Snake Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ snakes from around the world — with family, range, size, habitat, and how to tell similar species apart.
Mexican Black Kingsnake
A striking, almost entirely jet-black kingsnake from northwestern Mexico, notable for its uniform glossy appearance.
Durango Mountain Kingsnake
A tricolor mountain kingsnake from the pine-oak highlands of Durango, Mexico, part of the Mexican mountain kingsnake group.
Greater Black Krait
A large, uniformly dark krait of the eastern Himalayan foothills and adjacent lowlands, lacking the strong banding seen in many of its relatives.
Western Massasauga
A small prairie rattlesnake with a lighter, more contrasting blotched pattern than its eastern relative.
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.
Bockadam
A common brackish-water snake of Asian mangroves and estuaries, feeding mainly on fish and known for its dog-like snout.
Usambara Bush Viper
A small, horn-scaled arboreal viper endemic to the Eastern Arc mountain forests of Tanzania, known for distinctive raised scales above the eyes.
Black Swampsnake
A small, glossy black wetland snake with a bright red-orange belly, found in dense marsh vegetation of the southeastern coastal plain.
Sonoran Lyresnake
A slender, big-eyed nocturnal snake named for the lyre-shaped mark on its head.
Variable Kingsnake
A wide-ranging, highly variable kingsnake found from Mexico to Central America, showing diverse banding and color patterns across its range.
Mexican Burrowing Python
A rare, primitive burrowing snake from Mexico and Central America, the sole member of its own family and a close relative of true pythons.
Himalayan Keelback
A small mountain-dwelling colubrid found along streams and moist habitats in the Himalayan foothills.
Florida Kingsnake
A regional kingsnake of the Florida peninsula, exhibiting a variable pattern often intermediate between banded and blotched forms.
Short-Tailed Kingsnake
A small, secretive Florida endemic with a slender body and reduced tail, rarely seen due to its burrowing habits.
Speckled Kingsnake
A glossy black kingsnake speckled with small yellow spots on nearly every scale, giving it a salt-and-pepper appearance.
California Lyresnake
A slender, rock-dwelling nocturnal snake with cat-like vertical pupils and a lyre-shaped head marking.
Plain Mountain Adder
A subtly patterned, rarely seen small viper endemic to high-altitude grasslands of South Africa's Eastern Cape.
Jerdon's Pit Viper
A high-altitude pit viper of the eastern Himalayas and adjacent hill country, marked with bold black and yellow banding.
False Fer-de-lance
A colubrid widely known for resembling fer-de-lance pit vipers through dramatic head-flattening displays.
San Luis Potosi Kingsnake
A boldly banded Mexican highland kingsnake with striking red, black, and cream tricolor rings.
Jamaican Boa
Jamaica's largest native snake, a constrictor known locally as the 'yellow snake' for its coloration, and considered vulnerable due to introduced predators.
Striped Skaapsteker
A slender, longitudinally striped snake found across grassland regions of southern and East Africa, closely related to the spotted skaapsteker.
Spotted Skaapsteker
A slender, patterned southern African snake whose name derives from a folk belief linking it to livestock.
Schott's Whipsnake
A slender, fast-moving whipsnake of South Texas brushlands, patterned with pale crossbands on a darker ground color.