Handsome viper

[chazzpott]

I found this chap hiding under an old piece of corrugated roofing yesterday. He's well fed and ready for the winter by the look of him.



I'm sure he is the same animal as this, as I photographed this fellow in exactly the same place just a couple of weeks earlier.



As you can see, he's about to slough and the one in the top pic is in a shiny new coat. I hope he survives the winter as the spot is very close to two very busy main roads, one of which is the M25

[Littlesparrow]

He really is handsome, nice photo and interesting to see the change in colour after shedding, I keep Gecko lizards and they change colour after shedding, very interesting to watch as they pull off their skin and eat it!

[marvin]

hi

i think youre right, it is the same snake (head markings are unique to each individual) and very beautiful too. it's a she though not a he.

cheers
tim

[ViperaBerus]

Originally Posted by marvin

hi

i think youre right, it is the same snake (head markings are unique to each individual) and very beautiful too. it's a she though not a he.

cheers
tim

It does look like the same snake, and as you say deffo a female. Looks like last years young or the year before at most.

[chazzpott]

Many thanks for the input guys. Here's another pic, a bit fuzzy though, which show the head markings more clearly.



As a matter of interest, can someone explain how to tell the difference between males and females?
Also, when do you think she will go into hibernation?

[marvin]

hi

most of the time you can tell the difference by colour but not always. males tend to have a black zig zag while females have a brown zig zag. don't rely too much on background colour, males tend to be lighter but medium to dark brown males are pretty common.

your first picture however, demonstrates really well the most effective way of telling the difference...the tail. females look a bit like they've had the tail cut off, the middle bit removed and then the end stuck back on! males have a bulge where the hemipenes is which makes the tail look like it tapers more smoothly to the end.

on sunny days the odd adder can still be seen basking into november but most have gone underground by the end of october. in general, males emerge in feb, reproductive females around a month later. larger females and non-breeding ones sometimes stay hidden away until late april.

cheers
tim

[chazzpott]

Many thanks for the info Tim. I will check the location over the next few weeks when we get some sunny weather, and will report any further sightings of this snake.
This is the only sighting of an Adder I have ever seen in this area, although there are plenty of Slow Worms, and in the spring I found this Grass Snake in the same place.



Also,I spend as much time as possible on the islands in North West Scotland and have never seen any reptiles on Skye or the Western Isles. Does anyone know if there there are any up there? My friends in north Skye who are locals, tell me they have never seen any.
The only signs of amphibians I have found have been some unidentified tadpoles in a pool near Duntulm Castle at the north end of Trotternish on Skye in May this year, and some year old Common Frogs on South Uist in June.
Charlie.

[marvin]

hi

i have only ever been to skye once - camping when i was a teenager and it literally never stopped raining! i did, however, find slowwoms at the kyle of lochalsh which suggests there may be some across the water. adders are definitely present on skye and if there is a sustainable breeding population of adders then there will almost certainly be common lizards. grass snakes don't do well that far north and so i am fairly sure they won't be present.

tim

[chazzpott]

Tim, where abouts on Skye are the Adders? Where I go is over 60 miles north of Kyle of Lochalsh, and even with the Skye Bridge, it would be an extremely brave and lucky snake to make it over
A lizard might make it, but I doubt a snake or Slow Worm could.
Being on the mainland, I'm not surprised there are Slow Worms in Kyle and probably Adders too, but I'm doubtful that they've made it "over the sea to Skye".
Charlie.

[marvin]

hi charlie

sorry, didn't make myself clear. i googled adders on skye and found plenty of references although no specific locations. i have never seen them there myself.

i am guessing but, like mainland britain, many islands may have been recolonised by more tender species such as reptiles after the last glacial period via land bridges due to lower sea levels?

cheers
tim