We Saved AUSTRALIA'S Most ENDANGERED SNAKE From DEATH | Broad-Headed Snake

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]This snake should already be dead. Lying broken on the side of the road, this endangered broad-headed snake was barely hanging on to life after being hit by a car on the edge of the Blue Mountains. A species so rare most Australians will never see one in the wild. Hidden deep within the sandstone cliffs and ancient rock shelves of the Sydney Basin. These venomous snakes have survived here for thousands of years, but today they're disappearing fast. Urban expansion, habitat destruction, rock removal, and illegal poaching are pushing them closer and closer to extinction, and the odds are already against them. Females only reproduce every few years, giving birth to just a handful of live young, meaning every single snake matters. What happened next honestly felt impossible.

[00:00:43]From emergency rescue and critical care, to feeding, recovery, and finally the moment we hoped we'd never lose sight of, returning this animal back to the wild where it belongs. This is the incredible story of one snake's second chance at life.

[00:01:01]So, we're about to jump in, have our first indepth look at this broad-headed snake. Now, the night of the injury, I was laying in bed about to go to sleep when my phone dings. It's three messages of a broad-headed snake. One video and two pictures. Couple seconds later, my phone rings. It's my mate Zank, another member of the wildlife organization I volunteer with, also a part of Mountains for Wildlife, doing some good stuff in the Hawksbury area. Now, I answer the phone. He's telling me he's just run into a herper. And that particular herper was with a broad-headed snake.

[00:01:30]And that particular broad-headed snake had been hit by a passing car. So, thankfully, this herper was out and about. And this wasn't just any herper.

[00:01:38]His name is Justin. And I'd actually met him previously. He was tossing up what to do because the injuries were just quite severe. Should I give it a chance?

[00:01:45]Should I put it out of its misery? But lucky both Justin and Zank met up luckily somehow by some miracle and had the discussion. Thought maybe Josh can rehab it. Justin had actually seen my video in the past where he rehabbed the diamond python with very very similar injuries. Also had bit of muscle coming out the top of the head. So they thought maybe it's worth it. So basically Zank rings me. I'm in bed. Hello. What's going on? He's like we've just got this broad-headed snake. Can you have a look?

[00:02:13]See what you think. And obviously due to prior experience, rescues and rehabs, I'm like, "Yeah, 100% it's definitely worth a crack." Especially with it being a broad-headed snake. Thousand% it's worth a crack. There's no benefit of me coming getting it right now. So hang on to it overnight. Bag it. Keep it in a dark place. Limit the movement. See how the swelling changes overnight. See if the injury seems to get worse, seems to get better, and I'll be up there first thing in the morning to grab him off your capable hands. I grab the snake.

[00:02:42]Bring him home. And that's where we're at now. I now get to have a very thorough inspection. The snake was still extremely active, but very obviously had bad head and facial injuries. He was busted right up the side of the mouth.

[00:02:54]The head was a bit deformed, and he had these two massive swelling bloody [ __ ] things on the inside of his mouth.

[00:03:03]That's the incredible thing about these animals. He's literally had his head run over. He's still active. He's still moving. He can still slide and glide through the grass like nothing's even happened. So, I get to work straight away. Got some cotton buds, some tweezers. We're getting in there cleaning up that injury. Getting out any gunky [ __ ] stuff that we can just to tidy it up so it can continue to heal.

[00:03:25]See the severity of the injury. See if it is something that this snake's going to be able to recover from so we can give the vet a really, really great idea of what's going on. You can see the strength still in the snake. The way he's wrapping around my arm, hanging on, it actually made the job quite easier to be honest. And honestly, the snake, it does look shocking. The injuries are devastating, catastrophic. To anybody who would normally see that would be like, "This snake's got no chance.

[00:03:51]There's absolutely zero chance of survival in this snake." I would have thought that if I had not previously rehabilitated, actually, two diamond pythons with severe head trauma exactly like this. I knew it was going to be difficult with the snake being so much smaller than a diamond python. But if the diamond python can recover from it, why can't the broad-headed snake? The jaw was definitely out of place. The whole time he's cruising around, he's just trying to open his mouth, realign the jaw, but obviously having trouble due to that swelling and build up a gunk right inside the jaw there. Have a quick look at him in the sun before we get him back in the bag. Now, we're about to fast forward about 2 3 weeks to our next inspection. I give you guys an update what's happened in between with the vet visits, the inspections on the animal, the monitoring, and where we go from there. I do want to say I was actually expecting to look at the snake at this point and make the decision to euthanize him. So, what we're about to see is absolutely mind-blowing. I do also want to say I didn't realize my kitchen floors were so dirty, I thought I cleaned them. So, when I put the snake in the tube, he gets a little bit of hair and muck and gunk in his mouth, which is not ideal. It's not ideal at all. We want a sanitary, clean environment, but it's not the end of the world. It's obviously not the end of the world because we may have a positive outcome if you hang around till the end.

[00:05:04]These snakes in the wild, they get cuts and bruises. They're going through muddy waters. They're eating stinking rats.

