Snake Identifier

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.

Yellowbelly Water Snake

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.

Mississippi Green Water Snake

Mississippi Green Water Snake

A stout, greenish water snake of Gulf Coast swamps and bayous, closely related to the Florida green water snake.

Narrow-Banded Shovel-Nosed Snake

Narrow-Banded Shovel-Nosed Snake

A small burrowing elapid characterized by narrow banding, found in arid interior regions of Australia.

Common Smooth-Scaled Water Snake

Common Smooth-Scaled Water Snake

A small, mildly venomous, aquatic colubrid common in the rice paddies, ponds, and waterways of Southeast Asia.

Black-necked Garter Snake

Black-necked Garter Snake

A garter snake of rocky canyon streams, easily identified by bold black neck blotches.

Western Patch-Nosed Snake

Western Patch-Nosed Snake

A slender, fast-moving desert snake named for the enlarged, shield-like scale covering the tip of its snout.

Mountain Patch-Nosed Snake

Mountain Patch-Nosed Snake

A slender striped snake of rocky foothills and mountain canyons, closely related to the Western Patch-Nosed Snake.

Southeastern Crowned Snake

Southeastern Crowned Snake

A small, secretive snake of the southeastern United States, recognized by its dark head cap and pale neck collar.

Dwarf Mexican Garter Snake

A small-bodied garter snake of the Sierra Madre Occidental in northwestern Mexico, notable for a dark nape marking.

Mexican Blackbelly Garter Snake

Mexican Blackbelly Garter Snake

A semi-aquatic garter snake from the Mexican Plateau notable for its dark, often solid black underside.

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.

Ijima's Turtle-Headed Sea Snake

Ijima's Turtle-Headed Sea Snake

A docile, egg-eating sea snake from the Ryukyu Islands with a blunt, turtle-like head and reduced venom apparatus.

Mitchell's Short-Tailed Snake

Mitchell's Short-Tailed Snake

A small, dark-headed elapid with a notably short tail, found across dry woodland of southeastern Australia.

Middle American Gopher Snake

Middle American Gopher Snake

A Mexican highland gopher snake species with a striking pattern of dark blotches on a pale background, found in the central plateau region.

Northern Dwarf Crowned Snake

A small, rarely observed crowned snake restricted to the wet tropics of far north Queensland, distinguished by its pale head marking.

Mexican Alpine Blotched Garter Snake

Mexican Alpine Blotched Garter Snake

A high-altitude garter snake from central Mexico's volcanic peaks, marked by a ladder-like blotched pattern rather than clean stripes.

Trans-Pecos Black-Headed Snake

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.

Chiapas Highland Garter Snake

A small, striped garter snake endemic to the cool highland streams and cloud forests of Chiapas, Mexico, and neighboring Guatemala.

Tamaulipan Montane Garter Snake

A rare, range-restricted garter snake known only from a small mountainous area of Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Western Yellow-bellied Sand Snake

Western Yellow-bellied Sand Snake

A slender, arid-adapted sand snake of southwestern Africa distinguished by its bright yellow underside and swift diurnal foraging.

Lichtenstein's Green Racer

Lichtenstein's Green Racer

A slender green-and-gray South American snake, common in gardens and forest edges, known for its speed and defensive bite when cornered.

Speckled Racer

Speckled Racer

A fast, alert colubrid with a striking pattern of pale speckles or crossbars on a dark, glossy body.

Barbados Threadsnake

Barbados Threadsnake

One of the smallest known snake species in the world, endemic to the small Caribbean island of Barbados and rediscovered in the early 2000s.

Short-Tailed Kingsnake

Short-Tailed Kingsnake

A small, secretive Florida endemic with a slender body and reduced tail, rarely seen due to its burrowing habits.