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.

Eastern Kingsnake

Eastern Kingsnake

A glossy black snake marked with narrow chain-like yellow or white bands, famed for preying on venomous snakes.

Kingsnake

Kingsnake

A glossy, nonvenomous constrictor famous for preying on other snakes, including venomous species, thanks to partial immunity to their venom.

Prairie Kingsnake

Prairie Kingsnake

A secretive, moderately patterned kingsnake of grasslands and open woods, often mistaken for a young rat snake or gopher snake.

Variable Kingsnake

Variable Kingsnake

A wide-ranging, highly variable kingsnake found from Mexico to Central America, showing diverse banding and color patterns across its range.

Florida Kingsnake

Florida Kingsnake

A regional kingsnake of the Florida peninsula, exhibiting a variable pattern often intermediate between banded and blotched forms.

Speckled Kingsnake

Speckled Kingsnake

A glossy black kingsnake speckled with small yellow spots on nearly every scale, giving it a salt-and-pepper appearance.

Black Kingsnake

Black Kingsnake

A largely uniform glossy black kingsnake found in the central and southeastern United States, sometimes showing faint traces of pattern.

Ruthven's Kingsnake

Ruthven's Kingsnake

A strikingly banded highland kingsnake of central Mexico, often patterned in red, black, and cream tricolor rings.

Desert Kingsnake

Desert Kingsnake

A lightly speckled kingsnake from the arid Southwest, similar in appearance to the speckled kingsnake but adapted to desert environments.

Apalachicola Kingsnake

Apalachicola Kingsnake

A regional kingsnake subspecies from Florida's Apalachicola lowlands, showing a variable, often reduced chain-like pattern.

California Kingsnake

California Kingsnake

A highly adaptable and widely distributed kingsnake known for its bold banded or striped patterns and resistance to pit viper venom.

Mole Kingsnake

Mole Kingsnake

A secretive, burrowing kingsnake subspecies with a faded, blotched pattern that grows more obscure with age.

Scarlet Kingsnake

Scarlet Kingsnake

A small, vividly banded red, black, and yellow kingsnake of the southeastern US that mimics the venomous coral snake.

Gray-banded Kingsnake

Gray-banded Kingsnake

A desert kingsnake famed for its highly variable banding of gray, orange, and black, native to the Chihuahuan Desert.

Short-Tailed Kingsnake

Short-Tailed Kingsnake

A small, secretive Florida endemic with a slender body and reduced tail, rarely seen due to its burrowing habits.

Chihuahua Mountain Kingsnake

Chihuahua Mountain Kingsnake

A tricolor highland kingsnake endemic to the pine-oak forests of Chihuahua's mountain ranges.

California Mountain Kingsnake

California Mountain Kingsnake

A vividly banded non-venomous kingsnake native to the Pacific coast, resembling venomous coral snakes despite lacking venom.

Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake

Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake

A striking tricolor kingsnake of southwestern mountain ranges, mimicking venomous coral snakes despite being harmless.

Mexican Black Kingsnake

Mexican Black Kingsnake

A striking, almost entirely jet-black kingsnake from northwestern Mexico, notable for its uniform glossy appearance.

Durango Mountain Kingsnake

Durango Mountain Kingsnake

A tricolor mountain kingsnake from the pine-oak highlands of Durango, Mexico, part of the Mexican mountain kingsnake group.

Eastern Copperhead

Eastern Copperhead

A copper-colored pit viper common across the eastern and central United States, known for its hourglass-shaped bands.

San Luis Potosi Kingsnake

San Luis Potosi Kingsnake

A boldly banded Mexican highland kingsnake with striking red, black, and cream tricolor rings.

Eastern Massasauga

Eastern Massasauga

A small, secretive rattlesnake of wetland prairies, now rare and protected across much of its range.

Eastern Montpellier Snake

Eastern Montpellier Snake

A large, fast-moving rear-fanged snake known for raising its head cobra-like when threatened, found across the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East.