[00:05:09]There's a little bit of mucking gunk. It doesn't look the greatest. That's my bad. That's on me. It's a lesson I learned from clean the floor before I tube these snakes. So, I will take that one on the chin. No harm done. Let's fast forward 2 to 3 weeks.

[00:05:24]Hey guys. So, I actually wasn't going Sorry about the dogs, the free feet pics. I actually wasn't going to document this because I don't know how he's going, but I think, well, I do know how he's going and I think it's very important to document this. I'm going to be completely real here. Hopefully, I don't get in trouble by anybody because people do watch my videos and some people like to complain about anything and everything. So, I'm going to be completely real with you guys. I've now had this snake for couple weeks, 2 3 weeks. Took it to North Richmond. Those guys are great. We stay updated with each other. We help each other out. We go back and forth, see how things are progressing. So, Hamish there was really good. He wanted to give this broady a crack. His recommendation was take it to Turanga. Tanga's quite far from me. Hour and a half drive. That's on a good day. So, I sent them a whole heap of pictures. They said, "Look, it's going to need youth in Asia." I went back to him. She said, "Look, if that's what they said, that's what they said."

[00:06:23]So, I'm like, "Shit." So, I actually said to Hish, I'm okay, I'll euthanize that cuz under our license, we can humanely euthanize snakes if that's obviously what needs to happen. Put them out of their misery nice and quick. But I just just cuz of how I've had diamond pythons heal from this type of injury. I wanted to keep him alive. And he's still alive and he's kicking. And you wouldn't believe it, one eye has actually regained function. And it's the eye that I thought was worse. So, one eye is fine. That means this guy's going to be okay. He can open and close his mouth.

[00:06:56]His tongue's clicking. That means he can find food. I was actually just about to try and feed him and see if he ate, but I want to see if I can pull some of that gangly bit out of his mouth. I think this broadheaded snake's going to be able to be released. Reptiles have one eye all the time. The brown snake that I had here, that had one eye. They can survive fine. They're incredibly reactive to that eye to find food. They use their tongue. He's looks a bit deformed. He's going to have trouble finding a girlfriend cuz he's pretty ugly. But hey, who am I to judge?

[00:07:32]So, there he is there. Obviously, you guys aren't going to have the best vision. I will get some close-ups later.

[00:07:38]And he is very bitey, so I don't want him going near my toe, as you would be in this scenario. Uh, so I'm just going to try and tube him so I can get a hold of that head. Try and have a look in the mouth there.

[00:07:54]He's just shat everywhere, which has rank, which is good. Means everything inside's still working. So, I'll get a closeup here. It's covered in dog hair.

[00:08:02]I need to vacuum, but we're actually improving. This is going to be phenomenal. And I'm going to be able to actually show all the vets this recovery. So, it's not a haha I told you so scenario at all. It is. It's a learning thing. I'm going to be able to show these guys what these snakes are going to be able to recover from in the future if we have more in similar scenarios. So, we just got big scabby ball. He's very bitey, so it is quite stressful. Once I get this out, he's going to be able to shut his mouth hell of a lot more comfortable.

[00:08:35]Oh, no way. Look, that was just a big dry hard scab. He's going to be able to shut his mouth completely. This is incredible. Look at that. All it is is a big [ __ ] Oh, guys. This is This is insane. You had to fight me and get covered in crash hair. That's not super antiseptic, is it? It's not super hygienic is the word I'm looking for. Now, I also need to be careful cuz this is a venomous snake.

[00:09:01]I've got lots of open cuts on my hand thanks to my goas. So, I need to be sure doesn't get any venom on anything.

[00:09:13]No way, guys. That was the other side.

[00:09:18]But that just popped out. That would be a relief. Oh, he's going to be able to shut his head properly.

[00:09:29]You guys have no idea how glad I am that I kept this snake alive. Now, that's going to give this guy an opportunity to now scab that up again, but without such a large like um a large scab, you know what I mean? Like, it's going to be able to heal properly. Finger starting to cramp up, so I'm going to go and chuck him back in his enclosure.

[00:09:54]A guys, this is like Australia's most endangered snake here. We're doing God's work. I tell you, God's work. This snake is not meant to be alive. Have a look at the two pieces of gunk that I pulled out. So that was in the left hand side and then this huge piece in the right hand side. Sorry. It's just this [ __ ] gunky crap. So we just needed to wait for this muscle and gunk to die off. And it just plucked out straight away. You can see the pus on there. So now over another couple weeks he's going to be able to heal again. It'll probably scab up again, but now properly. So, his head will start to pull back in how he's meant to. And he's got an eye. He's got an eye. He can see.

[00:10:38]I wasn't expecting that to go that well.

[00:10:40]So, this is why we're filming in the middle of the kitchen. I'm dressed like a dork with flat hair. But, who gives a [ __ ] We're going to save a broad-headed snake.

