Reptiles
Brahminy Blind Snake
Indotyphlops braminus · also called flowerpot snake, common blind snake
Dig in a warm-climate garden almost anywhere in the world and you might turn up what looks like a small dark shiny earthworm that flicks a forked tongue. It is the brahminy blind snake, the most widely travelled snake on the planet, and it got that way as a stowaway in plant pots.
Overview
Indotyphlops braminus is a blind snake just 5 to 10 cm long and no thicker than spaghetti, native to South Asia and now established across the warm parts of every inhabited continent. It lives underground, eating the eggs and larvae of ants and termites, with eyes reduced to light-sensing spots.
An all-female species
It reproduces by parthenogenesis — unfertilised eggs become daughters that are clones of the mother. No males have ever been found, so a single snake carried to a new place can found an entire population.
The flowerpot snake
Because it lives in loose, moist soil, it is easily moved in the root balls of nursery plants, which is how the horticultural trade has spread it around the world, making it one of the most widespread land reptiles.
Status
Least Concern and still spreading. Completely harmless — no venom, and a mouth far too small to bite anyone.
Brahminy Blind Snake: common questions
Is a brahminy blind snake a worm or a snake?
It is a true snake, just a very small, specialised, burrowing one. It belongs to the blind snake family, an ancient group of snakes that took up a life underground hunting ants and termites and, in the process, reduced their eyes to simple light detectors, shrank their bodies, and evolved smooth, rounded, worm-like shapes for pushing through soil. Look closely and the snake gives itself away, since it has dry, overlapping scales rather than the moist, ringed segments of an earthworm, it flicks a forked tongue, and it glides smoothly instead of stretching and bunching. It is often found in the same places as earthworms, in flowerpots, compost, and garden beds.
How can there be a snake with no males?
The brahminy blind snake is one of very few snakes, and the only one known to be so exclusively, that reproduces by parthenogenesis, meaning females produce eggs that develop into offspring without any fertilisation. Every hatchling is female and is essentially a clone of its mother. No male brahminy blind snake has ever been reliably identified anywhere in the world. This has a striking consequence. Because a single snake carries everything needed to found a population, one animal accidentally shipped in a plant pot to a new country can establish a breeding colony on its own, which is exactly how the species has spread so far.
How did it get everywhere?
By hitchhiking in soil. The snake lives in loose, damp earth and is small enough to go unnoticed in the root ball of a potted or balled nursery plant. As the ornamental plant trade moved stock around the world over the last century or two, brahminy blind snakes went with it, and because any one female can start a colony, each accidental introduction that landed somewhere warm enough tended to take. It is now found in suitable climates on every continent except Antarctica, which makes it one of the most widespread land reptiles on Earth, entirely through human help.
Should I be worried if I find one in my garden or house?
No. The brahminy blind snake is completely harmless. It has no venom, and its mouth is a tiny slit adapted for eating ant and termite eggs, far too small to bite a person or a pet. It does not damage plants; it eats soil invertebrates and is, if anything, a mild help against ants and termites. If one turns up indoors it has usually come in with a houseplant or through a gap while foraging after rain, and it can simply be scooped onto a piece of card and put back outside in a shady, moist spot.