Herpetofauna of Badlapur

This is a Checklist of Reptile Species found in Kulgaon-Badlapur Region, District : Thane, Maharashtra, India. (19' 9' 0" North : 73' 16' 0" East). I have been working with a group of interested individuals in this region for the past 10 years. The motive is conservation and Records of Reptile Species. This checklist is being updated to the best of our knowledge. Still there can be records which are not covered in this. Only confirmed records are being included and the checklist is tried to be kept precise.

SNAKES

1) Brahminy Worm Snake (Ramphotyphlops braminus)
    Family : Typhlopidae
    Status : Occasional
    Type    : Non-venomous
    Length : Minimum : 35 mm
                   Adult         : 125 mm
                   Maximim  : 230 mm
    Notes   : A very small snake which looks similar to worm. It can be distinguished only by  seeing the flickering tongue. Lives under the ground for most of the time and can therefore be an occasional sighting.

Ramphotyphlops braminus (Pic : Unmesh Barbhai, Jejuri)

                                                                                                                                          

2) Beaked Worm Snake (Grypotyphlops acutus)   
    Family : Typhlopidae
    Status : Occasional
    Type    : Non-venomous

    Length : Maximum : 600 mm (24 inches) (2 feet)
    Notes   : A underground dweller. Larger than the Brahminy Worm Snake. Looks similar to a worm. Snout pointed like a beak. hence the name.  

Grypotyphlops acutus (Pic : Unmesh Barbhai, Jejuri)

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3) Indian Rock Python (Python molurus molurus)
    Family : Pythonidae
    Status : Uncommon
    Length : Minimum  : 500 mms
                   Adult         : 3000 mms
                   Maximum : 7620 mms
   Notes : The Indian Rock Python prefers to live in vast areas with least human disturbance. Found in Caves and Large Rock crevices when searched for. Mostly listed from Thick forested areas around the villages. More than one Pythons living at a same place and sharing the hiding is also seen.

Python molurus molurus (Pic : Prathamesh Ghadekar)

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4) Common Sand Boa (Gongylophis conicus)
    Family : Boidae
    Status : Common
    Length : Minimum : 125 mms
                   Adults      : 500 mms
                   Maximum: 1000 mms
   Notes : A common, stout and slow moving snake which is mostly mistaken as a Russel's Viper or a Python baby. In both the cases, it is killed because of the fear about the two snakes. A good burrower, it tends to avoid attention by moving very slowly and emerging mostly in the dark.

Gongylophis conicus (Pic : Prathamesh Ghadekar)

         
 

The Common Cat Snake (Boiga trigonata) Mating.

 Herping trips certainly add tonnes to your knowledge and information about the Natural Behaviour  of species and give you an opportunity to view some really rare occurrences. On such a Herping trip recently got a chance to experience the Mating of Boiga trigonata in wild !!!

Location : Badlapur, Dist : Thane, Maharashtra. (19 ' 9 ' 0" North : 73 ' 16 ' 0 " East)
Date       : Friday, 24th June, 2011.
Time       : 8 : 30 p.m.

The Full Body Picture of the Mating Pair.

       The sighting was special indeed but to add to the joys, the snakes seemed to be very much undisturbed even when we moved very close to them. They were very much engrossed in the act which gave me a lot of time to click some useful pictures for record.
       

CLOSE-UP of the male entering the female with it's hemipenes

CLOSE-UP of the male entering the female with it's hemipenes

BEHAVIOUR : The Pair seemed to be very gentle and shows no signs of nervousness even as we went very close to have some picture treat. Cat Snakes (Boiga sps.) are generally very less nervous with human once they are habituated. But this wild pair also displayed the same kind of behaviour. The Mating process continued as long as we stayed there (1 to 1.5 hours). The Female will lay about 7 to 15 eggs in a span of two months (approximately) if everything goes right.

A Head CLOSE-UP of the Pair.