[00:10:49]I'm going to give him a drink. We'll see. I I'll see you when I see you. This is fantastic, guys. He's obviously going to be a little flustered after that, but you can see his head sitting better already. And then, sorry, I got a mouth full of chocolate. And that'll just continue to heal over the next week or two. There he is. He's actually just having a drink. I just filled up a tub of water and put him in. He's having a He's having a huge drink. That's going to be cracker for him. Yeah. So, I'll let him have his drink and then probably tomorrow morning I'll try try to get a bit of food into him.

[00:11:25]guys.

[00:11:27]Oh, water skiing. Last night, the unbelievable happened. The unimaginable.

[00:11:34]I still can't believe it. I have not been that happy, proud, stoked, over the moon in such a long time. Like, I can't remember. Like, I can't believe this.

[00:11:43]Our broadheaded snake has eaten. He has eaten. Oh my god. I'll show you the footage soon, but you guys are going to see how stoked I am. I had so many people telling me, "You're not going to get it to eat in care. If you do, you're going to have to catch a skink or a gecko." Which I wasn't happy with. I'm like, "No, this guy will eat rats. He will eat rodents." And he literally took it from the tongs. Ested up. Bang. Took it. Unfortunately, I missed that part because the rat was in my hand and I was trying to feed him. I got footage of him getting it down so perfectly, opening the mouth, realigning the jaw. This snake is just phenomenal. It sort of upsets me because I haven't documented the process all that well and it's such this is massive. Like this is massive.

[00:12:28]Like people said this snake needed to be euthanized and I was like no no I've rehabbed snakes in similar if not worse situations in the past and in only I'll have to check the exact time but only in 3 months this snake's back to eating.

[00:12:41]And I was happy to release him before he ate cuz I was confident I knew that he would be able to. But now he is eating.

[00:12:46]And that gives me 200% confidence in this snake going back to the wild. It is raining, so it ain't going back today. I am flabbergasted, over the moon. Yeah, like I was saying, I'm a bit upset I haven't documented this the greatest the whole way through. I've been quite slack with documenting the rehab rescues.

[00:13:06]Like, I've been doing them. I just haven't been in such a great headsp space to where I'm like, "Oh, I'm just going to I'm going to film what I do.

[00:13:13]I'm going to document." because I'm just like, "No, animals. The animal is number one priority. I don't need to film everything. I'm just going to focus on getting these animals back into health."

[00:13:22]But I need to start documenting things properly because it is so important for other people to see, for you guys to see, and for just the whole community to see how strong and resilient these animals are, even for vets and other rehabers to see what these animals can come back from, and to not unnecessarily euthanize not just snakes, but reptiles or animals in general. In hindsight, it's fine. And we have a healthy broad-headed snake eating. So, one rat into his belly. I'm stoked with that. I have no doubt he'll get another one probably next week. I'll let him digest that one. Poop it out. We know all that's working. I'll get another one into him. And then that snake is going to be ready to go back home, but not before a vet checked. I'll definitely get a full thorough vet check inspection over him with North Richmond. And they're so stoked. I've spoke to Hamish, one of the vets there, and he's so so happy. He wanted to give this snake a fighting chance. He wanted to give it the best chance possible. So, he's over the moon. Dr. Hamish, Dr. Harry, to have a look down there. North Richmond vet.

[00:14:22]Mickey Mouse. Any reptiles in Sydney?

[00:14:24]North Richmond vet. I'll make sure I get one more feed into him at least. So, he's got a nice full belly before he has to get back into hunting. But he, boy, can he hunt. He can see. He sees me from 10 meters away walking through my house.

[00:14:35]Goes back behind the background. He's climbing. Oh, it's just phenomenal what this snake can do. So, I haven't even shown you guys the footage yet. So, let's have a look at him eating. Guys, we've done it.

[00:14:47]We've bloody done it. He's frozen because he's very skittish. He doesn't like when I'm watching him. So, I was very reluctant to film him at all. I waited until he had it this far down to come over at all. He's still going to work it down, though.

[00:15:03]the first feed for a endangered broadheaded snake. And it's a rat. I had so many people tell me, "You're not going to get him feeding on rodents before you release him. They will only eat geckos. They'll only eat skinks. You need to get skinks." But I don't really I was not happy catching any of my local skinks and chucking them in. So, we've done it. He full struck. It's hard because I'm here on my own. I don't have anybody to film. But I'm definitely not going to release him with one feed in his belly. I'm going to get a second one in. So, I'll put the GoPro in there and then we can get that on footage of him striking and then eating it. This is incredible footage. This is just absolutely phenomenal. I'm upset I didn't I've not filmed this whole video that well. I've not documented everything the greatest, but that doesn't matter because this broad-headed snake, this endangered broad-headed snake is going to be returned to the wild in a matter of weeks. We'll get one more rat into him in a few days. A vet check and then straight back into the sandstone, the Blue Mountains.

[00:16:19]That is incredible.

[00:16:21]>> I'll show you guys something else pretty cool. Sorry, it's like 1:00 a.m. I'm tired. It's late in the wild.

