Bites from this species have caused human fatalities. A nervous, ready biter it will defend itself with multiple strikes if threatened. Often referred to as Australia’s most dangerous snake. Bites from this species should be treated immediately and attended to with correct first aid.
Head long with distinct angular brow. Snout and face generally paler than body colour, otherwise uniform colouring along upper body ranging from pale brown to almost black. Belly cream with orange spots and blotches. Midbody scale rows at 21-25 rows.
Average up to 2 metres, but although rare, individuals have been recorded to nearly 3 metres in total length.
Dry open forest, grassy woodlands and cane-fields.
Mostly active during the day, especially warm and hot mornings. Also recorded active on roads at night. Secretive, highly alert snake that is rarely seen even in areas where they are apparently common.
Specialises in mammals like mice, rats and bandicoots.
The Taipan is uncommonly sighted throughout the Greater Brisbane region with the majority of records within the last 30 years being of road killed specimens. Recent localities include the Samford Valley, the lowlands west of Mt Glorious, Beaudesert and Borallon, North West of Ipswich. Snake catchers Brisbane recently recorded a Taipan in Pullenvale, west of Brisbane. This specimen is the closest ever recorded to the Brisbane CBD and is the first to ever be recorded in Brisbanes western suburbs.
The discovery of a Taipan around the home would be considered an extremely rare occurrence within South East Qld. Correspondence with licensed snake relocators across the known distribution of the species have not accounted for a single specimen within a residential property over the past 20 years. However the recent discovery of a specimen at Pullenvale by Snake Catchers Brisbane in December 2011 constitutes the first reliable record by a snake catcher for the South East.
Enjoy our ID photo gallery for this species.
Our gallery is pulling in the photos from Dropbox so please be patient and it will only take a few second while gallery loads. Clicking a photo will open the lightbox viewer, please allow a few second between each photo as most photos are a larger file size to retain their quality and size for your best viewing experience. If blank spaces appear in gallery main section please click on the refresh icon at the top left of gallery. All photos are the property of the website or respected owner and can not be re-used without permission. Copyright laws applies.
For our snake identification service simply click the button below to go to our photo ID upload page. We provide our Australian snake identification service free of charge and always welcome high quality images for potential inclusion on our website. This service is not just for Queensland snake identification but for all snake id across Australia.
