~12cm | January 8, 2012 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I came across this small blind snake as it slowly wormed its way along a clear patch of ground next to a corn field. I thought it first it might be a worm, but something just looked a little odd about it. I picked it up and through my hand lens I could see it had scales. I also spotted its tongue darting in and out of its tiny mouth.
I didn’t know it then, but I was in the initial stages of chicken pox. All I knew was that I was feeling poorly and wasn’t motivated to take pictures in the field. I stuffed it in a small container for pictures later. The next day I took a few photos as I held it in my hand. I released it later that day in a field much like the one where I found it.
My brother-in-law’s family suggested it was a cobra-de-duas-cabeças (snake with two heads). It does indeed have a rounded off tail, making it difficult to tell which end is which. Some digging this morning though suggests that that name is more properly applied to a different type of reptile which isn’t a snake at all: amphisbaenians or worm lizards. In addition to not being able to easily tell which end is the head, they have the ability to move equally well both forwards and backwards. Probably the more likely common name for the critter I found is cobra-cega (blind snake).
It actually does have eyes, but they’re vestigial. It simply doesn’t need them since it mostly lives underground. Here’s the best closeup I could get of its tiny head. Too bad I didn’t happen to get one with the tongue flicking out.
Head showing vestigial eye
Blind snakes belong to three families in the  infraorder Scolecophidia. Some reading this morning suggests I probably can’t determine which family this one belongs to based on external characters alone.
I suspected at the time and confirmed this morning that they mostly feed on ants and termites.