[00:16:26]Broadheaded snakes, they like don't look too much. Behind me, the house of pigs die. The sandstone and rocks they'll go under has to be like this specific distance. It has to be perfect for them to they want to be touched. They want to be crammed in there. And that's what this guy does behind the background. And he's just gone and squeezed in. You can see this is where he spends his time.

[00:16:46]Look how smudged out he is where the rat is in his belly. I don't know how well you're going to be able to move around behind the background buddy. And yeah, this is obviously a hospital enclosure, so nothing crazy. Bit of puppy pads, some hides, and it's worked wonders for this dude. So, we'll get one more feed into him in a few days and then to the vet and then home.

[00:17:08]>> And look at that. You can tell how ecstatic I am from that and how well everything's operating. So, that's cracker. Have a look at him again when he eats and then after that, we'll get him to the vet and I'll see you guys with the next update. Guys, have a look at this.

[00:17:23]How good can this broadheaded snake climb? Look at him looking at me. He's not happy. That's what's been about. We are He's not happy. Oh, no. He's going to go back behind the background. I was just getting a bit of food out for him.

[00:17:37]No, don't go. Oh, good. He's stopping.

[00:17:39]He's stopping. That's good. It's been about a week and a half since he had his first two meals. He had the rat and then I found a dead common scaly foot the next night. So, I'll put the tail in cuz the tail had come off and he smashed that. So, I'm going to see if I can get one more rat into him, seeing as it's been a week. And then if he gets two rats into him, I'm going to be so so happy getting him back out into the wild. A few little bits of poo. Just ignore that. I'm trying not to disturb him. So, that video in itself just there was fantastic. It shows how well he can climb. As soon as he saw me, he sed up.

[00:18:11]I was hoping he'd sit up there so we'd be able to see him strike and grab the food, but of course he jumped down and tried to retreat back exactly where he hides from me. He senses it firing like crazy. You never know anything happened to this snake. Now I'm going to try and get a rat into him and I want to try and get the whole process on video this time. So I'll set my camera up in there.

[00:18:31]There's a few little spots of poo in there. Just ignore those. It's on the puppy pad. I haven't had a chance to clean up and I try not disturb them all that much. See if we can get some food in them. I did just disturb him and he's very skinny, so I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't me.

[00:18:45]>> All righty, here goes nothing.

[00:18:48]Like I said, there's a few poos I haven't had a chance to clean up, especially after he ate. Going to be a little bit scared, but it' be good if we can get the whole thing. If I wiggled it here, I reckon he'd take it, but we'll try and get the whole thing on video.

[00:19:02]So, just cuz it's fantastic to document.

[00:19:06]A phenomenal phenomenal thing to have happened.

[00:19:25]>> I'm going to walk away cuz I keep spooking him. I'm turning the light off.

[00:19:29]Walk away while he gets it down.

[00:19:32]Hopefully the DJI will get enough on footage and then I'll come back once it's halfway down his go. Seeking his venom in securing his prey, securing the kill before he gets it down into his gulp. Look at the patterns, the colors on this stunning snake.

[00:19:54]That'll be right. I just went and had a shower because he was taking ages to put it the right way. I was like, I'll have a quick 5 minute shower and then he'll have it going down the gob. But of course, I get back from the shower and he's already finished it. But that's a good sign. He got it the right way around. Finished his meal. Jaws realigned. He's singing up. He'll be as defensive as ever for a big rat in his belly. And that is one happy, very full, broadheaded snake. See the rat in him there? It's already worked down. Are you going to fit behind after your big meal, my dude?

[00:20:29]getting stuck. The rat's getting stuck where he Oh yeah, you're a little bit fatter now, aren't you, buddy? That's okay. We saw the start of the feet. Of course, he went behind.

[00:20:41]Just my luck. Oh my god, he's actually getting stuck. He's too fat.

[00:20:47]That's just my luck. The first time I fed him, I filmed the second half and missed the start. This time I filmed the start and missed the second half. But it's not off. I can't remember what I said last time. my memory does not exist anymore. But it's not often I get very happy and very proud of myself and this is one of the best achievements I think really to I mean all the rescues and rehabs I'm contributing to conservation which is my main thing. My passion with the whole reptiles is helping injured ones returning to the wild conservation protection. I've got to say I'm proud of myself for this which does not happen very often for anything. How do I say this? Even more proud of me. I am very extremely proud of this snake. Look how fat that he is. He can't get in there.

[00:21:30]Phenomenal. Phenomenal outcome. No one thought it was possible. 2 weeks he's now had two fuzzy rats and a big scaly foot legless lizard tail. I'll give him 3 4 days before he poos. Then we're going to take him to the vet, North Richmond vet, for one final checkover.

[00:21:46]And I also want to show them the outcome. They're going to be over the moon. Michelle, the owner there, she's actually worked with a lot of broadheads. She's put trackers in them before. She's worked with Pet One. So, yeah, it's just going to be phenomenal.

[00:21:56]Phenomenal to go down, show these guys what this little snake has been capable of doing. And it's about 100 a.m. and I've got to get up early. So, I'm going to hit the hay. And I'm sure that snake's going to if he can get his fat little ass through the hole. The next time I see you guys, we'll be I think we'll be heading to the vet. Well, I'll see you there.

