Snake Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ snakes from around the world — with family, range, size, habitat, and how to tell similar species apart.
Salazar's Pit Viper
A recently described green pit viper from northeastern India, popularly noted for being named after a fictional Harry Potter character.
Western Groundsnake
A small, highly variable desert snake that may be striped, banded, or plain depending on the population.
Highland Copperhead
A cold-adapted Australian elapid found at higher elevations in the southeast, closely related to the lowland copperhead but occupying alpine and subalpine habitats.
Desert Cobra
A glossy black, primarily nocturnal elapid found in the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East.
Florida Brownsnake
A small, common brown snake of Florida gardens and woodlands, closely related to the widespread De Kay's Brownsnake.
Mole Viper
A small, cylindrical, burrowing snake with a distinctive sideways striking motion, found across much of sub-Saharan Africa.
Cuban Dwarf Boa
A small, thick-bodied Cuban endemic known for feigning death and even releasing blood from its eyes as a dramatic defense.
Buff Striped Keelback
A slender, boldly striped freshwater colubrid common around paddies and ponds across South Asia.
Green Keelback
A small, bright green colubrid found in hilly forests of the Indian subcontinent.
Grey Whipsnake
A slender, grey-toned whipsnake of Australia's tropical north, active by day and known for its speed and sharp vision.
Grey's Mudsnake
A small, primitive sea snake specialized for soft mangrove mudflats along the coast of north-western Australia, the sole member of its genus.
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.
Sahara Sand Viper
A small, sand-colored desert viper often bearing distinctive hornlike scales above each eye, famous for its sideways "sidewinding" locomotion across loose dunes.
King Cobra
The world's longest elapid, a large snake of South and Southeast Asian forests that preys chiefly on other snakes.
Boomslang
A slender, large-eyed African tree snake.
Sea Krait
A banded, amphibious sea snake that comes ashore to rest, digest, and lay eggs, unlike most fully marine sea snakes.
Common Saw-Scaled Viper
One of the 'Big Four' snakes of India, small in size and widespread.
Eastern Kingsnake
A glossy black snake marked with narrow chain-like yellow or white bands, famed for preying on other snakes.
Mussurana
A large, snake-eating colubrid famed for its dramatic ontogenetic color change.
Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake
A striking tricolor kingsnake of southwestern mountain ranges, mimicking coral snakes.
Banded Sea Krait
A distinctive black-and-pale banded sea snake that comes ashore to rest, digest, and lay eggs, unlike fully aquatic sea snakes.
California Mountain Kingsnake
A vividly banded kingsnake native to the Pacific coast, with banding resembling that of coral snakes.
Reticulated Python
The longest snake species in the world, a Southeast Asian constrictor famed for its intricate, iridescent pattern.
Australian Scrub Python
Australia's longest snake, a large iridescent python of the tropical rainforests of northeastern Queensland and Cape York.