File Snake

During our time at Seven Emu station one of our friends caught a File Snake and we had never seen one before and we were all amazed by the touch of his skin so let me tell you a bit more about them:

Geographic Range:

The File snake inhabits the coastal regions of northern Australia and also New Guinea

Habitat:

File snakes are both nocturnal and aquatic, and they are very seasonal in where they prefer to live. Snakes favour the billabongs, or backwater lagoons and pools, during the dry season. When the wet season begins, file snakes go into inundated grasslands and mangroves.These unusually docile snakes can be found resting in aquatic vegetation or in tree roots by day, and hunting among banks or channels by night.

Long-distance divers, file snakes only come to the surface to replenish their oxygen supplies. Studies using radio telemetry have revealed that File snakes are able to cover significant distances at night. During the rainy season, they travel an average of 140 metres every night, while during the dry season, just 70 metres.

Physical Description:

The non-venomous Acrochordus arafurae grows to a maximum length of 2.5 metres. Aquatic snakes known as "file snakes" have microscopic scales that are sharply keeled, giving them the appearance of a file. They are sexually dimorphic, with the female sex being typically bigger .File snakes have very saggy, loose skin. The majority have broad vertebral bands that are light brown or grey with dark brown or black reticulations that give the dorsal surface of the body a cross-banded or blotchy look.

Reproduction:

File snakes are viviparous and give birth to between 6 and 27 young, which usually average about 36 centimeters. Sexual maturity is reached by males at about 85 centimeters, and at about 115 centimeters in females. Female File snakes do not give birth annually. In actuality, females in the wild only give birth once every eight to 10 years. Poor feeding efficiency, low metabolic rates, and high population density are suggested to be potential reasons. Males may keep their sperm in their bodies for a long time.

Food Habits:

Fish is the main prey for file snakes. They move slowly at night, peering in and out of cracks in riverbanks and mangroves. The choice of prey depends on the snake's size; bigger species may eat fish weighing up to one kilogramme. Due to their sluggish, methodical hunting approach and relatively low metabolic rates, these snakes feed less frequently (once a month) than the majority of snakes. The mouth, body coils, and tail of file snakes are used to capture their prey. They have tiny, solid teeth. It is believed that File snakes have sensory organs in their tiny, granular scales that are likely employed for locomotion, orientation, and prey detection.