The 10 Venomous Snake in Australia

Here’s the top 10 list of the most dangerous snake to be avoided in Australia.

Number 10 in the List – The Brown Tree Snake

Scientific Name: Boiga Irregularis

The Brown Tree Snake has average length of  1.5 to 1.8 metres .  The longest recorded length of this species is  found on Guam measuring three metres.

The brown tree snake is inhabited in woodlands, rainforests and open rocky outcrops. It often takes shelter and lay eggs in hollow trees, caves and in rock crevices in  northern Australia from the Sydney area to the Kimberleys in Western Australia.

The snake preys  birds, small mammals and small lizards.

Number  9 in the List – The Lowland Copperhead

Scientific Name: Austrelaps Superbus

The snake is commonly around 1 to 1.5 meters average length and can grow up to 1.7 meters.
The Lowland Copperhead Snakes preys on frogs, lizards and snakes including smaller snakes of its own species.

Types of Copperhead Snakes

• Pygmy Copperhead -  Mount Lofty Ranges east of Adelaide and  Kangaroo Island.
• Highland Copperhead  -  New South Wales and eastern Victoria.
• Lowland Copperhead  - Southeastern South Australia, Southern Victoria, Tasmania, and the islands of Bass Strait

Number 8 - Chappell Island Tiger Snake

Scientific Name: Notechis Ater Serventyi

The Chappell Island tiger snake is the largest of the tiger snake family, growing up to 2.4 metres long.

The Chappell Island tiger snake is found only on Chappell Island, a cold and inhospitable island in the Bass Strait.  The snake prey Mutton  bird chicks, small mammals and frogs.

Chappell Island tiger snake doesn’t lay eggs, it only give birth up to 30 live young.

 

Number 7 - Common Death Adder 

Scientific Name: Acanthophis antarcticus


The Desert Death Adder snake is commonly about 2.2 feet  long and can grow up to 3.2 feet.
The common death adder occurs over much of eastern and coastal southern Australia.


The Snakes Feeds on frogs, small reptiles, birds and small mammals.

 

Number 6 - Desert Death Adder 10

Scientific Name: Acanthophis Pyrrhus

The Desert Death Adder snake is commonly about 62 cm  long and can grow up to 70 centimeters.

The snakes occurs from the coast of Western Australia, to central regions as far South as Kalgoorlie and into the Northern Territory.

The snake  feeds on lizards and small mammals.

Top 5 Most Dangerous  - The Eastern Brown Snake

Scientific Name: Pseudonaja textilis

The snake is commonly around 1.5m (total length). The largest Eastern brown snake measured and recorded had a total length of around 2 meters.

The eastern brown snake inhabits most of eastern Australia from the desert to the coast. It inhabits a wide range of habitats but is particularly prevalent in open grasslands, pastures and woodland.

This species feeds mostly on small mammals, particularly rodents.

Number 4. King Brown or Mulga Snake

Scientific Name: Pseudechis australis

The snake is commonly around 1.5 meters average adult length,  can reach up to 3 meters  weighing up to 6.6 kilogram.

The Mulga snakes   inhabiting includes all of the Northern Territory, most parts of Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia. It may also be found in the western parts of the Australian Capital Territory.

The king browns preys on lizards, birds, mammals and frogs. 

Number 3  -  Coastal Taipan (Australia Deadliest Snake)

Scientific name: Oxyuranus scutellatus

Australia’s deadliest snake also has huge fangs, which grow up to 12 millimetres long. It uses these to inject a powerful venom into the body. The coastal taipan snake is commonly about 1.5 - 2 metres long and can grow up to 3 metres weighing 6.5 kg.

The Costal Taipan snake found in northern and eastern Australia. It’s known from north-western Western Australia, the northern Northern Territory, Cape York Peninsula and coastally through eastern Queensland and to New South Wales. In southern Queensland it is common near Beaudesert, Esk and Gympie.

The snake prey mammals such as small rodents, bandicoots and quolls.

Number 2  -  Mainland Tiger Snake

Scientific Name: Notechis scutatus 

The Mainland  Tiger snakes commonly  reach up to 1.6 meters in length and may exceed 2 meters .
The Tiger Snake commonly found in  wetlands  southeastern Australia.

The Mainland Tiger Snakes preys primarily on frogs. They also feed lizards, birds, fish and small mammals.

The Most Venomous Snake in Australia - Fierce Snake

Scientific Name: Oxyuranus Microlepidotus

The fierce snake or inland taipan can reach a total length of 2.5 meters , although 1.8 metres is the more usual length. It has 23 rows of dorsal scales at midbody, between 55 and 70 divided subcaudal scales, and one anal scale.

The Inland Taipan is a species native to Australia and is regarded as the most venomous land snake in the world based on LD₅₀ values in mice.

The fierce snake inhabits the black soil plains in the region where Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory borders meet.

The Inland Taipan Snakes of small mammals, mostly native rats.