Natrix natrix with top orange

[Pierre-Yves Vaucher]

Hi, a friend of a friend of a friend show me these pictures of Natrix natrix in the Vevey area... fake of color or reality ? The snake was in a tube with lot of "rouille" ?

the orange intensity is not regular...

some idea ?

[Mario Schweiger]

looks crazy but good
Seems to be some color, maybe from the rust/oxydation. You may see it on head, where it is only in the suturs between the shields.

[Pierre-Yves Vaucher]

look at the tail on the last picture...

[Ruggero M.]

Very rare, if it's a natural colour!

I've once seen a big red/reddish specimen of Natrix natrix, rolled up over a ruin.

[Guillaume Gomard]

looks crazy but good
Seems to be some color, maybe from the rust/oxydation. You may see it on head, where it is only in the suturs between the shields.

Agreed, I also think that it is a non-natural coloration of the scales.

@Ruggero: I would be curious to see a picture of the snake you are mentionning, or at least have an idea of its colouration compared to the one displayed here?

[Ruggero M.]

@Ruggero: I would be curious to see a picture of the snake you are mentionning, or at least have an idea of its colouration compared to the one displayed here?

Unfortunately I have no pictures: it was many years ago, before cell-phone and camera era...

It was a huge specimen, rolled up over a ruin in the mountains of Pavia province: I was really impressed, even if I was young, and I understood at once, I'd met something special. The ground colour was not grey or greenish, but reddish.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/51956078@N05/4815394821/

The picture above is a red specimen of N.maura: my N.natrix was red, but not so dark and intense as this maura. It was actually less dark and less red... rather "reddish", but anyway it was bright greyish/reddish (obviously with the usual dark markings) and a very unusual snake!

P.S. I've found a reddish N.natrix on the web: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40480071@N03/10409258414
My snake was brighter than this, which is rather dull.

[Ruggero M.]

The Natrix with red back seems to have encountered wet paint: the tail has "sticky scales" that seem to create two dark stripes.
I think it's orange paint...

[Daniel Bohle]

that female simply laid eggs short before, that's why the tail looks strange

[Ruggero M.]

that female simply laid eggs short before, that's why the tail looks strange

Good and probably right observation!

But the fact that the female laid eggs is not against the "wet paint theory": in this case the scales of the tail/abdomen could literally stick to each-other and create a stronger effect of a thin and ill snake... Maybe...

[Matthijs Hollanders]

I've seen this stuff before. It's rust or other stuff that sticks to the scales.