual scales appear outlined in black. Head has a distinct red spot enclosed in black extending over the entire head and down the neck. The underside of the head is white which extends into a white belly.

Average Length:

35cm but large specimens have been recorded at 40cm.

Habitat in SE Qld:

Favours drier forest, woodland and grassland areas.

General habits:

Nocturnal (Active by night)

Diet:

Forages for small skinks.

Local distribution:

Widespread throughout most suburbs of the greater Brisbane region. Commonly found to the west of Brisbane through Ipswich and Brisbane Valley.

Around the home:

Found in backyard swimming pools after falling in during nocturnal foraging movements. Often the victim of roaming cats. Will utilise a range of ground localities for refugia including constructed rock and sleeper retaining walls, under rocks, sheets of iron, timber piles and other discarded human litter. Six individuals were found aggregated in a crack of concrete beneath a linoleum floor covering in Coalfalls, Ipswich.

Photo Gallery

Please be patient while our image gallery loads. If viewing images in the lightbox viewer by clicking on an image, please allow a few second between each image as some images are large to retain their quality and size. Images are loaded straight from Dropbox, if blank spaces appear in gallery please click on the refresh icon top left of gallery.
All image are the property of the website or respected owner and can not be re-used without permission. Copyright applies

Photo ID Photo ID

Did you know WildlifeQld offers a snake & Lizard identification service. For our identification service simply use the upload form on www.snakecatchers.com.au We provide our Australian snake identification service free of charge and always welcome high quality images for potential inclusion on our website. This service is not just for Queensland snake identification but for all snake id across Australia.

The content on this page is intended only to provide a summary and general overview . It is not intended to be comprehensive nor does it constitute to be exact in every circumstances. We attempt to ensure that the Content is current but we do not guarantee its currency.