Snake Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ snakes from around the world — with family, range, size, habitat, and how to tell similar species apart.
Hemprich's Coral Snake
A monadal-patterned coral snake of the Amazon rainforest, named after the German naturalist Wilhelm Hemprich.
Herald Snake
A small, common African colubrid recognized by its reddish lips and flattening display.
Highland Copperhead
A cold-adapted Australian elapid found at higher elevations in the southeast, closely related to the lowland copperhead but occupying alpine and subalpine habitats.
Highland Garter Snake
A cold-tolerant garter snake found at high elevations in central Mexico's mountain grasslands and pine forests.
Himalayan Keelback
A small mountain-dwelling colubrid found along streams and moist habitats in the Himalayan foothills.
Himalayan Pit Viper
A cold-adapted pit viper found at high elevations across the Himalayas, among the highest-altitude snakes in Asia.
Hognose Snake
A theatrical, upturned-snouted colubrid famous for its dramatic bluffing displays, including hood-flattening, hissing, and playing dead.
Honduran Milk Snake
One of the largest milk snakes, native to Central America and known for its wide, vivid banding.
Hooded Malpolon
A large, fast snake of the western Mediterranean known for its hood-like display, closely related to the Eastern Montpellier snake.
Hook-Nosed Sea Snake
A sea snake found in murky coastal and estuarine waters across the Indo-Pacific, notable for its distinctive hooked snout.
Horned Adder
A small desert adder with a prominent single horn-like scale above each eye, well camouflaged against sandy soils.
Horseshoe Pit Viper
A pit viper of the Western Ghats named for horseshoe-shaped markings on its head.
Horseshoe Whip Snake
A slender, patterned colubrid named for the horseshoe-shaped marking on the back of its head, found across southern Iberia and North Africa.
Hump-Nosed Pit Viper
A small pit viper of southern India and Sri Lanka, notable for its upturned, hump-like snout.
Hundred-Pace Viper
A distinctively patterned pit viper of southern China and Taiwan, popularly named for folklore about a hundred paces.
Iberian Grass Snake
A water-associated colubrid endemic to the Iberian Peninsula and parts of northwestern Africa, closely related to other grass snakes.
Ijima's Turtle-Headed Sea Snake
An egg-eating sea snake from the Ryukyu Islands with a blunt, turtle-like head.
Indian Cobra
A cobra of the Indian subcontinent, famous for the spectacle-like marking on its hood and its role in traditional snake charming.
Indian Egg-eating Snake
A rare, highly specialized colubrid from India adapted almost exclusively to eating bird eggs.
Indian Flying Snake
A slender, golden-patterned tree snake famous for its ability to glide between trees by flattening its body into a concave shape.
Indian Python
A large python native to the Indian subcontinent, one of the largest snakes in Asia and a species of conservation concern.
Indian Rat Snake
One of the largest and most commonly encountered snakes in South Asia, a fast-moving diurnal hunter that plays a major role in controlling rodent populations.
Indian Rock Python
A large, powerful constrictor native to the Indian subcontinent, historically significant in local culture and folklore.
Indian Sand Boa
A robust, two-headed-looking burrowing boa from South Asia, prized historically for folklore and traditional beliefs about its blunt tail.
Indian Smooth Snake
A small, secretive colubrid found across drier parts of India, rarely encountered due to its fossorial habits.
Indigo Snake
The longest native snake in the United States, glossy blue-black and known for its calm demeanor.
Indo-Chinese Rat Snake
A slender, fast-moving rat snake widespread across Southeast Asia and southern China, closely related to the larger Indian rat snake.
Indochinese Spitting Cobra
A mottled gray-and-black spitting cobra common across mainland Southeast Asia, frequently encountered in and around rural villages.
Inland Carpet Python
A carpet python subspecies adapted to the drier inland regions of southeastern Australia, with a subdued olive-and-cream blotched pattern.
Inland Taipan
A reclusive Australian elapid of remote arid regions.
Island Lancehead
A rare, small island-endemic pit viper found only on Alcatrazes Island off the coast of Brazil, closely related to the Golden Lancehead.
Jamaican Boa
Jamaica's largest native snake, a constrictor known locally as the 'yellow snake' for its coloration, and considered vulnerable due to introduced predators.
Jameson's Mamba
A green, forest-dwelling mamba of Central and West Africa, distinguished from other green mambas by a dark blue-black tail tip.
Japanese Coral Snake
A small, secretive coral snake endemic to the subtropical Ryukyu Islands of Japan, patterned with reddish-brown bands.
Japanese Four-lined Rat Snake
A common Japanese rat snake marked with four dark longitudinal stripes running the length of its body, frequently seen in fields and gardens.
Japanese Mamushi
A small pit viper widespread across Japan.
Japanese Rat Snake
A common, blue-green to olive rat snake native to Japan, historically regarded as a benevolent house guardian in Japanese folklore.
Jararaca
A widespread South American pit viper important pharmacologically, as compounds isolated from it led to the development of ACE inhibitor drugs.
Jararacussu
One of the largest South American lanceheads, a heavy-bodied forest pit viper.
Jasper Cat Snake
A slender cat snake with a marbled, jasper-like pattern, found in the lowland forests of Southeast Asia.
Java File Snake
A fully aquatic file snake covered in rough, granular scales, found in the rivers and estuaries of Java and the surrounding Southeast Asian region.
Javan Spitting Cobra
A dark, glossy spitting cobra endemic to Java, Bali, and nearby Indonesian islands, closely related to the equatorial spitting cobra.
Javelin Sand Boa
A stocky, sand-dwelling boa found from the Balkans and North Africa through the Middle East, named for its pointed, javelin-like snout.
Jayapura Green Tree Python
A northern New Guinea locality of the green tree python from the coastal hills around Jayapura, the provincial capital of Papua.
Jerdon's Pit Viper
A high-altitude pit viper of the eastern Himalayas and adjacent hill country, marked with bold black and yellow banding.
Jumping Pit Viper
A stout, heavy-bodied terrestrial pit viper known for its rapid, forceful strikes that can propel part of its body off the ground.
Jungle Carpet Python
A vividly patterned carpet python subspecies from Queensland's Wet Tropics, known for bold black-and-yellow contrasting markings.
Kanburian Pit Viper
A rare, range-restricted green pit viper known primarily from the Kanchanaburi region of western Thailand.