Species group · Reptiles
Snakes
WAnimals has 26 species of snake, spread across 9 families (Acrochordidae, Colubridae, Elapidae, Homalopsidae, Hydrophiidae, Lamprophiidae, Typhlopidae, Viperidae, Xenopeltidae).
- 26 species
- 9 families
- 143 countries
- 289 parks
- Weight
- 72 g – 15 kg
- Length
- 5 cm – 3 m
- Lifespan
- 6 – 30 years
Ranges calculated from the entries that record the figure, not from all 26.
All 26 species of snakes on WAnimals
Each one has its own full entry. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
Yellow-lipped Sea Krait
Laticauda colubrina
Yellow-bellied Sea Snake
Hydrophis platurus
Eastern Milksnake
Lampropeltis triangulum
Garden Flying Snake
Chrysopelea paradisi
Rhombic Egg Eater
Dasypeltis scabra
Eurasian Blind Snake
Typhlops vermicularis
Sunbeam Snake
Xenopeltis unicolor
Brown Tree Snake
Boiga irregularis
Elephant Trunk Snake
Acrochordus javanicus
California Kingsnake
Lampropeltis californiae
Western Hognose Snake
Heterodon nasicus
Mohave Rattlesnake
Crotalus scutulatus
Red Cornsnake
Pantherophis guttatus
Western Rat Snake
Pantherophis obsoletus
Painted Coral Snake
Micrurus corallinus
Timber Rattlesnake
Crotalus horridus
Mainland Island Snake
Notechis scutatus
Eastern Brown Snake
Pseudonaja textilis
Common Kingsnake
Lampropeltis getula
Common Death Adder
Acanthophis antarcticus
Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake
Crotalus atrox
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Crotalus adamanteus
Eastern Coral Snake
Micrurus fulvius
Striped Sand Snake
Psammophis sibilans
Brahminy Blindsnake
Indotyphlops braminus
Linne's Water Snake
Homalopsis buccata
Conservation status
No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.
See the global conservation statusWhere they live
Recorded in 143 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
Where to see them
- Congaree8 species
- Everglades7 species
- Biscayne6 species
- Great Smoky Mountains6 species
- Hot Springs6 species
- Mammoth Cave6 species
- Shenandoah6 species
- Assateague Island5 species
- Cuyahoga Valley5 species
- Indiana Dunes5 species
- New River Gorge5 species
- Acadia4 species
- Alor Archipelagodiving
- Ambon (Twilight Zone)diving
- Amed y Jemeluk Baydiving
- Anilaodiving
- Apo Islanddiving
- Apo Reef Natural Parkdiving
Did you know…
It is genuinely amphibious: it hunts eels on the reef but comes ashore to digest, shed its skin and lay its eggs, something the true sea snakes cannot do because they have lost their belly scales.
Its venom is several times more potent than a cobra's, but it is so docile and its mouth so small that fishermen in the Philippines and Fiji routinely handle it by hand.
It hunts in partnership with groupers and goatfish: the snake goes into the crevices of the reef and the fish wait outside for the prey that flee, an association documented between very different species.
It is the only completely oceanic snake in the world: it never touches land, gives birth at sea and lets the currents carry it, turning up from East Africa to the coast of California.
It drinks rainwater: it cannot process salt water, so it waits for downpours and sips the thin layer of fresh water left floating on the surface of the sea, and can go months dehydrated while it waits.
It hunts by floating motionless in the drift lines where debris and small fish gather, and strikes backwards with a speed that is surprising in an animal that looks adrift.
It copies the pattern of the coral snakes without being venomous; a popular vivarium animal.
From Eastern Milksnake
Its bands of colour closely resemble those of the true venomous coral snakes, a case of defensive mimicry in an animal that is not venomous itself.
From Eastern Milksnake