# Killies Import > Non-Killie Segment >  Common Blind Snake

## stormhawk

My younger brother brought back this critter last night. The poor bugger was trying to cross the road. I will be releasing it in a while later when I leave my house.

Known as a Common Blind Snake, this is the most common snake species encountered in Singapore. Usually ignored since it looks like a shiny black earthworm.

I had the opportunity to see its slithering tongue appear. Really small tongue for a really small and not oftenly seen snake. This marks my first encounter with this species.

Very harmless it has a silky texture to its scales.  :Very Happy:  

Here's a shot of the critter:

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## Piscesgirl

Nice that you saved him -- it's a good looking snake.  :Smile:

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## stormhawk

I wished I was the rescuer but my younger brother was the one.  :Laughing:

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## Piscesgirl

Well, you are doing the releasing -- so you are a rescuer too!  :Smile:

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## turaco

Yes, seen this a few times before. Always mistaken it for an earth worm. Is it really blind since you can actually see its eyes? Thought the reticulated python are the more commonly seen snake in Singapore?

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## stormhawk

This species is a truly blind snake. There's no vestigial eye and the head is smooth. You could see its tongue coming out every now and then. Whitish in colour and very very small forked tongue.

It lives most of its life underground in moist soil hunting for tiny soil invertebrates.

This species is suspected to be parthenogenetic, meaning that the female can reproduce and lay eggs without having been mated with a male.

The reticulated python is one of the common snakes in Singapore but the common blind snake is regarded as the most common species in Singapore by researchers.

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## imported_rock

Oh, that's what it is. 
Over the weekend, when I was doing some garden turf work....and dug something similar. Looked like an earthworm, but when disturbed, will wriggle very violently.....left it in the soil. 

But last week....when it was raining very heavily (on one of the mornings)...my maid found a huge lizzard in the kitchen and covered with with a pail. When she told me about it....and I opened the pail. I realized that it is not an ordinary lizzard. It's huge...about 8 inches in length...with a big, fat, reticulated marked tail. It's got nice black/brown spotting all over the body...and body is yellowish. My son identified it was a leopard gecko. This species is definitely not local to singapore...it must be an escaped yet from neighbouring houses....

Moral of the story...We do have interesting creatures in our backyard. haha. Roy.

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## stormhawk

Hi Roy and welcome to the forum.

Hmm.. your description does sound like a leopard gecko but we do have some similar lizards that may fit that description. Probably one of the skink species. They are fast moving lizards that are capable of quick bursts of speeds with all four limbs. 

Do you have a picture of this "leopard gecko"?

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## budak

tokay gecko?

http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/liz...okay_gecko.htm

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## stormhawk

Budak, that's probably the gecko that appeared in Roy's kitchen.

Its an uncommon house lizard but when encountered is a stunning bugger of a lizard. I only saw a Tokay Gecko once in my whole life. Simply beautiful.  :Very Happy:

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## Piscesgirl

Oh those are so pretty -- I would love to have them hanging out at my house!

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## imported_rock

> Budak, that's probably the gecko that appeared in Roy's kitchen.
> 
> Its an uncommon house lizard but when encountered is a stunning bugger of a lizard. I only saw a Tokay Gecko once in my whole life. Simply beautiful.


wow..the tokay gecko is very nice....my son said it gets it's name from the sound that the gecko makes....'tokay tokay'....when alarmed. dunno if it is true or not. 

But, it's not to tokay gecko that crawled into my kitchen. I am quite sure it's a leopard gecko...because of it's fat tail. Will take a pic and post it here for you to identify.

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## stormhawk

There are other species of geckos native to Singapore. There's one that has a fat tail. Occasionally the common house gecko appears and they can be very big in size with very fat tails.

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## sweetlips200278

I believe it is called Cecilian.
http://themothman.blogspot.com/2006/...-world-of.html

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## stormhawk

Late response but that is not a Caecilian. This one is a Blind Snake without doubt, because of the presence of the forked tongue. My brother found this after a heavy downpour, it was trying to crawl along the road surface. We had to save it from imminent death if it crossed the road, and the good thing was, it wasn't in a high traffic zone. I found this Blind Snake not too long ago, and they are common if you try to find them. Caecilians in Singapore, are much harder to encounter since they live in humid conditions under leaf litter with soggy soil, and I think they are much bigger than this Blind Snake, which is not much bigger than a normal earthworm.

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## eviltrain

i used to catches them in my primary school compound with glassy patch. loves to scares the girls and release them after school back to their original spot.

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## stormhawk

I did the same, with millipedes and other critters.  :Grin:

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## debralee

hi im new here but i used to own something that looks like a blind snake many years ago but it escaped. its has a beautiful glossy black outlook just like the first picture but it's much thinner. it's even thinner than an earthworm. and it's small, smaller than an earthworm. able to place in my palm. it slithers lika snake but i've never seen it's tongue before.. and i cant even see its eyes and mouth (maybe because it's too small). glides and slithers on water too.. I've only seen it twice in my life. Does anyone have any idea what it is? Sorry i got no pictures of it

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## debralee

oh yes i dont think its a Brahminy blindsnake because i've seen the Brahminy blindsnake's pictures, it's slightly bigger than what i've seen and fatter

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## mikiehX

The strange and terrible saga of the Bronx Zoo cobra has concluded, or at least concerning the actual snake that went missing. A while ago, a very small Egyptian cobra went missing in the Bronx Zoo snake enclosure. Minds commenced to being lost, and a very amusing Twitter page began posting Tweets on behalf of the snake. The tale of the snake's escape and capture, with all the fun stuff left out, is very uninteresting. Here is the proof: Reptile vacation over with capture of Bronx Zoo cobra.

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## delhezi

Definitely Brahimy Blind Snake. Size and Shape are generally not good indications.

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## jasonpoh1975

put inside my vermipost box...alot of food for the snake....hehe

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