Snake
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Mud snake

Found in many of the bodies of water in Florida, the Florida-banded water snake consumes everything from frogs to turtles.

Though non-venomous, the Florida Pine snake squeezes its prey to death.

The Eastern indigo snake may be non-venomous, but its ability to grow over nine feet in length makes it daunting.

Thin and tiny, the Brahminy blind snake is sometimes mistaken for a baby snake of another species.

Small and colorful, the ring-necked snake is nocturnal and non-venomous.

Malformation Snake Two Heads

Snakes rely fully on external heat or light sources.

Snakes do not hibernate. Instead, they brumate.

Snakes require an external heat source to power their metabolism.

Snakes that are kept as pets are more likely to eat themselves than snakes in the wild.

Best Pet Snakes

Louisiana Milk-snake found after a fall cold front blew through southeast Texas. The common name "milk snake" originated from the false belief that these snakes milked cows.

African House Snake Lamprophis fuliginosus at the Louisville Zoo. They are named "house" snakes as they are frequently found around human dwellings, feeding on the rodents that congregate around the human waste.

Corn snakes are constrictors, wrapping themselves around prey to squeeze and subdue it before swallowing it whole.

California Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis californiae) are called kingsnakes because they sometimes eat other snakes, as does the king cobra.

Ball pythons are named after their natural defensive behaviors. They tend to curl up into a ball with their head toward the center of the ball when threatened.

Garter snakes are harmless to people, but have mildly venomous saliva.

Western Hognose Snake with its hood inflated. The hognose snakes' most distinguishing characteristic is their upturned snout, which aids in digging in sandy soils by using a sweeping, side-to-side motion. 

Boa constrictors are non-venomous snakes famous for their method of subduing prey: squeezing, or constricting, it to death.

The Children's Python gets its name from the scientist who first described them in 1842, John George Children, the curator of the British Museum's zoological collection at the time of the discovery.

Broad-Band Copperhead snake (Agkistrodon laticinctus) on black background

Copperhead snakes are usually only two to three feet long. Like most pit vipers, they have stocky bodies, thin necks, and broad, angular heads.

Snakes typically deposit the waste from a meal all at once.

A regularly recurrent event during the activity period of all snakes is the shedding, or molting, of the skin.

An exotic veterinarian helping a smooth snake to shed its skin.

How Often Do Snakes Shed

Where Do Snakes Live

A Black rat snake looking in sliding glass door on back porch of a house in North Carolina in spring.

A Green anaconda (Eunectes murinus), which is especially partial to flooded grassland.

Black Rat snake

A Banded Sea Snake swimming over a coral reef.

Water moccasin floating on water. Water moccasins are very common in wetlands.

A juvenile Borneo Paradise Flying Snake on a leaf. These snakes commonly live in the rainforest.

Cottonmouth swimming in water. The snake has a long, thick, muscular body measuring up to 6 feet in size.

Water snakes’ eyes are higher on their head, visible from above.

Snakes can sometimes go weeks at a time without eating.

What Eats Snakes

Grilled snake on a skewer with chili sauce and steamed rice on white plate on mat top view. Cooked snake is a popular choice in some cultures.

Scientists in the UK have found that the Secretary Bird, native to sub-Saharan Africa, can deliver precise and powerful kicks with a force five times its own body weight; enough to kill venomous snakes in less than the blink of an eye.

Kingsnakes are known for eating other snakes - including venomous species. Kingsnakes are apparently immune to the venom of the snake species upon which they prey.

The wolverine is very quick and can run at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour when chasing its prey. The wolverine also pounces on its prey from trees.

Snake eggs that aren't white or off-white are more than likely not viable.

Snakes sometimes come out of their shelters to bask in the sunlight during brumation.

Snakes do not eat more to store fat before entering brumation.

Snakes shed their skin in one piece.

Snakes That Look Like Copperheads

Large adult Eastern black rat snake in defensive coiled posture on a road. When threatened, rat snakes will "rattle" their tail, fooling other animals into believing they are venomous.

Eastern milk snakes are very beneficial animals, especially for farmers, as they hunt down small rodents often found on farm buildings and barns.

Mole kingsnakes are rarely seen in the wild since they tend to be fossorial, spending much of their time underground and out of sight.

Texas Brown Snake, Storeria dekayi texana. There are seven subspecies recognized.

The black racer is an agile and very fast animal that can "run" (crawl) 4 miles per hour when it is threatened, hence the name "racer".

Eastern Hognose Snake with a flattened neck on sandy soil with grass. The eastern hognose snake will flatten its head and neck and hiss loudly when threatened.

A beautiful corn snake in the garden. The name corn snake may have originated from the markings on this snake's belly, which resemble maize, or Indian corn.

The Puffing Snake, Phrynonax poecilonotus, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the New World.

Eastern hognose snakes play dead in dramatic fashion.

The Texas indigo snake received its common name from the glossy iridescent ventral scales which can be seen as blackish-purple in bright light.

Corn Snake vs Copperhead

Corn Snake vs Copperhead

Corn Snake vs Copperhead

A juvenile Green Tree Python Snake in a tree, coiled and ready to strike.

Spectacled cobra, Naja naja, Bangalore, Karnataka. The Indian cobra is one of the big four venomous species that inflict the most snakebites on humans in India.

A yellow-ringed Boiga snake ready to attack. Snakes can't bite food so have to swallow it whole.

There are five recognized species of flying snakes.

Venom from the Belcher's Sea Snake is so toxic, that a single bite can kill a human being in less than thirty minutes.

Smallest Snakes

The diminutive Barbados Thread snake might easily be mistaken for an earthworm, and can comfortably curl up on a U.S. quarter.

Brahminy Blind Snake may get into the home along with potted plants, or come in from outside by crawling under doors or through cracks.

The Flat-headed Snake is a burrowing species. It spends most of its time in slightly moist soil under rocks or in underground burrows.

Lined snakes are small and thin and have small heads that are hardly wider than their body.

Ringneck Snakes will play dead when threatened.

Biggest Snakes

The Green Anaconda give birth to live young, that are about two feet long when they are born.

The Reticulated Python is one of the snakes very popular with expert reptile keepers.

Amethystine Pythons are very good swimmers and will travel by water when it is required.

Main threats to Indian pythons include habitat loss, collection for the pet trade and hunting for their skin which is highly valued in the leather trade.

Like all pythons, the African Rock Python is non-venomous. It kills by constriction, ambushing and coiling around its prey.

Black Mambas are also among the fastest snakes in the world, slithering at speeds of up to 12.5 miles per hour.

Boa constrictors have some sharp teeth which they use to latch onto their prey and hold tight while they wrap the rest of their body around their prey.

The King Brown Snake usually shelter in burrows, deep soil cracks, logs, rock piles, and timber or rubbish piles when living near humans.

Cottonmouth snake displaying its white mouth as a warning.

Snake (Serpentes)

Snake (Serpentes)

Snake

Rattlesnake

Tiger rattlesnakes have smaller heads than other rattlesnakes.

True cobras have larger hoods and smaller heads than king cobras