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.

Black-headed Coral Snake

One of the most widespread and frequently recorded coral snakes of Central America, with a solid black head and tricolor banded body.

Black-Banded Sea Snake

A slender sea snake marked with bold black bands along a pale body, found in muddy coastal waters and estuaries throughout South and Southeast Asia.

Black-Headed Dwarf Snake

A small, secretive colubrid distinguished by its dark head cap, found in rocky and arid terrain across parts of the Middle East.

Japanese Four-lined Rat Snake

Japanese Four-lined Rat Snake

A common Japanese rat snake marked with four dark longitudinal stripes running the length of its body, frequently seen in fields and gardens.

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.

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.

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.

Rainforest Hognosed Pit Viper

Rainforest Hognosed Pit Viper

A small, well-camouflaged terrestrial pit viper of Central and South American rainforests, named for its upturned snout.

Sri Lankan Pit Viper

Sri Lankan Pit Viper

A small, well-camouflaged pit viper once considered mildly venomous but now known to cause serious bites, including bleeding disorders.

Coachwhip

Coachwhip

A slender, exceptionally fast-moving colubrid named for its braided, whip-like tail pattern.

Levant Viper

Levant Viper

A large, robust viper subspecies found across the Levant and Caucasus, closely related to the widespread Blunt-Nosed Viper.

Levantine Viper

Levantine Viper

One of the largest and most medically important vipers of the Middle East and Central Asia, capable of delivering a substantial venom dose.

Variegated Slug-eater

Variegated Slug-eater

A small, patterned relative of the Common Slug-eater, restricted to parts of southern Africa and equally harmless to humans.

Common Slug-eater

Common Slug-eater

A small, docile African colubrid that feeds exclusively on slugs and snails, completely harmless to humans.

Lataste's Viper

Lataste's Viper

A small viper of the Iberian Peninsula and northwestern Africa, recognized by a small upturned snout scale.

Bardick

Bardick

A stout, short-tailed elapid of southern Australia's heath and mallee, notable for its viper-like ambush hunting style.

Cape Centipede-Eater

Cape Centipede-Eater

A small, secretive southern African snake that specializes in hunting centipedes, subduing them with a mild rear-fanged venom.

Milos Viper

Milos Viper

A rare, island-endemic viper found only on Milos and a few nearby Cycladic islands in Greece, notable for its restricted range and conservation concern.

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.

Montane Egg-eater

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.

Rhombic Egg-eater

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.

Copperhead

Copperhead

A copper-colored pit viper common across the eastern US, known for its hourglass-shaped crossbands and reliance on camouflage.

Common Egg-eater

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.

Black-headed Centipede-eater

Black-headed Centipede-eater

A small, secretive African burrower named for its glossy black head and its diet of centipedes.