The Itsy-Bitsy

When I was hanging out with my friend Cocoa, our Red-Tailed Boa, I couldn't help but think, "Wow! these snakes are so huge! I wonder if there are any really small snakes?" I thought it would be difficult for a snake to survive if it was so small, considering that most snake's diets consist of mice which are still rather large critters to cram down a throat. Low and behold, I did some research and discovered that the world's smallest snake can fit on a quarter! Adults of these tiny slitherers average about four inches and as thin as a spaghetti noodle! The scientific name of this thin noodle is, Leptotyphlops Carlae. This snake is actually a thread snake -appropriate name- which lives on the tiny forest leaves on the eastern side of Barbados. The snake was discovered by an evolutionary biologist at Penn State University by the name of Blair Hedges when he realized that this snake differed from others with its different patterns and scales and also managed to point out some misidentified specimens at a museum- opps. This snake is possibly the absolute minimum size a snake can get. Though, this isn't the ONLY small snake. There are other snakes that nearly reach this size, but this was determined to be the smallest discovered thus far. I found the answer to my question on what these snakes can possibly eat. The answer is that they mainly survive off of the larvae of ants and termites. Theses snakes, due to their miniature size, do however have very small clutches. While larger snakes can have 100 eggs in one clutch, this little guy -or girl- usually only has a clutch of one. Though, this is one huge baby. The hatchling is often HALF the length of the adult snake. Scientists often use adults for studies, as juveniles are hard to obtain. Research continues as scientists search for more new species such as this.

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080804100258.htm
           http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Snakes/Wild-Snakes/Smallest-Snake/