Texas Blind Snake

Texas Blind Snake

Texas slender blind snake, Texas threadsnake

Kingdom
Phylum
Subphylum
Class
Order
Suborder
Genus
SPECIES
Rena dulcis
Population size
Unknown
Weight
1
0
goz
g oz 
Length
27
11
cminch
cm inch 

The Texas blind snake (Rena dulcis) is a fossorial species of snake in the family Leptotyphlopidae. All members of this family are fossorial and adapted to burrowing, feeding on ants and termites

Appearance

The Texas blind snake appears much like a shiny earthworm. It is pinkish-brown (puce) in color with a deep sheen to its scales. It appears not to be segmented. The eyes are no more than two dark dots under the head scales. Unique among snakes, their upper jaws contain no teeth, and the lower jaw is incredibly short (less than half the length of the skull).

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Adults can grow to approximately 27 cm (11 in) in total length, including the tail.

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Distribution

Geography

These snakes can be found only in the Southwestern United States and adjacent northern Mexico. In the USA they occur in southwestern Kansas, western Oklahoma including the panhandle, central and southern Texas, and west through southern New Mexico to southeastern Arizona. In northern Mexico, they are found in Chihuahua, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Querétaro, Hidalgo, and Puebla. Texas blind snakes inhabit arid and semi-arid areas with sandy soils, usually near moisture, including rocky and sandy deserts, mountain slopes, shrubland, savanna, forests, open grassy plains, and in rural gardens.

Climate zones

Habits and Lifestyle

Texas blind snakes spend most of their time buried in loose soil, only emerging to feed or when it rains and their habitat floods with water. They often come out after spring rains and are mistaken for an earthworm. If handled these snakes usually squirm around and try to poke the tip of their tail into the handler. This is a completely harmless maneuver and likely serves as a distractive measure. Their mouth is far too small to effectively bite a human being. Texas blind snakes are solitary and active at night. During the winter they enter a period of hibernation.

Seasonal behavior

Diet and Nutrition

Texas blind snakes are carnivores and eat primarily termite and ant larvae.

Mating Habits

MATING BEHAVIOR
REPRODUCTION SEASON
late March-June
INDEPENDENT AGE
at birth
FEMALE NAME
female
MALE NAME
male
BABY NAME
snakelet
web.animal_clutch_size
1-6 eggs

Texas blind snakes are polygynandrous (promiscuous); both the males and the females have multiple partners and find each other using pheromones. They breed between late March and June in Texas. Females nest in cracks in the earth and lay 1 to 6 eggs.

Population

Population threats

Texas blind snakes are not threatened at present but like many other native Texas species, they are affected by the red imported fire ants.

Population number

According to IUCN Red List, the total population size of the Texas blind snake is unknown but probably exceeds 100,000 individuals. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.

References

1. Rena dulcis Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rena_dulcis
2. Rena dulcis on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/64057/12740793

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