Sharp-Tailed Snake

“A Sharp-tailed snake uses its spiny tail to hold down its slippery prey”

Sharp-tailed snakes or Sharptail snakes are also called Pacific brown snakes or gentle brown snakes. Their range includes the western part of the United States and continues up into British Columbia in Canada. These snakes spend a lot of their time hiding in moist places beneath rocks. They are carnivores eating mostly a diet of slugs. Sharptail snakes are small in size and non-venomous which is why they are kept as a pet in some households.

5 Incredible Sharp-tailed Snake Facts!

• These snakes have recurved teeth that allow them to capture and pull in slippery slugs
• This snake has a lifespan of up to 10 years
• Though this snake looks similar to a common garter snake, it has no close relatives
• A Sharptail snake baby or hatchling is about as long as an earthworm
• This snake has a conservation status of Least Concern in the United States and Endangered in British Columbia

Sharp-Tailed Snake Scientific Name

The scientific name for a Sharptail snake is Contia tenuis. Contia refers to the genus of this snake and tenuis is Latin meaning thin or fine. The Sharptail snake is the only member of the Contia genus.

This small reptile is sometimes called the common Sharptail snake, the Pacific brown snake, or even the gentle brown snake. The fact that it’s sometimes called the gentle brown snake says a lot about its mild nature.

It belongs to the Colubridae family and is in the Reptilia class.

Sharp-Tailed Snake Appearance & Behavior

The common Sharp-tailed snake has a mixture of gray and red scales on its back paired with white and black bands on its belly. Their eyes are dark and round. This reptile gets its name from the sharp, spiny end of its tail. Biologists believe the purpose of its tail is to hold a slippery slug in place while trying to eat it.

A sharptail snake is small in size and about the same thickness as a pencil. Females are larger than males. This snake normally measures about 12 inches, but some grow longer. The longest this snake can measure is 19 inches. They weigh around five ounces. For comparison, a 12-inch long sharp-tailed snake would be equal in length to four-fifths of a single bowling pin. A snake weighing five ounces is equal in weight to an average baseball.

It’s common for these snakes to be mistaken for garter snakes. Garters and sharp-tailed snakes are both small, though garter snakes are longer. They are both non-venomous, have dark scales, and include slugs in their diet. One of the biggest differences between these two snakes is a garter snake doesn’t have a sharp tail. Also, garter snakes give live birth to their young while sharp-tailed snakes lay eggs.

This snake is small in size and non-venomous, so it has very few ways to defend itself against predators. Their most powerful defense is their ability to hide under rocks and in tiny crevices where predators can’t reach them. If this snake is grabbed by a predator, it whips its spiny tail back and forth at the animal. Though this doesn’t cause injury, it can startle the predator allowing the snake a few extra seconds to slip away.

Baby sharp-tailed snakes or hatchlings coil up into a tight ball when confronted by a predator. Scientists believe they do this with the thought that they’re making themselves too large for a predator to swallow.

This snake is considered semi-social. Scientists have reported seeing several sharp-tailed snakes living together under the same rock. Plus, females sometimes lay their eggs in a communal nest where other snakes have laid their eggs. A group of snakes is sometimes called a pit or a den. These snakes also spend a lot of time hunting and moving through their territory alone.

Sharp-tailed snakes are shy and non-aggressive. Oftentimes, they will slither for cover at any sign of a threat. A person who manages to catch one of these quick snakes is likely to see it roll into a ball in their hand as opposed to trying to bite.

The docile nature of this snake makes it seem like the perfect pet for many reptile enthusiasts. But these snakes need a specific type of care and environment including a regulated temperature to thrive. So, instead of keeping one as a pet, it’s better to appreciate them in the wild where they can care for themselves. Consider yourself lucky if you find one of these elusive snakes in the forest!