[00:22:18]All righty, guys. It has been about a week and a half to two weeks. Our broad-headed snake has now had not one but two rats as well as the back end of a common scaly foot which I found do on the road. That's perfect. That's more what he would eat out in the wild reptiles and geckos. Geckos common scaly foot. It's a gecko pigod cuz their main food source out in the sandstone escarment is the less velvet gecko. So he would have absolutely loved that. His belly is nice and full. He's full of energy. His back fighting strong. Jaws looking good. Everything just looks fantastic. If you spotted this snake out in the wild, you would not think there was anything wrong with him. It's incredibly reactive, incredibly fast, incredibly food respondent. It's phenomenal. It's unbelievable. This is I think because of the scale of the snake, it's probably the most crazy recovery.

[00:23:10]Oh, I know. You know, guys know what I'm saying. Like, it's an awesome awesome recovery. Awesome story. But taking the cake is still the diamond python which basically had exactly what the broady had smashed that mouth. They had a big chunk of muscle coming out of his head.

[00:23:23]And we we repaired that guy. We got him eating too. He ate a big pawsome before he went home. Yeah, those two were just massive. Massive. Oh, even the eastern brown that had the stick up like that through the bottom of the jaw, top of the jaw, into the eye. That's that's massive recovery as well. The the list goes on. So anyway, it's high up there on my list. So we're about to run down to North Richmond Vet League. Should be seeing Dr. Hamish. Dr. Harry's going to come in, have a look, whoever's free first. And we're going to have a real extensive look at this broadheaded snake. They're going to document it.

[00:23:53]They're going to use it as a reference for future for different snakes, different animals which come in. Um, what kind of care, what things they need, what these animals can recover from, getting entire health check, eyes, mouth, body, size, everything. It's also going to be a little reference, a little document of what we can work with in the future. Now, we're going to head down now and um let's get the road started to getting this broadheaded snake back into the escarment where she belongs.

[00:24:23]Unbelievable.

[00:24:25]>> He's used to um yourself.

[00:24:30]>> He's long, but he's smallish.

[00:24:32]>> Like he's big for a broadie. There he is.

[00:24:39]>> He's more lively than last.

[00:24:40]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:24:47]There we are.

[00:24:49]>> Can you see how See what I mean? It kind of shifts a bit to the >> Yeah. Even when he eats, see that just in front of my finger there. So when he eats, that lifts up, but then it goes back into place.

[00:24:59]>> Okay. Yeah, I think that looks right.

[00:25:01]>> Yeah.

[00:25:01]>> Yeah.

[00:25:05]>> Goes back and looks looks good.

[00:25:07]>> It's like a miss.

[00:25:10]>> Yeah. It feels like phone for sure.

[00:25:12]>> Cuz even I was looking at the picture.

[00:25:14]Even this eye here, it was all it was all messed up. But that's come like full again. This eye here.

[00:25:21]>> Head for sure. His enclosure is like in my living room. If I walk in, he's out way. He flies into um he goes behind the background.

[00:25:30]>> Yeah.

[00:25:30]>> Like he's just so reactive.

[00:25:32]>> It seems functional enough that I feel like he should be all right. Should be out in the wild. Like it looks like he can eat and move on.

[00:25:38]>> It's probably good enough for release.

[00:25:40]>> Yeah. Yeah, especially cuz it's abroad in there. They're walk, right? You know, they're really >> Look at that. Look at that sun in the sky. It is a beautiful, beautiful early autumn day here in the Blue Mountains, just off of Bell's Liner Road in an undisclosed location on the edge of some sandstone escarment. The perfect habitat for an endangered broadheaded snake.

[00:26:06]Now, we are out here today in the search for the perfect release location for the coming nights as our broad-headed snake is just about ready to head on back home. I just met up with the fellas who found this snake and the pin was just around that bend there, but there was not much escarment. So, we found this snake in summer. In the spring through to the summer, in the warmer months, non-breeding females and males will move into adjacent woodlands from the sandstone escarment. right where this state was founded. It's all real woodland. There was sandstone outcrops and whatnot, but not the actual escarment where these guys move into in winter, which is what we're looking for now. So, in the winter, they'll go into the sandstone where they can regulate their temperatures through the colder seasons much more sufficiently. So, I'm just having a little bit of a trudge down here to find the perfect perfect spot.

[00:26:59]This is a good marker. This nice dead tree here makes 100% complete sense.

[00:27:04]Well, there's broadheaded snakes here.

[00:27:06]Have a look at this beautiful escarment running down the mountain. Rock on rock, untouched habitat. This is not a place where people are coming and removing rock. People are not coming. Ah, horsely. Kids are not coming. Oh, copper tails. Notice kids are not coming here and throwing rock off cliffs and whatnot. This is untouched habitat.

