Snake Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ snakes from around the world — with venomous status, family, range, size, habitat, and how to tell look-alikes apart.
Anchieta's Cobra
A large, adaptable cobra of south-central Africa, closely related to the Egyptian and forest cobras and capable of considerable size.
Rubber Boa
A small, docile boa with loose, wrinkled skin resembling rubber, found at higher elevations and cooler climates than most other boas.
Sonoran Whipsnake
A slender, arboreal-inclined desert whipsnake with a striking olive-to-gray body and pale lateral stripes.
Puff Adder
A widespread, thick-bodied African viper responsible for more snakebite incidents than any other African species, largely due to its abundance and camouflage.
Neotropical Bird Snake
A fast, alert diurnal snake found from Central America to the Amazon, named for its habit of raiding bird nests for eggs and nestlings.
Texas Indigo Snake
A large, glossy blue-black to bronze-brown snake of South Texas brushland, closely related to the Eastern Indigo Snake.
Spotted Whip Snake
A fast, alert colubrid with a row of dark spots or blotches along its back, common in arid and semi-arid habitats across Central and Southwest Asia.
False Horned Viper
A desert viper of the Middle East that mimics true horned vipers with supraocular scale projections, but belongs to a distinct genus.
Variable Kingsnake
A wide-ranging, highly variable kingsnake found from Mexico to Central America, showing diverse banding and color patterns across its range.
Red Diamond Rattlesnake
A large pinkish-red rattlesnake of Baja California and southern California, marked with bold diamond blotches.
Amur Rat Snake
A large, glossy black-and-yellow rat snake native to the temperate forests of the Russian Far East, China, and Korea, well adapted to cold winters.
McMahon's Viper
A stout, sand-dwelling true viper with an upturned snout adapted for burrowing in loose desert dunes.
Yellowbelly Water Snake
A plain, dark-backed water snake subspecies with a pale yellow belly, common in bottomland wetlands of the Mississippi Valley and Gulf states.
Copperhead Rattlesnake
Despite the informal name, a rattle-less pit viper with a distinctive coppery, hourglass-banded pattern found across the eastern US.
Western Worm Snake
A small, uniformly purplish-brown burrowing snake of the central plains, closely resembling its eastern relative.
Horned Adder
A small desert adder with a prominent single horn-like scale above each eye, well camouflaged against sandy soils.
Trans-Pecos Black-Headed Snake
One of the largest black-headed snakes, a slender tan species with a bold black hood found in West Texas canyon country.
Indian Rock Python
A large, powerful constrictor native to the Indian subcontinent, historically significant in local culture and folklore.
Northwestern Garter Snake
A small, colorful, and highly variable garter snake common in gardens and forests of the Pacific Northwest.
Western Brown Snake
A highly variable and widely distributed Australian elapid with potent venom, found across arid and semi-arid regions of the continent.
Mangrove Snake
A large, glossy black colubrid ringed with bright yellow bands, common in Southeast Asian wetlands and mangroves, with mild rear-fanged venom of little concern to humans.
Stripe-bellied Sand Snake
A fast, alert diurnal sand snake widespread across savanna Africa, distinguished by dark stripes running along its yellowish underside.
Mexican Burrowing Python
A rare, primitive burrowing snake from Mexico and Central America, the sole member of its own family and a close relative of true pythons.
Crowned False Boa
A slender reddish colubrid from South America named for a dark crown-like marking on its head.
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.
Louisiana Milk Snake
A small tricolor milk snake subspecies from the Gulf Coast region, featuring vivid red, black, and yellow-white banding.
Persian Whip Snake
A slender, fast-moving colubrid found across Iran and neighboring regions, typically marked with a subtle striped pattern and a pale yellowish underside.
Baron's Green Racer
A striking, boldly patterned racer of the dry Gran Chaco woodlands, prized for its variable red, black, and cream coloration.
Pygmy Rattlesnake
A small, secretive rattlesnake with a faint, buzzy rattle often described as insect-like.
Coachwhip
A slender, exceptionally fast-moving colubrid named for its braided, whip-like tail pattern.
Black-headed Centipede-eater
A small, secretive African burrower named for its glossy black head and its diet of centipedes.
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.
Algerian Whip Snake
A slender, fast-moving colubrid native to the Maghreb region of North Africa, closely related to the horseshoe whip snake.
Marsh Snake
A moderately common small elapid of moist eastern Australian habitats, often found near water and marshy ground.
North American Racer
A fast-moving, slender colubrid found across much of North America, known for its speed and alert, active behavior.
Crowned Snake
The largest of the crowned snakes, a secretive nocturnal elapid of eastern Australian forests, named for its pale head marking.
Little Whip Snake
One of Australia's smallest snakes, a slender nocturnal elapid found in grassland and woodland of the southeast.
Cape Thread Snake
A tiny, glossy burrowing thread snake of southern Africa that lives almost entirely underground, feeding on ants and termites.
New Guinea Carpet Python
A subspecies of carpet python native to southern New Guinea, sometimes classified as Morelia spilota harrisoni.
South American Bushmaster
The longest venomous snake in the Americas, a massive pit viper of Amazonian rainforest with a distinctive spined tail.
Berg Adder
A small mountain-dwelling viper of southern Africa notable for venom that primarily affects the nervous system, unusual among vipers.
Southern Rubber Boa
A small, smooth-skinned boa from southern California mountain ranges, closely related to the more widespread rubber boa.
Rough Green Snake
A slender, bright green colubrid with keeled scales, common in shrubs and vegetation near water across the southeastern US.
Beddome's Coral Snake
A small, secretive coral snake endemic to the rainforests of the Western Ghats in southern India, named after naturalist Richard Beddome.
Smooth Snake
A secretive, smooth-scaled European colubrid often mistaken for a viper, notable for constricting prey including other reptiles.
Long-Nosed Worm Snake
A small, worm-like blind snake found in the leaf litter and soil of Trinidad and adjacent parts of northern South America.
Balkan Whip Snake
A slender, fast-moving colubrid common across the Balkans, known for its alert temperament and rapid, jerky movements.
Fork-marked Sand Snake
A slender arid-zone sand snake named for the fork-shaped marking on its head, found across the dry western landscapes of southern Africa.