Snake Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ snakes from around the world — with family, range, size, habitat, and how to tell similar species apart.
Steppe Ratsnake
A widespread, cold-tolerant ratsnake of the Eurasian steppe and taiga edges, ranging farther north than almost any other ratsnake species.
Persian Ratsnake
A slender, olive-brown ratsnake of the southern Caspian region, marked with a broken dark vertebral line and named for its historic Persian range.
Transcaucasian Ratsnake
A small, secretive ratsnake of the Caucasus and surrounding mountains, closely related to the Aesculapian snake but with a much smaller range and size.
Western Groundsnake
A small, highly variable desert snake that may be striped, banded, or plain depending on the population.
Western Massasauga
A small prairie rattlesnake with a lighter, more contrasting blotched pattern than its eastern relative.
Western Rattlesnake
A widespread pit viper of the western United States and Canada, recognized by its dark blotches and rattling tail.
Rat Snake
A large, fast-moving snake widespread across South and Southeast Asia, valued for controlling rodent populations.
Western Hognose Snake
A stout, upturned-nosed colubrid of the North American prairies, known for its bluffing displays.
Western Shovelnose Snake
A small, boldly banded desert colubrid with a countersunk lower jaw and flattened snout adapted for swimming through loose desert sand.
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
One of the most widespread and commonly encountered rattlesnakes of the American Southwest, known for its bold tail rings.
Western Whip Snake
A fast, alert colubrid of southern Europe known for its bold yellow-and-black pattern.
Western Rat Snake
A large, dark constrictor of the central U.S. that darkens with age, closely related to the eastern and gray rat snakes.
Western Worm Snake
A small, uniformly purplish-brown burrowing snake of the central plains, closely resembling its eastern relative.
Western Ribbon Snake
A slender, fast-moving striped snake closely tied to water, ranging from the central US south through Mexico into Central America.
Western Lyre Snake
A slender, big-eyed nocturnal snake of desert canyons and rocky slopes, named for the lyre-shaped mark atop its head.
Western Fox Snake
A stout, tan-and-brown blotched constrictor of the Midwest prairies, sometimes mistaken for a rattlesnake due to tail vibration.
Western Green Mamba
A vivid green, arboreal mamba of West African forests, closely related to the eastern green mamba but geographically separated by the continent's dry central belt.
Western Brown Snake
A highly variable and widely distributed Australian elapid, found across arid and semi-arid regions of the continent.
Western Blind Snake
A small, glossy, worm-like burrowing snake widespread across the deserts of the American Southwest, feeding almost exclusively on ants and termites.
Western Patch-Nosed Snake
A slender, fast-moving desert snake named for the enlarged, shield-like scale covering the tip of its snout.
King Rat Snake
A large, powerfully built East Asian rat snake with strongly keeled scales, known for its yellowish crossbanding and its habit of preying on other snakes.
Baird's Rat Snake
A handsomely patterned orange-and-gray rat snake of the arid Trans-Pecos region, with faint striping along its length.
Radiated Rat Snake
A slender, fast-moving colubrid recognized by the radiating dark stripes across its head, common across South and Southeast Asian lowlands.
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.