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.
Copperhead
A copper-colored pit viper common across the eastern US, known for its hourglass-shaped crossbands and reliance on camouflage.
Milk Snake
A boldly banded, harmless colubrid known for mimicking the warning colors of venomous coral snakes across much of its range.
Coachwhip
A slender, exceptionally fast-moving colubrid named for its braided, whip-like tail pattern.
Little Spotted Snake
A tiny, faintly spotted elapid of inland grasslands, closely related to the little whip snake.
Blotched Snake
A large, powerfully built ratsnake of the Caucasus and steppe regions, patterned with bold dark blotches along a pale body.
Variegated Snail-eater
A brightly banded, snail-eating colubrid of Central American rainforests, named for its variegated red, black, and cream coloration.
Montane Egg-eater
A small, harmless African snake specialized entirely for eating bird eggs, found in highland and montane habitats of East and Central Africa.
Common Slug-eater
A small, docile African colubrid that feeds exclusively on slugs and snails, completely harmless to humans.
Rhombic Egg-eater
A patterned southern African egg-eating snake, closely related to (and often considered the same species complex as) the common egg-eater, marked by bold diamond-shaped dorsal blotches.
Variegated Slug-eater
A small, patterned relative of the Common Slug-eater, restricted to parts of southern Africa and equally harmless to humans.
Ringed Snail-eater
An alternate name for the boldly ringed Central American snail-eating snake, distinguished by its complete encircling bands of color.
Coral Snake
A brightly ringed, highly venomous elapid known for the rhyme distinguishing it from harmless mimics: 'red touch yellow, kill a fellow.'
Bark Snake
A small, cryptically colored, rear-fanged African colubrid that lives on tree bark and rock surfaces, of minimal risk to humans.
North American Racer
A fast-moving, slender colubrid found across much of North America, known for its speed and alert, active behavior.
Worm Snake
A tiny, glossy, worm-like colubrid of the eastern United States that spends nearly all its life burrowed underground in loose soil and leaf litter.
Reticulated Centipede-eater
A small, secretive African snake specialized for hunting centipedes, with a fine reticulated pattern and a mild venom adapted to subdue its arthropod prey.
Common Egg-eater
A remarkable African colubrid that feeds exclusively on bird eggs, using specialized vertebral spines in its throat to crack shells after swallowing them whole.
Neotropical Snail-eater
An alternate common name for the widespread snail-specialist snake found across humid Neotropical forests, known for its slender build and molluscivorous diet.
Cape Centipede-Eater
A small, secretive southern African snake that specializes in hunting centipedes, subduing them with a mild rear-fanged venom.
West African Egg-eater
A harmless, egg-specialist snake from West and Central African forests, notable for its ability to swallow eggs many times the width of its head.
Southern Brown Egg-eater
A harmless, plain brown egg-specialist snake widespread in southern Africa, capable of swallowing bird eggs whole despite its small head.
Green Mamba
A slender, bright green arboreal elapid found along coastal forests of eastern Africa, notable for its potent neurotoxic venom and shy, elusive nature.
Racer
A slender, fast-moving, sharp-eyed snake known for its speed and alert temperament.
Black-headed Centipede-eater
A small, secretive African burrower named for its glossy black head and its diet of centipedes.