Types of Snakes with Pictures

Snakes symbolized peace in Roman myths and Mexican myths attributed totality of heaven and earth to them. However, according to the Old Testament, snake (also known as serpent) symbolized the tempter 'Satan' and a Greek myth says that the serpent is a figure of evil.

Snakes are venomous or non-venomous and these 'cold-blooded crawlers' are among the most fascinating creatures that have been known to exist on the Earth. A brief description of the various types of snakes has been provided below along with some 'eye-catching' snakes pictures.

Different Types Of Snakes
As mentioned earlier, there are two kinds of snakes; venomous and non-venomous. Venomous snakes fall in three sub-categories, viz. elapidae, viperidae, and colubridae. And non-venomous snakes include the family of boidae and other snakes. Let's understand each of these types in a greater detail.

Elapidae (elapids)
The most venomous species of snakes known to man fall in this group and they prevail in tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world. They are known to bear a set of hollow fangs which are used to inject neurotoxic venom, which directly attacks the nervous system of the prey. There are a very few who survive the bite of a snake belonging to the elapids. The inland taipan heads the list of the most venomous land snakes in the world and it belongs to the family of elapids. Other members comprise the black mamba, cobras, kraits, hydrophis belch, the North American coral snake, Australian copperheads and king cobras.

A subfamily of elapidae could be hydrophiidae, according to some taxonomists. The family comprises sea snakes, which are extremely venomous, but with rare human encounters. Their venom is made up of neurotoxins and mytotoxins and is considered to be more venomous than land snakes. This family again could be subdivided into the Hydrophiinae, and the Laticaudinae. It must be noted that the association of hydrophiidae to elapidae is a topic that is till unclear and inconclusive. And that is why, some taxonomists work with this family considering it to be a subfamily of the elapidae, while some continue regarding it as a different species of venomous snakes altogether.

Viperidae (viperids)
Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Madagascar, Hawaii and the Arctic Circle are some of the few places devoid of viperids (popularly known as vipers). However, the rest of the world plays host to these venomous reptiles. Copperheads, rattlesnakes, water moccasins, bushmaster, fer-de-lance, Russell's viper, saw-scaled viper, temple viper, death adder, Gaboon and rhinoceros vipers are all famous examples of different types of snakes which are vipeirds.

Colubrida (colubrids)
Snakes belonging to this group of colubrids are mostly non-venomous or relatively less venomous than elapids and viperids. The African twig snake, the boomslang, racers, the hognose snake, queen snake, the common keelback, king snake, corn snake, bull snake, rat snake, garter snake, smooth snake, water snake mussurana and milk snake are all colubrids. As mentioned before, these snakes are mostly non-venomous, however, their bites may require immediate medical intervention.

Boidae
This family comprises non-venomous, but big and powerful constrictors which can swallow a fully grown buck, apart from other large animals! You can find the largest types of snakes in the boidae family that includes the most popular anaconda, the reticulated python, the Burmese python and the African rock python. These snake species rely on their strength to suffocate their prey, unlike the venomous ones which use venom as their primary weapon.

Other than pythons and boas, other non-venomous snakes are the brown water snake, banded water snake, mud snake, eastern indigo snake, scarlet kingsnake, scarlet snake, etc. Here is a link for more on facts about snakes.

Snake Types and Pictures

Below is a table of different types of snakes pictures along with their scientific names. You can click on the images below to view their enlarged versions

Snake Pictures	Types of Snakes (Non-Venomous)	Scientific Name
	Brown Water Snake	Nerodia taxispilota
	Banded Water Snake	Nerodia fasciata
	Scarlet Snake	Cemophora coccinea
	Corn Snake	Elaphe guttata
	Desert Kingsnake	Lampropeltis getula splendida
	California Kingsnake	Lampropeltis getulus californiae
	Western Coachwhip	Masticophis flagellum flagellum
	Rough Green Snake	Opheodrys aestivus
	Hognose Snake	Heterodon platirhinos
	Ringneck Snake	Diadophis punctatus
	Red Sided Garter Snake	Thamnophis sirtalis infernalis
	Common Garter Snake	Thamnophis sirtalis
	Ribbon Snake	Thamnophis sauritus
	Red Milk Snake	Lampropeltis triangulum syspila
	Gray Banded Kingsnake	Lampropeltis alterna
	Glossy Snake	Arizona elegans occidentalis
	Gopher Snake	Pituophis melanoleucus catenifer
	Anaconda	Eunectes murinus
	Reticulated Python	Python reticulatus
	Burmese Python	Python molarus bivittatus
	The African Rock Python	Python sebae sebae
	Green Tree Python	Morelia viridis
	White Lipped Python	Leiopython albertisii
	Emerald Tree Boa	Corallus caninus
	Rosy Boa	Trivirgata
	Yellow Snake (Jamaican boa)	Epicrates subflavus
	Ball Python	Python Regius
	King Rat Snake	Elaphe carinata
	Baird's Rat Snake	Elaphe bairdi
	Black Rat Snake	Elaphe obsoleta
	Everglades Rat Snake	Elaphe obsoleta rossalleni
	Red Tailed Green Rat Snake	Elaphe oxycephala
	Brown House Snake	Lamprophis fuliginosus
	Bull snake	Pituophis catenifer sayi
	Yellow Rat Snake	Elaphe Obsoleta Quadrivittata
	Mud Snake	Farancia abacura
	Eastern Indigo Snake	Drymarchon couperi
	Scarlet Kingsnake	Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides
	Black Racer	Coluber constrictor
	Redbelly Snake	Storeria occipitomaculata
	Big Bend or New Mexico Milk Snake	Lampropeltis triangulum celaenops
	Ground Snake	Sonora semiannulata
	Southwestern Blackhead Snake	Southwestern Blackhead Snake
	Texas Long-Nosed Snake	Rhinocheilus lecontei tessellatus
	Trans-Pecos Blind Snake	Leptotyphlops humilis segregus
	Trans Pecos Rat Snake	Bogertophis subocularis
	Western Hook-Nosed Snake	Gyalopion canum
	Gray Rat Snake	Elaphe obsoleta spiloides
	Mexican Night Snake	Pseudelaphe flavirufus
	Taiwanese Beauty Rat Snakes	Elaphe taeniura