[00:27:29]Perfect. Perfect for our broadheaded snake where he or she would have spent their entire life thus far. And I am pretty damn chafted that this is going to be our location. Now, I was just having a chat with the fellow that did find this snake. Do a little bit of an interview with him when we bring this snake up for release. Find out how they found the snake, what they were feeling, what they thinking. Because look, they were going to do what's best for the snake, which really was like, do we put this thing out of its misery? like this is pretty banged up. One of the fellas had actually watched my videos and seen what these animals can recover from. So he reached out to me and we did what we did best. Rehabilitate and return our native reptiles back into the wild. So just look through there. Rock on rock tessillations. Perfect. It's just all along the escarment here. If he doesn't like how high we bring him, he can work his way down lower and it's just steps.

[00:28:24]It's just steps till he can get back to where he perfectly needs to be. Get a few more less velvet geckos into his belly.

[00:28:32]What is this?

[00:28:38]Ah, these horse flies, man.

[00:28:42]What on earth? That's like That's pig.

[00:28:49]That's pig skin. Yeah, he can get a few more less velvet geckos into his belly before he really really bunkers down for the winter in another few months. This is a cracking cracking time for him to be released. To be fair, he's probably not complaining. He hasn't had to worry about predators for the last couple months. And he's also gotten a few easy free feeds of rats.

[00:29:13]How cool. Look at that.

[00:29:16]This is perfection. This is why we do it. And I cannot wait. Cannot wait for the perfect night in the next few nights to return the endangered broad-headed snake back into its home habitat. How good is that? I'm getting butterflies and goosebumps already.

[00:29:35]Guys, I'm just walking around this spot where I want to release the broady. I'm going to release the broady. And it just gets better and better like the further I go down the hill. Like, no wonder they're here. No wonder other snakes are here. No wonder this I rescued a quall here last time. No wonder there's qualls here. Like look at this.

[00:29:55]It just gets better and better. Look at the mark from the water running down.

[00:30:00]Sandstone on sandstone. And it's all untouched. Look at the crack through there. It's all untouched. Like look at the rock on rock. Rock on rock. That's perfect habitat. Rock on rock. It's never been touched. Never been touched.

[00:30:16]It's been there for probably since it fell from there a buddy million years ago. So the rocks these broadheaded snakes like they're actually like these perfect perfect rocks. Like they can fit in under and squeeze in really tightly.

[00:30:28]If they get moved, they don't like them.

[00:30:30]If they're a little bit too high, a little bit too tight. They don't like them. How he's been living in the enclosure. How he gets in behind the background. Yeah. Shows why they're out here in this piece of the world. E.

[00:30:40]Damn.

[00:30:44]Now what a spot, eh? I feel so good about the release now. Normally, you don't need to do that. You get a red belly or a brown snake, you're like, "Yeah, he can go into his general habitat and he's going to adapt well."

[00:30:54]The broady would adapt fine as well, but just being that extra special snake, I want to give him that extra bit of care, find the perfect perfect spot for him where he would have spent his entirety of his life before he made the silly decision to spend a little bit too much time on the road just on the bend there.

[00:31:13]I feel fantastic about this. I cannot wait to get him back out. And that will probably be the next time I see you guys.

[00:31:22]Let's go.

[00:31:38]>> All righty, guys. We are back out here with our broadheaded snake. Finally, we're back out in the escarment and we're out here with the savior Justin.

[00:31:46]How are you, mate?

[00:31:47]>> Hey, how you going?

[00:31:49]>> Almost.

[00:31:51]>> You're going to go in the rock with the broady.

[00:31:53]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:31:55]>> So, you actually found the snake, eh?

[00:31:57]>> I did. Yeah. Yeah. So, we were up here hering and we were just road cruising and um we seen him on the side of the road. So, we pulled over and I couldn't believe it. First broady. I hadn't found one.

[00:32:06]>> That was the first one you seen up here.

[00:32:08]>> Yeah. And then we realized that 5 minutes up the road.

[00:32:10]>> 5 minutes up the road, man. I've been looking for him for ages and um so we realized he'd been clipped by a car. So we're like, "Oh no." We thought he was dead cuz he wasn't moving. And then um another car pulled up to see if we're all right. Go, "Yeah, we've got an injured snake." And he's like, "What?

[00:32:24]What is it?" I said, "A brought." And he's going, "Oh, what?"

[00:32:26]>> Yeah.

[00:32:26]>> So he's pulled over and he's jumped out.

[00:32:28]Turns out he knows you.

[00:32:29]>> Oh, that was Zank.

[00:32:30]>> Zank?

[00:32:31]>> Mad guy.

[00:32:32]>> What did he do? He hung out with you for a bit and then gave me a call type thing.

[00:32:35]>> Yeah. So we were sort of sitting there deciding what to do with him cuz he did not look good.

[00:32:38]>> Yeah. and he started moving and we were like, we're just going to don him on the head and put him out of his misery. But >> a lot of the time, especially with injuries like that, that's the best thing to do. Like this thing was mangled. Hey, like it was bad. You guys would have seen it already in the video.

[00:32:53]It was bad.