Sharp-Tailed Snake Habitat

Sharp-tailed snakes live in the western part of the United States and up into British Columbia. Specifically, these snakes are found in California, Washington State, Oregon as well as Canada, and Vancouver Island. Their habitat includes forests, woodlands, and grasslands. They live in a moist environment under rocks, in hollow trees, and in crevices. These snakes like cool conditions and stay under shady bushes during the day when it turns really hot in the summer. In fact, this is what makes the sharp-tailed snake different from many other types of reptiles. Most snakes are active in warm weather whereas Sharp-tailed snakes like to move around during cool weather.

In areas where it’s extremely cold in the winter, they go into a state of brumation from about November to February. A snake in brumation doesn’t sleep like a snake in hibernation. Instead, it still moves around and hunts, but at a slower rate to conserve energy and stay warm. In brumation, a snake sleeps a lot and has a very low metabolic rate.

Sharp-tailed snakes move around within their territory. They are especially active during the rainy season moving to different areas while making burrows and searching for prey.

Predators and Threats

Sharp-tailed snakes are carnivores. They hunt for food during the coolest hours of the day. Because of their small size, these snakes have a diet of small insects. They usually find their prey in the mud beneath the rocks and in the rock crevices where they spend a lot of their time.

What eats a sharp-tailed snake?

The predators of a sharp-tailed snake include bigger snakes, birds, foxes, and cats. All of these predators are fast, and some have the ability to find a sharp-tailed snake even if it disappears beneath a rock.

What does a sharp-tailed snake eat?

A sharp-tailed snake has a diet consisting mostly of slugs and the eggs of slugs. These small creatures live in the same habitat as this snake and are easy for it to find and capture. Sharp-tailed snakes are known for their burrowing skills, so this is another way they find slugs and slug eggs to consume.

Habitat loss is a threat to some of these snakes. But they are spread out over such a large territory this threat is considered mild. There is some threat posed to this snake by people who capture them to sell for a high price in pet shops or online via reptile dealers. There are no laws in place to prevent the sale of these non-venomous snakes. They are sold for a high price because of their size and gentle nature.

Fortunately, despite these threats, this snake is still thriving in the United States. However, due to habitat loss, this snake is listed as Endangered in British Columbia. The conservation status of the sharp-tailedsnake in the United States is Least Concern.

Sharp-Tailed Snake Reproduction and Life Cycle

The breeding season of the sharp-tailed snake occurs in early spring. Though the exact gestation period of this snake is unknown, females usually lay three to eight eggs in late summer. These snakes have been known to lay eggs in communal nests alongside the eggs of other Sharptail snakes. The eggs of this snake have a soft shell and measure less than an inch long. As a note, though Sharptail snakes are similar in appearance to garter snakes, there is a big difference between these two reptiles in terms of reproduction. While Sharptail snakes lay eggs, garter snakes give birth to live young.

Baby sharp-tailed snakes are called hatchlings or snakelets. They must learn to survive on their own, without receiving any care from their parents, immediately after hatching from their egg. Not surprisingly, the hatchlings of this small snake are very tiny. They’re sometimes mistaken for earthworms! It takes three years for a young snake to reach adult size.

The lifespan of a sharp-tailed snake can vary depending on the number and variety of predators in its habitat. But these snakes have a lifespan of up to 10 years.

Sharp-Tailed Snake Population

Biologists estimate the population of this snake as more than 100,000. Though they face threats of habitat loss and capture for the pet market, they have a stable population in the United States. Their conservation status in the U.S. is Least Concern. But, in British Columbia, they are categorized as Endangered due to habitat loss there.

Similar Animals

• Checkered garter snake
• Rosy boa
• Nightsnake

1. Wikipedia, Available here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp-tailed_snake
2. The Reptiles of British Columbia, Available here: https://www.bcreptiles.ca/snakes/sharptail.htm
3. Burke Museum, Available here: https://www.burkemuseum.org/collections-and-research/biology/herpetology/amphibians-reptiles-washington/sharp-tailed-snake
4. HAT, Available here: https://www.hat.bc.ca/our-blog/habitat-stewardship-program/species-at-risk/about-sharp-tailed-snakes