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.
South American Bushmaster
The longest venomous snake in the Americas, a massive pit viper of Amazonian rainforest with a distinctive spined tail.
Taylor's Cantil
A distinctively patterned pit viper of northeastern Mexico, notable for its bright orange facial stripes.
Southern Bark Snake
A small, viper-mimicking African colubrid with a zigzag dorsal pattern, mildly venomous but harmless to humans.
Plain Mountain Adder
A subtly patterned, rarely seen small viper endemic to high-altitude grasslands of South Africa's Eastern Cape.
Eastern Copperhead
A copper-colored pit viper common across the eastern and central United States, known for its hourglass-shaped bands.
Cottonmouth
A heavy-bodied, semi-aquatic pit viper of the southeastern US, famous for the white interior of its mouth displayed as a threat.
Black-headed Bushmaster
A large, rare pit viper endemic to a small region of Pacific Costa Rica, distinguished by its notably dark head.
Bardick
A stout, short-tailed elapid of southern Australia's heath and mallee, notable for its viper-like ambush hunting style.
Northern Death Adder
A stout, ambush-hunting elapid with a viper-like body shape, found across tropical northern Australia and New Guinea.
Water Moccasin
A heavy-bodied semi-aquatic pit viper of the southeastern US, named for the white lining of its mouth displayed as a threat.
Jararacussu
One of the largest South American lanceheads, a heavy-bodied forest pit viper capable of delivering large venom yields.
Rhombic Night Adder
A widespread African viper named for the diamond-shaped blotches along its back, with comparatively mild venom.
Western Rattlesnake
A widespread pit viper of the western United States and Canada, recognized by its dark blotches and rattling tail.
Bushmaster
The longest venomous snake in the Americas and the largest pit viper in the world, an elusive forest dweller of Central and South America.
Northern Cottonmouth
A stout, semi-aquatic pit viper of southeastern wetlands, named for the white lining of its mouth displayed as a threat.
Fer-de-lance
A large, fast-moving, and medically significant pit viper responsible for the majority of snakebite incidents across much of its Central American range.
Copperhead
A copper-colored pit viper common across the eastern US, known for its hourglass-shaped crossbands and reliance on camouflage.
Mussurana
A large, snake-eating colubrid famed for its resistance to pit viper venom and its dramatic ontogenetic color change.
Patagonian Lancehead
A small pit viper found further south than any other pitviper in the world, inhabiting the cold steppes of Patagonia.
California Kingsnake
A highly adaptable and widely distributed kingsnake known for its bold banded or striped patterns and resistance to pit viper venom.
Southern Copperhead
A common, well-camouflaged pit viper of southern woodlands, responsible for many defensive bites due to its cryptic pattern.
Common Cat Snake
A slender, patterned nocturnal snake found across the Indian subcontinent, often mistaken for a young viper due to its triangular head and vertical pupils.
Jararaca
A widespread South American pit viper important both medically and pharmacologically, as its venom led to the development of ACE inhibitor drugs.
Copperhead Rattlesnake
Despite the informal name, a rattle-less pit viper with a distinctive coppery, hourglass-banded pattern found across the eastern US.