You do not get to see snakes very often in Singapore, not even in the wild places. This list shows the rare occasions when this happened. The Chinese has a saying --- if you go to the mountain often enough, you will eventually meet a tiger. For sure, I am not going to see a tiger. But, I have probably gone to the "mountain" often enough to have met these snakes.

The most common snake seen is the Oriental Whip Snake (Ahaetulla prasina). I have seen it so often that I am no longer keeping track of its sighting. The most recent encounter was in December 2011 where I landed on a Equatorial Spitting Cobra (Naja sumatrana).

Here is the list of snakes that I have come across in the order that I have seen them over the years:
| Paradise Tree Snake (Chrysopelea paradisi) | Twin-barred Tree Snake (Chrysopelea pelias) | Wagler's Pit Viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri) |
| Oriental Whip Snake (Ahaetulla prasina) | Spotted Keelback (Xenochrophis maculatus) | Blue Malayan Coral Snake (Maticora bivirgata) |
| Equatorial Spitting Cobra (Naja sumatrana) |

Paradise Tree Snake (Chrysopelea paradisi)
February 2008
This snake was seen at the zoo but it was not part of the exhibit. It probably did not escape from the cage. It was hanging on branches of the Weeping Tea Tree (Leptospermum brachyandrum) located at the side of a walk way in the Kangaroo enclosure. No one seemed to notice the snake as the focus was on the jumping creatures.

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Twin-barred Tree Snake (Chrysopelea pelias)
January 2009
During a trip to the tree-top bridge at the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, I came face-to-face with this snake on the boardwalk just after the hanging bridge. It was a quite morning with little human traffic. The snake was probably sun tanning when I bumped into it. We faced each other for a few minutes before it decided to give way by gliding through the gap on the boardwalk.

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Wagler's Pit Viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri)
October 2009
On a usual trip to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve while descending from the hill via the main road, I saw a crowd gathered at the edge of the road taking photos and looking into the bushes. This snake seen resting about 20 metres away had caught their attention. I took a few shots but only one turn out well as the lighting condition was poor and the snake was quite a distance away.

May 2010
The second time that I saw this snake was again at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. This was 7 months later. This time round, I had the snake all to myself. It had curled itself on a small plant by the side of a narrow path. It was so close that I can reach out my hand to touch it. Of course, it would be insane for me to do that knowing that it would probably not appreciate such action. Furthermore, I was all alone in the quite forest on a week day. So, after taking a few shots at a "safety" distance, I decided to move on and let it continued its nap.

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Oriental Whip Snake (Ahaetulla prasina)
December 2009
I did not know this green snake was common in Singapore when I first saw it in Malaysia. It was spotted on a Monkey Apple (Glochidion littorale) shrub at a beach area in Malaysia when I was having my holidays. I had previously read about this snake, before this life encounter, from the Internet where it was sighted in Singapore.

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July 2010
Surprisingly, my first encounter of this snake in Singapore was at a park near my home. Not only that, I saw the snake twice in the same month on different days. This park has a small remnant forested area consist mainly of Rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis). Though I had been visiting this park almost every month for the last one year, this was the first time I saw a snake here. Since then, I had been on the lookout for it each time when I visited to this park.

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October 2010
Once again, I saw this snake during my routine walk around the same park. The different was that this time round, the snake was within arm length. It simply kept still even when my camera was closing up toward its head.

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November 2010
Here was another encounter of the green snake. It was seen motionless on a fallen tree trunk at a slope along Sembawang Road. The back of the slope was a small patch of forested area. Again, I was able to get close to it. This snake appeared to be mild and was not too concern about human getting close to it.

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I had seen this snake so many times it no longer surprise me when I see one. However, it still feels good to know that such beautiful reptile continues to roam around in the wild.

Spotted Keelback (Xenochrophis maculatus)
May 2010
This was the third time that I saw a snake at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. The last encounter was only 2 weeks ago and that was the same type of snake seen previously. This time round, it was a different one. It was long and slender. I met it when it was about to cross a trail on the forest floor. Sensing my presence, it froze for a while before retreating under a rotting log near the track. After a few second, it emerged and decided to cross the trail this time round regardless of my presence.

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Blue Malayan Coral Snake (Maticora bivirgata)
November 2011
I was thrilled when I discovered this snake laying still in a shallow drain littered with fallen leaves just by the side of a road at Lower Pierce Reservoir area. It appeared to be motionless at first, probably asleep. After a few minutes into my photo session, it started to move away into the forest, probably noticed of my presence. It looks like the Pink-headed Reed Snake (Calamaria schlegeli) except that its tail is bright red.

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Equatorial Spitting Cobra (Naja sumatrana)
December 2011
I first saw its dark body gliding along the leaf-littered floor not too far from the track. Immediately, I knew it was a snake that I had not seen before. When I finally saw its head region, the first thing that came to my mind was that it has to be a cobra. As it was moving deeper into the bushes away from the track, I had to quickly snap whatever pictures I could get. As it is a cobra, I had to give some respect to the distance between the two of us. The only 2 photos that I managed to snap from a distance did not look too great. But, I was really happy to see a cobra in the wild, especially in Singapore.

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Last updated: 10 December 2011