The new release date announcement clip on the official spore site says September 7th, 2008.

Years ago a friend of mine returned from a trip with a small stash of various fireworks - a novelty here in southern California, where such things are banned - and I distinctly remember one of the fireworks being a small tablet that would produce one of these snakes when lit. I just did a quick search for them and it looks like they're still readily available if you don't feel like sorting out the chemicals to make your own; just search for "snake fireworks".