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.
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.
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.
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.
Racer
A slender, fast-moving, sharp-eyed snake known for its speed and alert temperament.
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.
Black-headed Centipede-eater
A small, secretive African burrower named for its glossy black head and its diet of centipedes.
Hognose Snake
A theatrical, upturned-snouted colubrid famous for its dramatic bluffing displays, including hood-flattening, hissing, and playing dead.
Carolina Pygmy Rattlesnake
A small, gray-toned rattlesnake subspecies of the Carolinas and Gulf Coastal Plain, with a subtle rusty back stripe.
Prairie Kingsnake
A secretive, moderately patterned kingsnake of grasslands and open woods, often mistaken for a young rat snake or gopher snake.
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.
Sonoran Whipsnake
A slender, arboreal-inclined desert whipsnake with a striking olive-to-gray body and pale lateral stripes.
Twin-spotted Rattlesnake
A tiny, high-elevation rattlesnake marked by paired rows of small dark spots down its gray body.
Indochinese Spitting Cobra
A mottled gray-and-black spitting cobra common across mainland Southeast Asia, frequently encountered in and around rural villages.
Banded Rock Rattlesnake
A small, colorful rattlesnake of rocky mountain slopes, known for its bold black or dark bands set against a bluish-gray to greenish body.
Elegant Coral Snake
A tricolor coral snake of humid montane and lowland forests in eastern Mexico.