Snake Identification and Education

Hello! I am a wildlife conservation student with an emphasis in herpetology. My speciality is north American species of snakes. The goal of this page is to educate people about snakes without a berating tone. I aim to identify snakes for others while at the same time tossing in some education. If you require an identification, please send me a picture or a rough description if a photo is not available. It is important to give a vague location rather than a precise one; for your safety and for the snake's safety. For example, saying "Location: Western Tennessee" is vague while still being enough info for me to identify said snake. Feel free to message me, and always feel free to ask questions!

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found a cute purple mouth danger noodle online and had to draw him. Poor baby has no hands to cover his yawns, and no way to close his eyes. Socially awkward yawns ensue

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@asexualreptile here is the reference!!

@what-snake-is-this any chance of an ID please?

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Yes, absolutely! This is an African species, the Black Mamba!

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Can you tell what this is? Found in western Missouri. Family guesses have ranged from hognose to masasaga.

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So sorry, I’m rarely on Tumblr on desktop so I didn’t see this right away!! This is a harmless Northern Water snake (Nerodia sipedon sipedon) Sometimes also called a banded water snake! They are the most common of the water snakes in your area.

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Coral Snakes

Today we are going to take a look at the Eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius).

There’s a lot of myths and inaccuracies around this snake species. The coral snake is one of North America’s elapids, meaning they are in the same group as cobras, kraits, etc. 

Here is a typical example of an Eastern coral snake:

Let’s break this down some.

Coral snakes are a smaller species, so their features can be a bit harder to see, they only grow around 3 feet on average. They have a distinguishable black head that stops right behind the eyes. This species is shy and lives mostly underground so your chances of seeing one are not very high.

Here is a species that is often mistaken for a coral snake:

This is a scarlet kingsnake, notice how the head is red and it’s a bit more angular than the coral.

You may have heard of the old rhyme “red and yellow kill a fellow.” Throw this out of your mind and forget it entirely.

This is a melanistic coral snake, no red to speak of but potentially dangerous if bitten by.

This is a Western shovelnose snake, yellow touches red but this species is completely harmless. 

Rhymes do not work and are not always accurate, the best thing to do if you see a snake you don’t know the ID of is to admire from a distance and move on. Do not attempt to handle any snake unless you are 100% sure of what it is!

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Banded Rock Rattlesnake

Since you’re a herp, I thought you’d appreciate one of my father’s photos. He’s been studying the Banded Rock Rattlesnake for over thirty years and is the reason I love snakes.

This photo of three of his snakes shows the differences in the snake’s patterning depending on mountain range (which determines the gene pool as these snakes don’t range far.)

Love the blog!

Thank you so much!! Sorry I’ve been so inactive, life’s been pretty busy.

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Do you know what this little guy is? I saw him in central Jersey at a preserve…he hid between my shoes.

This is a young Northern Water Snake. (Nerodia sipedon sipedon), he’s super cute!!

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The timber rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus, is one of the many rattlesnake species native to North America. Some other common names include canebrake and banded rattlesnake. This species is declining in many of its native places due to habitat loss/poaching and is protected in most states. When threatened, this species prefers to coil low to the ground rather than raising its body like other rattlesnake species do. 

Timbers have unique chevron markings that can be a huge help in distinguishing it from other rattlers. Please note that while they normally do have slit pupils, all animals eyes dilate depending on light source. Checking the eyes is a terrible way to identify snakes since plenty of harmless snakes have slit pupils and vice versa. It’s important to use many factors when identifying.

Depending on your region, there may also be dark phases, making it a bit trickier to see the typical markings.

All rattlesnakes have rattles, even newborns!! This little baby has a small rattle. A rattlesnake won’t have a tapered tail.

Timber rattlesnakes are native to the eastern parts of the US, and prefer heavily wooded areas. 

Always be sure to respect their space and them, they will leave you alone!

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The black racer, Coluber constrictor, is a harmless North American snake with eleven different subspecies. For now we’ll just look at what every black racer has for traits and go with the specific subspecies at a later time.

Most racers have a lighter neck and snoot. They have large eyes and a ridge above it that makes them look a little angry. 

