Snake Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ snakes from around the world — with family, range, size, habitat, and how to tell similar species apart.
Elegant Sea Snake
A large, robust sea snake native to Australian waters, patterned with broad dark bands that fade with age, often found in reef and estuarine habitats.
Pacific Gopher Snake
A large, heavy-bodied colubrid of the Pacific coast known for its loud hiss and tail-vibrating display that often leads to mistaken identity as a rattlesnake.
Amur Rat Snake
A large, glossy black-and-yellow rat snake native to the temperate forests of the Russian Far East, China, and Korea, well adapted to cold winters.
Colombian Rainbow Boa
A medium-sized boa prized for its iridescent sheen, which produces a rainbow-like shimmer on its scales under direct light.
Saddled Leaf-Nosed Snake
A larger relative of the Spotted Leaf-Nosed Snake bearing bold, saddle-shaped brown blotches along its back.
Madagascar Ground Boa
A large, heavy-bodied terrestrial boa endemic to Madagascar, distinguished from its tree-dwelling relative by its stouter build and ground-dwelling habits.
Olive Grass Snake
A large, fast, olive-colored African sand snake often seen actively hunting through grassland by day, closely related to other Psammophis species.
Aquatic Coral Snake
An unusually large and semi-aquatic coral snake of the Amazon Basin, notable among elapids for its strongly water-associated lifestyle and fish-heavy diet.
Indo-Chinese Rat Snake
A slender, fast-moving rat snake widespread across Southeast Asia and southern China, closely related to the larger Indian rat snake.
Paradise Flying Snake
A slender, brilliantly patterned colubrid famed for its ability to glide from tree to tree, marked with black scales speckled in green, yellow, and red.
Argentine Rainbow Boa
A southern member of the rainbow boa group native to drier habitats of Argentina and neighboring countries, notable for its iridescent scales and relatively subdued coloration.
Painted Bronzeback
A brightly patterned, agile tree snake of Southeast Asia, named for the bold black-and-cream striping revealed between its scales when alarmed.
Horned Sea Snake
A distinctive sea snake covered in small spiny scale projections, especially around the head, giving it a rough, thorny appearance unique among sea snakes.
Rhombic Night Adder
A widespread African viper named for the diamond-shaped blotches along its back.
Red-Headed Krait
A large, vividly colored krait of Southeast Asian rainforests, notable for its glossy black body, bright red or orange head and tail, and thin blue vertebral stripe.
Checkered Keelback
One of the most common water-associated snakes in Asia, recognized by its checkerboard pattern and strongly keeled scales, frequently seen near rice paddies and ponds.
Death Adder
A short, ambush-hunting elapid that resembles a viper in shape and behavior despite belonging to the cobra family.
Red Adder
A recently described small viper with reddish coloration, endemic to mountain ranges of South Africa's Cape region.
Chinese Sea Snake
One of the larger and more widely distributed true sea snakes, recognizable by its bold black and yellow-green banding, ranging across coastal Asian waters.
Plain Mountain Adder
A subtly patterned, rarely seen small viper endemic to high-altitude grasslands of South Africa's Eastern Cape.
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.
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.
Common Death Adder
A short, thick-bodied ambush-predator elapid that mimics a viper in body shape and hunting style, using a worm-like tail lure to attract prey.