Snake Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ snakes from around the world — with family, range, size, habitat, and how to tell similar species apart.
Philippine Pit Viper
A slender arboreal pit viper endemic to the Philippines, variable in color from green to brown with yellow speckling.
Philippine Temple Pit Viper
A brightly patterned arboreal pit viper found across the Philippines and neighboring islands.
Pine Woods Snake
A small, secretive, yellowish-brown snake of pine flatwoods and hammocks in the southeastern coastal plain.
Pit Viper
A diverse group of vipers defined by heat-sensing facial pits, including rattlesnakes, copperheads, and Asian bamboo vipers.
Plain Tree Snake
A fast-moving, slender brown colubrid found in the forests of Central America and northwestern South America.
Plain-bellied Water Snake
A stout water snake with a plain, unpatterned belly ranging from yellow to orange, and a mostly uniform dorsal color as an adult.
Plains Black-Headed Snake
A small, secretive prairie snake with a plain tan body capped by a distinct black head and neck collar.
Plains Garter Snake
A grassland garter snake of the central Plains, typically showing a bright orange or yellow dorsal stripe on a dark body.
Pope's Pit Viper
A slender green pit viper of Southeast Asian forests, named after herpetologist Clifford Pope, and commonly encountered in hill and montane rainforest vegetation.
Portuguese Viper
A small viper of the Iberian Peninsula and northwestern Africa, recognizable by a soft nasal appendage similar to its close relatives.
Prairie Kingsnake
A secretive, moderately patterned kingsnake of grasslands and open woods, often mistaken for a young rat snake or gopher snake.
Prairie Rattlesnake
A widespread rattlesnake of the North American grasslands and high plains, well adapted to a broad range of elevations and cooler climates than many of its relatives.
Pueblan Milk Snake
A vividly banded milk snake native to south-central Mexico, known for its bold tricolor pattern.
Puerto Rican Boa
A large, nocturnal boa endemic to Puerto Rico, considered threatened due to habitat loss and historically classified as a federally listed species of concern.
Puff Adder
A widespread, thick-bodied African viper, largely camouflaged and abundant.
Puff-Faced Water Snake
A bold, patterned Southeast Asian water snake with a distinctive puffed facial appearance, common in ponds and waterways.
Pygmy Copperhead
The smallest of the copperhead species, restricted to a limited range in South Australia including Kangaroo Island.
Pygmy Coral Snake
A small monadal-pattern coral snake of the dry Chaco and Cerrado regions of southern South America.
Pygmy Mulga Snake
A smaller relative of the mulga snake, restricted to the rocky woodlands of northwestern Australia.
Pygmy Python
The world's smallest python species, a tiny constrictor restricted to a small region of northwestern Australia.
Pygmy Rattlesnake
A small, secretive rattlesnake with a faint, buzzy rattle often described as insect-like.
Queen Snake
A slender, semi-aquatic snake of clean, rocky streams that feeds almost exclusively on freshly molted crayfish.
Racer
A slender, fast-moving, sharp-eyed snake known for its speed.
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.
Radiated Rat Snake
A slender, fast-moving colubrid recognized by the radiating dark stripes across its head, common across South and Southeast Asian lowlands.
Rainbow Boa
A South American boa renowned for its iridescent sheen, which produces a shimmering rainbow effect in direct sunlight.
Rainbow Snake
A glossy, iridescent black snake with three bright red or pink stripes running the length of its body, closely tied to freshwater eel populations.
Rainforest Hognosed Pit Viper
A small, well-camouflaged terrestrial pit viper of Central and South American rainforests, named for its upturned snout.
Rat Snake
A large, fast-moving snake widespread across South and Southeast Asia, valued for controlling rodent populations.
Ravergier's Snake
A slender, fast-moving diurnal whip snake found across arid and semi-arid habitats from the eastern Mediterranean through the Caucasus into Central Asia.
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.
Red Milk Snake
A tricolor milk snake subspecies from the central US, known for its vivid red, black, and white/yellow banding that mimics coral snakes.
Red Pipe Snake
A glossy, burrowing pipe snake of Southeast Asia that flattens and raises its bright red-and-black banded tail to mimic a coral snake when threatened.
Red River Krait
A recently described krait from the Red River basin of northern Vietnam and southern China, banded black and white.
Red Sand Boa
A thick-bodied, burrowing boa with a blunt tail often mistaken for a second head, prized illegally in wildlife trafficking.
Red Spitting Cobra
A small, brightly colored East African cobra, typically salmon-red or orange with a black throat band.
Red Vine Snake
A slender, laterally compressed arboreal colubrid of the Amazon known for its striking red, black, and yellow banded pattern.
Red Whip Snake
A slender, reddish-toned whip snake found in arid regions of the Middle East, recognized by its fast movement and warm coloration.
Red-Bellied Black Snake
A glossy black elapid with a vivid red or pink belly, common near waterways in eastern Australia.
Red-Bellied Snake
A tiny woodland colubrid best known for its bright red or orange belly, common across eastern North America.
Red-Headed Krait
A large, vividly colored krait of Southeast Asian rainforests, notable for its glossy black body, bright red or orange head and tail, and thin blue vertebral stripe.
Red-Naped Snake
A small elapid with a distinctive reddish patch on the back of the neck, found across eastern Australia.
Red-Tailed Pipe Snake
A widespread Southeast Asian burrowing snake with a glossy black body and a vividly banded red-and-black tail used in threat display.
Red-necked Keelback
An Asian colubrid notable for the bright red-orange patch on its neck.
Red-tailed Racer
A slender, bright green arboreal snake from Southeast Asian rainforests, distinguished by the reddish-brown coloration of its tail contrasting with its emerald green body.
Redback Coffee Snake
A small, secretive leaf-litter snake with a distinctive reddish stripe down its back, common in Central American forests.
Redbelly Water Snake
A heavy-bodied water snake with a plain dark back and a bright reddish-orange belly, common along ponds and swamps of the American South.