[00:32:54]>> Yeah. And like he had all the muscle tissue out the sides of his mouth popping out and he just didn't look good. And we were like, "No, we're just going to put him out of his misery." And in the 5 minutes or so that we were standing around talking about what to do, it started moving away. It started taking off back into the bush. We were like, "What the hell?

[00:33:09]>> What's going on here?"

[00:33:10]>> So, he gave you a call and >> I had it overnight, didn't it? Yeah.

[00:33:15]>> And I bought it out the next morning and it's >> it's even more lively.

[00:33:19]>> More lively, more wiry coming back.

[00:33:21]Yeah.

[00:33:21]>> Yeah. Unbelievable with the shape it was in.

[00:33:24]>> It's ridiculous how hardy these animals are. Like this thing, like its head, its head was run over.

[00:33:29]>> Yeah. It was squished.

[00:33:30]>> Like squished. Squashed, destroyed, busted open. And yeah, when they got that little bit of life in them, it's good to give them a chance. I think you mentioned you'd seen Did you see the diamond python?

[00:33:40]>> That's that's what came to mind. I was like, well, that diamond python's head got run over.

[00:33:44]>> Yeah. God, it was probably about 12 months ago. I had a diamond python was run over. Very, very, very similar injuries. Obviously with a bigger snake, a little bit easier to rehab than a head that's that big, but it was pretty much the exact same scenario.

[00:33:56]>> Just squished head. Yeah.

[00:33:58]>> Yeah. But I'll tell you what, I'm so keen for you to see what this looks like now. I I'm keen as I haven't seen him since that that day. So, >> you'll probably think it's just I went and got a new snake.

[00:34:11]>> But yeah, we'll get him open and um you guys have been along for the ride. So, um you guys know exactly what he looks like. But >> even since I last saw you guys, I hung on to him for a little longer than I was initially going to just cuz he was eating so well. I was like, I may as well keep him for another week or two and just fill him up with food because it is autumn right now. Obviously, autumn, winter, it's getting colder. So, I thought if we can get as much food into his belly as possible, it's going to be best. I have no qualms for this guy. His tongue's working, his senses are working, his eyesight, he's going to be out here smashing leisure geckos, skinks, everything he can before winter hits. I have absolutely no qualms with that. But even if he doesn't, it doesn't matter because he is absolutely full on rodents. All righty. You ready? Oh, yeah.

[00:35:00]Whoa.

[00:35:03]I didn't even see him come out there.

[00:35:05]>> That's a new snake.

[00:35:08]>> He's not going to want to curl up cuz he's like, "This is freedom. I'm home."

[00:35:12]He knows he's back home and he wants to keep going. Look at how lively that is.

[00:35:15]I really want him to sort of curl up so you can have a nice close look at the head there. Come have a look.

[00:35:24]>> Man, that is unreal.

[00:35:26]>> It's like nothing's even happened.

[00:35:28]>> These guys are so unreal. What do you reckon? Eh, crazy.

[00:35:32]>> That is insane.

[00:35:34]Wow.

[00:35:35]>> Even the eye when we first got him, like his eye was like ruptured. It was busted. Vision's good on both sides.

[00:35:41]Like the eyes like filled back up. It's not ruptured or anything. The only thing a little bit strange is see that bone in the back of his head on that side there.

[00:35:51]>> Yeah. So, it's just a little bit prominent. I think I filmed feeding this guy like little mice the last couple of weeks. So, I gave him hopper mice, like big ones.

[00:35:59]>> Oh, dude, if he's getting those down, >> he was getting hopper mice down where he was opening his whole mouth like a python almost. And he was getting that down. It's no issues, no bleeding, no dramas at all. This is Oh, this is awesome, man.

[00:36:13]>> That is sick. That makes me happy.

[00:36:16]>> I was so gutted that night. This is sick.

[00:36:19]>> And it's easily like the biggest Broady I've ever seen. The thing's like two times bigger than one I've ever seen before. So, now that this gu is back out in the wild, where you are, there we go.

[00:36:28]He's getting cranky now. Now that this guy's back out in the wild. Look at that mouth opening. He's getting cranky at me. He's ready to go and smash some Le's velvet geckos. Now, I don't want to hold him up too long. I've already held him up for about 4 months. So, I'm going to send him straight into this sandstone escarment here. He can hide from my big ugly head and then he's going to come out tonight. It is autumn now. So, over the next few weeks, we've still got nice warm days, some warmish nights. She'll search for a home that she's going to hold on to for the winter. She'll search for that perfect sandstone rock on rock where she'll curl up and spend the winter. But for now, we'll send her up into here away from us. This is out of this world. This is one of the best things I've ever done. Couldn't have done it without you, Justin.

[00:37:11]>> A cheers, man. I appreciate it.

[00:37:13]>> It's show It's a big team effort. Like, if anyone else come and found him, like they wouldn't have called it in. You wouldn't have even stopped for it.

[00:37:20]>> Yeah. A lot of people don't.

[00:37:21]>> A lot of people don't. Yeah. We'll send him up in there. Eh, I'd love some close-ups of him, but he just wants to go on his way. So, I think that's what we'll do. All righty. Oh, I'll build a connection with her. Don't want to see her go.