The Indian Egg Eating Snake (Elachistodon westermanni)

The Indian Egg Eater (Elachistodon westermanni) was thought to be extinct in 1969. It was later rediscovered in Amravati, Maharashtra. The snake belongs to the monotypic genus Elachistodon.

DESCRIPTION :  This species is glossy brown to black, with bluish white flecks posteriorly and a middorsal creamy stripe from neck to tail tip. The head is brown with a black arrow mark. The ventrals are white with brown  dots. The maximum length attended by adults is 310 mms.

BEHAVIOUR : This Snake is Nocturnal and Gentle. Very few specimen are reported to show aggresive nature. (Though I got this snap) Very less attacking incidents are being recorded. Burrowing behaviour can be observed and this snake also shows a lot of arboreal character possibly for reaching the Eggs of the Birds.

CONSERVATION : Habitat destruction due to large scale deforestation in the range of distribution is the principal threat to survival of this species. The Construction of dams and barrages for irrigation projects, agriculture and urbanization are other major threats to the survival of this species. This species is now included in the Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, giving it further protection.

Rat Snake (Ptyas mucosa) Egg Incubation

            It all started with a call from some residents of the Chikhloli Village, Badlpur (W) [ 19°10'59"N   73°12'48"E ] regarding some eggs they had found which they supposed were of a reptile. They asked for our help in relocating the Eggs as some burrowing work was to be done on the site where the eggs were laid. We reached at the spot as soon as possible and found 12 eggs laid around 2 feet below ground level in a tunnel. The size, number, position and period of the eggs made us believe that they belonged to either Rat Snake or a Spectacled Cobra.

The 12 Eggs

           It was not possible to convince the villagers to let the eggs remain where they were till hatching as the plans to make some stairs there was in urgent progression. So we found it inevitable to move the eggs from there. The orientation was left unchanged and utmost care was taken to move the eggs in a clean box which we had carried with us. Thus the responsibility of the eggs came on us and it was also a nice opportunity to study the incubation. It was impossible to judge the date of hatching as we were not knowing the date of laying the eggs. All the eggs were in a perfect condition till 02-09-2011. On that day the first egg started to suffer a dent. A couple of days later we observed similar dents on 3 more eggs. All those eggs were separated from the rest as we found a possibility that the other eggs would also start deteriorating. Now we had a 1/2 ratio of eggs, four sick eggs and 8 healthy ones. The first egg which had dented was in the worst condition with the dent growing bigger and the egg getting compressed more and more. On 09-09-2011 we noticed that the dent has caused a crack in the egg and the inside portion can be seen through. There was no possibility of saving the under-developed baby so we broke open the egg and got the first sign of our guess being accurate.

The under-developed baby found in the spoiled egg

                The Big eye as compared to the Head, The supralabial and infralabial position and the length pointed to towards it being Ptyas mucosa i.e. Rat Snake. Later the remaining three eggs also suffered the same as the first egg had and were out of the race one by one. Luckily our 8 healthy eggs continued to be so and showed the first sign of nearing hatching on 27-09-2011 as they started to become softer and darker in colour. On 29-09-2011 we noticed the first opening to the first egg and the first baby poked it's snout out of the egg.

The first baby poking it's Head out

                     Our guess had proved to be accurate it was the Snout of a Rat Snake. The first baby took almost 2 to3 hours to completely free itself from the Egg and was active enough to strike at me just as I was shifting it to a small Box. Later one by one all the Neonates came out and glimpsed at the Big world giving us some excellent pictures in the process. All the babies were healthy and we were more than happy to release them about 200 meters away from the place were we had found the eggs. Even the villagers were happy to leave them there as they knew that their mother must have chosen the best suitable place for them and they were non venomous, harmless reptiles who were going to grow at a huge length of 11 feet to become Adult Rat Snakes and control the mice population in the Rice fields eventually helping the Farmer-Villagers.

One of the Neonates in the process of hatching