Snake Pictures	Types of Snakes (Venomous)	Scientific Name
	Black Mamba	Dendroaspis polylepis
	Red Spitting Cobra	Naja pallida
	Rough Scaled Bush Viper	Atheris hispida
	Indian Cobra	Naja Naja
	Green Vine Snake	Oxybelis fulgidus
	Brown Vine Snake	Oxybelis aeneus
	King Cobra Snake	Ophiophagus Hannah
	Cape Cobra	Naja nivea
	Coral Snake	Micrurus fulvius tenere
	Copperhead Snake	Agkistron contortrix
	Mozambique Spitting Cobra	Naja mossambica
	Egyptian Cobra	Naja haje
	Red Tailed Racer	Gonyosoma oxycephala
	Eastern Tiger Snake	Telescopus semiannulatus
	Australian Common Tiger Snake	Notechis scutatus
	Common Adder	Vipera berus
	Puff Adder	Bitis arietans
	Horned Adder	Bitis caudalis
	Diamondback Rattlesnake	Crotalus atrox
	Timber Rattlesnake	Crotalus horridus
	Water Moccasin	Agkistrodon piscivorus
	Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake	Crotalus adamantus
	Black Tailed Rattlesnake	Crotalus molossus
	Pacific Rattlesnake	Crotalus atrox
	Mohave Rattlesnake	Crotalus scutulatus
	Fer-de-lance	Bothrops asper
	Persian Horned Viper	Pseudocerastes persicus
	Eyelash Viper	Bothriechis schlegelii
	Temple Pit Viper	Tropidolaemus subannulatus
	Gaboon Viper	Bitis gabonica
	Rhinoceros Viper	Bitis nasicornis
	Godman's Pit Viper	Porthidium godmani
	Philippine Cobra	Naja philippinensis
	Belcher's Sea Snake	Hydrophis belch
	Australian Copperheads	Austrelaps superbus
	Inland Taipan	Oxyuranus microlepidotus
	Papuan Taipan	Oxyuranus scutellatus canni
	Coastal Taipan	Oxyuranus scutellatus scutellatus
	Eastern Brown Snake	Pseudonaja textilis
	Mainland Tiger Snake	Notechis scutatus scutatus
	Peninsula Tiger Snake	Notechis ater occidentalis
	Chappell Island tiger snake	Notechis ater serventyi
	King Island/Tasmania Tiger snake	Notechis ater humphreysi
	Black Headed Death Adder	Acanthophis amstrongi
	Barkly Tableland Death Adder	Acanthophis hawkei
	Desert Death Adder	Acanthophis pyrrhus
	Northern Death Adder	Acanthophis praelongus
	Gwardar	Pseudonaja nuchalis
	Bushmaster	Lachesis muta muta
	Russell's Viper	Vipera russelli
	Saw-Scaled Viper	Echis carinatus
	Rough-Scaled Snake	Tropidechis carinatus
	Papuan Black Snake	Pseudechis papuanus
	Multibanded Krait	Bungarus Multicinctus
	Stephen's Banded Snake	Hoplocephalus stephensi
	Spotted Black Snake	Pseudechis guttatus
	Collett's Snake	Pseudechis colletti
	Mulga Snake	Pseudechis australis
	Red-bellied Black Snake	Pseudechis porphyriacus
	Small-Eyed Snake	Cryptophis nigrescens
	Marbled Headed Whip Snake	Demansi olivacea
	Barba Amarilla	Bothrops atrox
	Horned Sea Snake	Acalyptophis peronii
	Highland Copperhead	Austrelaps labialis
	Pygmy Copperhead	Austrelaps ramsayi
	Lake Cronin Snake	Echiopsis atriceps
	Bardick Snake	Echiopsis curta
	Pale-Headed Snake	Hoplocephalus bitorquatus
	Broad-Headed Snake	Hoplocephalus bungaroides
	Jararacussu	Bothrops jararacussu
	Butler's Snake/Spotted Mulga	Pseudechis butleri
	Speckled Brown Snake	Pseudonaja guttata
	Peninsula Brown Snake	Pseudonaja inframacula
	Ringed Brown Snake	Pseudonaja modesta

The above list of different types of snakes and snakes pictures provide an avenue for identifying poisonous snakes and snakes which are harmless.

Although I have classified non-poisonous snakes as harmless, even venomous snakes pose no threat to human beings, until and unless they are 'provoked'. In fact, all creatures in the animal kingdom do not bear any 'grudge' against mankind. If we give them their space and let them be, they do not have any reason, to reciprocate this feeling!