Snake Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ snakes from around the world — with family, range, size, habitat, and how to tell similar species apart.
Puff Adder
A widespread, thick-bodied African viper, largely camouflaged and abundant.
Pygmy Rattlesnake
A small, secretive rattlesnake with a faint, buzzy rattle often described as insect-like.
Radde's Mountain Viper
A heavy-bodied highland viper of the Caucasus and eastern Anatolia, named after the naturalist Gustav Radde, and closely tied to the same species complex as the Armenian viper.
Rainforest Hognosed Pit Viper
A small, well-camouflaged terrestrial pit viper of Central and South American rainforests, named for its upturned snout.
Red Adder
A recently described small viper with reddish coloration, endemic to mountain ranges of South Africa's Cape region.
Red Diamond Rattlesnake
A large pinkish-red rattlesnake of Baja California and southern California, marked with bold diamond blotches.
Redtail Bamboo Pit Viper
A slender green bamboo pit viper of South and Southeast Asia, named for the reddish tail found in many individuals.
Rhinoceros Viper
A strikingly patterned African viper with distinctive horn-like scales on its snout, known for stunning geometric coloration.
Rhombic Night Adder
A widespread African viper named for the diamond-shaped blotches along its back.
Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake
A small, secretive rattlesnake of isolated 'sky island' mountain ranges, named for a distinctive ridge along its snout.
Rock Mamushi
A rock-dwelling pit viper native to the Korean Peninsula, closely resembling other regional mamushis.
Rock Rattlesnake
A small, boldly banded rattlesnake of rocky mountain habitats along the US-Mexico borderlands.
Rough-Scaled Bush Viper
A striking arboreal viper covered in unusually long, upturned, spine-like scales that give it a shaggy, bristly appearance.
Ruby-Eyed Green Pit Viper
A green pit viper of southern Indochina known for its distinctive ruby-red eyes.
Russell's Viper
One of Asia's best-known vipers, known for its striking chain-like pattern.
Sabah Pit Viper
A green pit viper found in the forests of Sabah in northern Borneo.
Sahara Horned Viper
A desert-dwelling viper famous for the small horn-like projections above its eyes, well camouflaged against sand.
Sahara Sand Viper
A small, sand-colored desert viper often bearing distinctive hornlike scales above each eye, famous for its sideways "sidewinding" locomotion across loose dunes.
Saharan Sand Viper
A classic desert viper of North Africa, often depicted with distinctive horn-like scales above each eye and famed for its sidewinding tracks across dunes.
Sakishima Habu
A medium-sized pit viper endemic to the Sakishima Islands of southern Japan.
Sand Viper
One of the smallest vipers in the world, a tiny desert adder famous for its sideways locomotion across the dunes of the Namib.
Santa Catalina Island Rattlesnake
A critically endangered island endemic notable for lacking a functional rattle segment, making it unusually silent among rattlesnakes.
Saw-Scaled Viper
A small viper found across the Middle East and South Asia, notable for producing a distinctive rasping sound by rubbing its scales together.
Schultze's Pit Viper
A green pit viper endemic to the Philippines, named after the naturalist Schultze.
Seoane's Viper
A small viper endemic to the cool, humid northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, closely related to the common European adder.
Short-Tailed Mamushi
A short, stout pit viper closely related to the Japanese mamushi, found across East Asia.
Siamese Peninsula Pit Viper
A green pit viper of the Thai-Malay Peninsula, part of a complex of closely related arboreal pitvipers.
Side-striped Palm Pit Viper
A slender green arboreal pit viper of Central American cloud forests, marked with a pale lateral stripe.
Sidewinder
A small desert rattlesnake famous for its unique sideways locomotion, which minimizes contact with scorching sand.
Sind Saw-Scaled Viper
A small desert viper known for producing a distinctive rasping warning sound by rubbing its serrated scales together.
Slender Hognosed Pit Viper
A slender terrestrial pit viper of Pacific dry forest habitats in Central America, related to other hognosed pit vipers.
Snouted Night Adder
A small African night adder with an upturned snout, adapted for a burrowing, frog-hunting lifestyle.
Sochurek's Saw-Scaled Viper
A desert viper closely related to the Common Saw-Scaled Viper, recognized as a distinct species in some taxonomies.
South American Bushmaster
The longest viper in the Americas, a massive pit viper of Amazonian rainforest with a distinctive spined tail.
South American Rattlesnake
A widespread rattlesnake of South American savannas and open habitats.
Southern Copperhead
A common, well-camouflaged pit viper of southern woodlands with a cryptic pattern.
Southern Pacific Rattlesnake
A common rattlesnake of coastal and inland southern California, noted for its dark diamond blotches.
Speckled Rattlesnake
A desert-dwelling rattlesnake whose speckled coloration closely matches the rocky terrain it inhabits.
Spiny Bush Viper
A distinctive arboreal viper covered in long, spine-tipped scales that create a shaggy, thorny appearance.
Spot-Tailed Pit Viper
A slender green pit viper of peninsular India, distinguished by a distinctively marked, spotted tail.
Sri Lankan Green Pit Viper
A vividly colored green pit viper found only in Sri Lanka's forests and hill country, notable for striking eye coloration.
Sri Lankan Hump-Nosed Pit Viper
A small terrestrial pit viper of Sri Lanka and southern India, historically underestimated in medical significance despite its wide distribution.
Sri Lankan Pit Viper
A small, well-camouflaged pit viper.
Stejneger's Pit Viper
A widespread bright green arboreal pit viper common in bamboo forests and shrublands of East and Southeast Asia.
Sumatran Pit Viper
A large, striking green pit viper found in the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo, notable for its vivid coloration and arboreal lifestyle.
Taylor's Cantil
A distinctively patterned pit viper of northeastern Mexico, notable for its bright orange facial stripes.
Temple Pit Viper
A pit viper famous for the Malaysian temples where groups of these snakes are found coiled among the structures.
Terciopelo
A large pit viper found across Central America.