Snake Identifier

Snake Encyclopedia

Search and identify 1,000+ snakes from around the world — with family, range, size, habitat, and how to tell similar species apart.

Western Fox Snake

Western Fox Snake

A stout, tan-and-brown blotched constrictor of the Midwest prairies, sometimes mistaken for a rattlesnake due to tail vibration.

Gopher Snake

Gopher Snake

A large, powerfully built colubrid often mistaken for a rattlesnake due to its hissing and tail-vibrating display.

Marbled Sea Snake

A small sea snake specialized for feeding on fish eggs rather than active prey.

Striped Harlequin Snake

A small, striped southern African elapid closely related to the spotted harlequin snake, distinguished by longitudinal stripes rather than spots.

Calabar Burrowing Python

Calabar Burrowing Python

A stout, secretive burrowing snake of West and Central Africa whose blunt tail mimics its head.

Montane Egg-eater

Montane Egg-eater

A small African snake specialized entirely for eating bird eggs, found in highland and montane habitats of East and Central Africa.

Ringed Snail-eater

Ringed Snail-eater

An alternate name for the boldly ringed Central American snail-eating snake, distinguished by its complete encircling bands of color.

Pacific Gopher Snake

Pacific Gopher Snake

A large, heavy-bodied colubrid of the Pacific coast known for its loud hiss and tail-vibrating display that often leads to mistaken identity as a rattlesnake.

Eastern Kingsnake

Eastern Kingsnake

A glossy black snake marked with narrow chain-like yellow or white bands, famed for preying on other snakes.

Calabar Boa

Calabar Boa

A cylindrical, burrowing boa-like snake from West and Central Africa with a distinctive blunt tail used to confuse predators.

West African Egg-eater

West African Egg-eater

An egg-specialist snake from West and Central African forests, notable for its ability to swallow eggs many times the width of its head.

Southern Durango Spotted Garter Snake

Southern Durango Spotted Garter Snake

A montane garter snake from the pine-oak forests of southern Durango, distinguished by a spotted rather than striped dorsal pattern.

Banded Sea Krait

Banded Sea Krait

A distinctive black-and-pale banded sea snake that comes ashore to rest, digest, and lay eggs, unlike fully aquatic sea snakes.