Bibron's Blind Snake

Bibron's Blind Snake is a common, wide-ranging fossorial species found throughout much of southern and eastern Africa. Like all blind snakes, it spends nearly its entire life underground, rarely surfacing except after heavy rains.

It is entirely harmless to humans, lacking functional venom and possessing only a small mouth suited to swallowing tiny invertebrate prey.

• Smooth, glossy, cylindrical body with uniform diameter from head to tail
• Coloration typically dark brown to purplish-black above, paler below
• Vestigial eyes visible only as small dark spots beneath translucent scales
• Blunt, rounded head and short, blunt tail, making front and back ends hard to distinguish at a glance
• Small adult size compared to most other snakes

Its smooth, worm-like appearance and lack of visible eyes readily separate it from small colubrids, which have more distinct heads and functional eyes.

Inhabits a broad range of habitats including savanna, grassland, and suburban gardens, wherever loose, workable soil is present. It is one of the most widely distributed blind snakes in Africa, occurring from South Africa north through East Africa.

It is commonly found under rocks, logs, and compost, and is often unearthed during gardening or construction.

Fossorial and largely nocturnal, spending the vast majority of its time underground. It feeds primarily on ant and termite larvae, pupae, and eggs, using chemical cues to locate colonies.

It is oviparous, laying small clutches of elongated eggs, often within termite mounds or moist soil.