Blackish Blind Snake

Identification and appearance

Small, smooth scales cover the cylindrical body. The eyes are reduced to dark spots under scales and the mouth sits beneath the snout. A short spine ends the tail. These features suit a life underground. Colour and an earthworm-like shape alone are insufficient to establish Anilios nigrescens, particularly in a poor photograph.

Other names

Blind Snake, Ramphotyphlops nigrescens

Typical length

AROD gives an average total length of about 38 cm and a maximum of 75 cm.

Body build

slender

Head appearance

small, tiny eyes, not distinct from neck

Key identification features

• Worm-like cylindrical body
• Tiny dark eye spots
• Very short tail ending in a small spine

Where it is found

Eastern Australia, with documented state and territory records in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and the ACT. It is one of the more often encountered blind snakes in the eastern states, but the range contains other blind-snake species too.

Activity

Spends much of its life below ground. Blind snakes are occasionally encountered on the surface, so a rare sighting does not mean they are absent from an area.

Diet

In a 1993 museum study, ant pupae made up most of the recorded prey, followed by ant larvae. Ant eggs and adults were also present.

Reproduction

An egg-laying species; AROD reports clutches of 5–20 eggs.

Medical significance

Blind snakes are not a venom risk to people. Their appearance still needs to be distinguished from other small snakes before any conclusion is drawn.

What to do if you encounter one

Avoid digging it out or removing cover to inspect it. Let the animal disappear into shelter. Its tail spine and defensive smell are reasons to leave it alone, not features to demonstrate by handling.

Similar-looking snakes

No photograph available

Typhlopidae

Woodland Blind Snake

Anilios proximus

A relatively large blind snake of eastern and southern mainland Australia.

Open identification guide →

Photo: Max Tibby · CC0 1.0 (Licence)

Typhlopidae

Brown-snouted Blind Snake

Anilios wiedii

A small blind snake recorded in Queensland and New South Wales, with a prominent rounded snout.

Open identification guide →

Taxonomy notes

Formerly placed in Ramphotyphlops. Broad statements about all blind snakes are kept separate from species-specific size, distribution and reproduction.