[00:37:37]>> Off you go, my girl. Oh, she can feel that sun on the sandstone. I've let go of you. She thinks I'm still hanging on to her. There she goes.

[00:37:56]Oh, >> and she'll just disappear into that sandstone.

[00:38:00]>> Oh, it's like I've lost a piece of me right now. How cool is that? And she is gone. Hopefully to never see a human or a car again.

[00:38:12]Imagine how to look in there. Latches onto me nose. Can actually see her right in there.

[00:38:18]How good is that?

[00:38:19]>> That's unreal. Absolutely legend, mate.

[00:38:21]Thank you. Thank you.

[00:38:23]>> That's sick.

[00:38:24]>> Oh yeah. Big team effort from me to Justin to Zank to the vets. Anyone that's helped along the way, anyone that's reached out. This is just this is what it's all about. This is how you save the endangered broadheaded snake.

[00:38:40]You bring these guys back into the wild.

[00:38:42]This is what we're out here doing. This is what it's all about. How good is that?

[00:38:51]Sick. And guys, how is that? How is that for timing? The sun setting in the distance, warming up, holding the warmth in this sandstone escarment. Unlimited hideyholes, unlimited food sources, untouched by man. Exactly where this snake would have originally come from.

[00:39:11]Belly full of rats to last her the winter. and she's not going to have any any issues. I am just over the moon. I actually just hurt my back. I was filming something for Instagram and fell down a rock. How ridiculous. Oh my god.

[00:39:24]Well, I hurt my back at the gym this morning, but I just fell down a rock again. I made it even worse. It's like my tailbone. Then do I have any massuses on here? But uh we've already said goodbye to Justin. Justin run up the hill. And this whole this whole project, this whole lifesaving project would not have been possible if it wasn't for Justin. Also, Zank, who was not here right now. The fact that those two reached out and we did what he did is just phenomenal. Putting that suspected female broadheaded snake back into the wild gives this population just a huge, huge chance. These snakes only breed every couple of years and they don't have the largest clutches of babies. So hopefully she'll spend the winter in there. She obviously didn't breed last season otherwise I would have had some babies pop out in the enclosure.

[00:40:12]Hopefully she'll spend the winter in there. She'll rise in the spring. she can start mating and she can bring some babies back into the world and do her part in protecting, saving, and extending the lives of the endangered broad-headed snake. And what a feeling it is, guys. This is this is what it is all about. Returning these snakes into the wild. We can't afford to take these snakes from the wild. We can't afford to injure and not help these snakes. They all need to be in the wild. And that doesn't just go for broadheads. This goes for every species.

[00:40:47]Lace oners, red bellies, brown snakes, tiger snakes. These animals desert wide where they belong. There is no better feeling than saving, rehabilitating, putting endless time, money into these animals and it paying off, paying off in such a large way as this. And I cannot wait to share this with you guys. I cannot wait for you guys to see what these animals can recover from. I can't wait for people to learn from this video to see what these animals can recover from. I cannot wait for people to see that potentially these animals do not need euthanizing. They can come into care, a bit of rehab, and they can be released. They got the fight in them.

[00:41:24]They got the dog.

[00:41:27]They do not go down without a fight. But I don't think I'll end the video there.

[00:41:31]I think I'll do a little recap at home once this whole video is put together because this is so so important and I'd love to touch on anything I haven't touched on yet. So, jump in the blue beast. We don't have the purple people eat anymore. We got the blue beast with the fish tank. And I'll head home, get some grub, and I'll see you in 3 seconds.

[00:41:54]Okay, I cannot thank you guys for hanging around this long. I need to apologize. The video was about four times longer than I was expecting it to be. And watching it back, I think I repeated myself about a million times.

[00:42:06]So hopefully I didn't drive you guys insane. Hopefully you enjoyed it.

[00:42:10]Hopefully you took away some valuable knowledge that's able to be shared, utilized to better protect our animals in the future, just like our diamond python video obviously did. The whole reason that they reached out with this broad-headed snake. Think everything was covered. I think we covered literally everything in this video. just the importance of conservation, looking after our animals and what they can recover from. So, as always, I want to thank you guys so so much for coming along for the ride. Make sure you subscribe. I think anyone hanging around this long is probably already subscribed. We're in the top hype every single week. One week YouTube's just going to go, it's got to it's got to come on YouTube. But no, I appreciate you guys like tremendously. I hope this is something you enjoyed. I really want to start documenting the rescue rehabs more often because this is my roots.

[00:42:57]This is what I'm passionate about. This is what I love. Saving, rehabilitating, returning these animals to the world.

[00:43:03]Conservation, that's my number one. That is my passion. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it. I'll see you next week. Most likely a herping Sydney video. Got cutting cam skinks, diamond pythons, and I go snorkeling. I've never been snorkeling, so yeah, it's a bit of a crack up, but again, thank you guys. I'm chuffed. I'm over the moon. What an experience. What an outcome. Thank you.

[00:43:24]Apologies for the length and the repetition. I'll see you guys next week.