some snakes that look like garter snake.

[nomoreposs]

is it a cuban wood snake?

No, don't know what this is, but that's one thing I do know:-) Eyes on a cuban wood snake are the 'slit-kind', whatever that's called.. and a diff head shape. Ugly buggers, but pretty eyes.. Close-Up of a Cuban Wood Snake - Rights Managed - Corbis

[nomoreposs]

...Hope they named this thing Kiwi, that's all I see lol! ..what a weird wrinkly, saggy neck, fury-lookin thing What is this?

[mustang]

No, don't know what this is, but that's one thing I do know:-) Eyes on a cuban wood snake are the 'slit-kind', whatever that's called.. and a diff head shape. Ugly buggers, but pretty eyes.. Close-Up of a Cuban Wood Snake - Rights Managed - Corbis

1. i think cuban wood snakes look awesome and id love to own one
2. a snakes pupil vertically slit or not dosnt mean a d@m thing. iv personally seen a western diamond back with round eyes and another with vertically slitted pupils...and i have seen pics of columbian red tailed boas with vertically slitted pupils
3.this is not ment to sound offensive

[ConcinusMan]

Usually, you won't notice that a snake's eye pupils are vertical unless the light levels are very high, constricting the pupil. And yes, robert, it does mean a darn thing. Even if you've seen diamondbacks that appeared to have round pupils,(they look that way in very low light) a closer inspection will reveal that they do indeed have vertical pupils and all red tail boas and even rubber boas have vertical pupils as well. That's no secret.

The presence of vertical pupils can greatly narrow down identification and definitely rules them out as garter snakes. What I'm still trying to figure out is why that first snake pictured was chosen for this thread. Doesn't even resemble a garter IMHO.

[mustang]

Usually, you won't notice that a snake's eye pupils are vertical unless the light levels are very high, constricting the pupil. And yes, robert, it does mean a darn thing. Even if you've seen diamondbacks that appeared to have round pupils,(they look that way in very low light) a closer inspection will reveal that they do indeed have vertical pupils and all red tail boas and even rubber boas have vertical pupils as well. That's no secret.

The presence of vertical pupils can greatly narrow down identification and definitely rules them out as garter snakes. What I'm still trying to figure out is why that first snake pictured was chosen for this thread. Doesn't even resemble a garter IMHO.

normally id agree with yall but i was less than 5 inches away and iv seen the same one in defferant lighting im sure it had round pupils! evcen so a herpetologist that came to school says its only true for pit vipers and if i proved that wrong than i can prove the theroy wrong! what about the boa huh the columbian red tailed boas ! i saw one with a vertically slitted pupil! what now ooooo....i mea no disrespect but i am SURE of what i saw...i may be an amature to you guys but to others im an expert! and i stand by my opinions and observed facts.

[ConcinusMan]

Not sure what your argument is exactly. Snakes with heat pits as a general rule do have vertical pupils, yes. But so do boas and as you know, they don't have heat pits.

Forget whatever trick your own eyes played on you. Rattlesnakes (including western diamondback) are pit vipers, and as such, have vertical pupils. period.

You probably saw that snake when it's pupils were quite dilated. When they are like that, it's hard to spot the vertical pupil, as in this picture, but if you look very closely, you'll see the front edge of the pupil is somewhat straight. That's a vertical pupil. The back side often looks round when they are dilated.

[mustang]

Not sure what your argument is exactly. Snakes with heat pits as a general rule do have vertical pupils, yes. But so do boas and as you know, they don't have heat pits.

Forget whatever trick your own eyes played on you. Rattlesnakes are vipers, and as such, have vertical pupils. period.

its not a trick i see the same freakn snake every year i go on vacation to port A ...the owner of this awesome small candy shop has it...he got it from the rattly snake round up...it was like checkers round eyes

[ConcinusMan]

Sorry, I edited my previous post. It explains how you are perceiving a round pupil. When the pupil is open fully, the "shutters" if you will, don't cover the pupil, making it appear to be round. In fact, you're right in a way, that they are round. It's when they partially close that the "slits" become apparent.

If you'll look at that pic, you'll see the pupil appears to be round but the front of the pupil isn't quite round. There's a flat area. That gives it away as a vertical pupil.

[ConcinusMan]

Still not round.

[mustang]

Still not round.

yes they were it had a round pupil i could see all the way around! its eye was like a bulls eye!!!!