Slender Blind Snakes

The Slender Blind Snakes (Leptotyphlopidae) or thread snakes are a family of snakes found in North America, South America, Africa, and Asia. They are all fossorial, burrowing animals that eat termites and ants. There are two known subfamilies. Leptotyphlopids are relatively small snakes; only Trilepida macrolepis and Leptotyphlops occidentalis can reach greater than 30 cm.

There are no teeth in the top jaw, and the cranium and upper jaws are both immovable. A significantly lengthened quadrate bone, a little compound bone, and a moderately large dentary bone make up the lower jaw. The body is cylindrical, and it has a short tail and a blunt head. The scales have a very high polish. They are shielded from termite attack by the pheromones they emit. Leptotyphlopids occur in a wide variety of habitats from arid areas to rainforests and are known to occur near ant and termite nests. Leptotyphlopids mostly consume termite or ant larvae, pupae, and adults in their meals. The majority of species remove the exoskeleton from insect bodies before sucking out the contents. Leptotyphlopidae snakes are oviparous snakes.