Here is a general range map that includes all subspecies. These snakes are fast and active, as well as curious. They are commonly seen ‘periscoping’, or in other words, they like to raise their heads up high to look at stuff.

Juveniles look significantly different from adults, the bright markings fade and darken with age.   

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Do you know what kind of snake this is? I live in South-Eastern MI and I just found this lil fellow on our driveway and wanted to know what type of snake he was. Thank you in advance.

So sorry this took so long!! I haven’t been on my computer in a while. This is a harmless Dekay’s brown snake, they love eating slugs!

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Hello! This is the snake that lives in the science building at my uni. Lab technicians say she(?) is a carpet python but I think she looks more vibrant than the pics I’ve seen of them. The best match I could find on google was a Jungle Carpet Python. Thoughts?

This is a bit trickier for me since I’m not too familiar with Australian species. It looks like she had a recent shed which will make her colors pop even more! jungle carpet pythons are a subspecies of carpet pythons, so it’s also entirely possible she’s a mix of the two since that’s a common practice in the breeding community.

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Any idea of what snake this lil guy is? This is in Northeast ish Texas, DFW area

Yes! this is a harmless Texas brown snake (Storeria dekayi texana)! They’re excellent pest control for gardens as they eat such things as slugs and other destructive insects.

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Ringneck snake, Diadophis punctatus, is a small and harmless North American species. There are approximately fourteen subspecies, the one pictured happens to be a southern ringneck. They are easily identified by the yellow to orange to red band around their neck. They range in colors from iridescent black to an olive gray.

This species is nocturnal, consider yourself lucky if you ever see one of these elusive snakes!

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There's this viral picture of a rattlesnake going around telling people to be wary of nursing rattlesnakes due to them being more aggressive. 1. Snakes are not aggressive by nature, they are defensive and they won't chase you. 2. Snakes don't nurse...they're reptiles. Producing milk is a strictly mammalian thing. 3. Rattlesnakes do give live birth and it has been observed that the mother will watch over the young for a brief period of time, so it's also innacurate to say snakes don't care for their young at all. Overall, snakes don't nurse, and they aren't aggressive during an alleged "nursing time".

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This is a great example of why you should never go off of head shapes alone while identifying snakes. These are both Midland water snakes, the one on the left is displaying a defensive position by flattening it's head. Many snakes do this when they feel threatened.

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A friend of a friend is looking to get this snake ID’d! They said that the head had a corn/ratsnake like head and that it was found somewhere in Louisiana. 

Speckled kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula holbrooki), this harmless species loves to eat rodents and other snakes, even venomous ones!

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Common names for this species are; common lancehead, fer-de-lance, and barba amarilla. The binomal name is Bothrops atrox.  

This venomous species is native to Central America and the northern parts of South America. In addition to their markings, this snake can also be identified by its golden irises and black tongue. These qualities are found on plenty of harmless snakes, so it is important to not look for only one singular trait while identifying.

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The cottonmouth, the water moccasin, the swamp viper; whichever you call it, this species is Agkistrodon piscivorus. These snakes have an undeserved reputation of being aggressive, there’s even myths that they will chase people. Of course this is untrue, their main defense mechanism is actually to remain still while showing off their white mouths.

These traits are how you can identify a cottonmouth. Please note that plenty of harmless snakes do share these traits. While the slit eye can be indicative of a cottonmouth, their pupils can and do dilate depending on the amount of light hitting them. There are plenty of harmless species that have slit pupils, so don’t depend on that wive’s tale for your identifications.

Photo courtesy of Stephen Shelley 

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Pachyrhachis problematicus was a marine snake with well-developed hind legs that lived in the warm waters of the Middle East during the Late Cretaceous. Although it’s certainly an early snake, its exact position in the family tree is debated; some researchers point it as a link between marine lizards (like the ancestors of mosasaurs) and snakes, while proponents of the terrestrial origin for snakes believe it represents an early radiation of longbois leaving land for the sea.

Basically a swimming noodle with feetsies.

The step-by-step process of this illustration can be seen on my Patreon.