Snakes in Florida: Venomous and Harmless Species to Know

How many snakes live in Florida?

The exact count depends on how scientists divide species, but most sources put Florida’s native snakes at roughly 45–50 species. The Florida Museum of Natural History’s identification guide covers more than 50 species, including several introduced snakes. That makes Florida one of the richest states for snakes in the US, thanks to its warm climate and its mix of pine flatwoods, sandhills, swamps, marshes, rivers and coastal islands.

The six venomous species belong to two groups:

• Pit vipers (five species): the three rattlesnakes, the cottonmouth and the copperhead. They have a heat-sensing pit between the eye and the nostril, vertical cat-like pupils and a broad head.
• Elapids (one species): the eastern coral snake, a slender, brightly ringed relative of cobras and mambas.

Lengths are typical adult ranges from the Florida Museum; larger individuals occur.

Eastern diamondback rattlesnake

The eastern diamondback (Crotalus adamanteus) is the largest rattlesnake and the heaviest venomous snake in North America. Most adults are 84–183 cm (33–72 in) long, and a few exceed 2 m (6.5 ft). It is thick-bodied and brownish, with a row of large dark diamonds outlined in cream down its back, a dark stripe edged in pale lines running diagonally through each eye, and a rattle at the tip of its tail.

It lives in every Florida county and on many islands, including many of the Florida Keys. It favors dry pine flatwoods, sandhills, scrub and coastal dunes, and often shelters in gopher tortoise burrows. Diamondbacks feed mainly on rabbits, rats and other small mammals, waiting motionless for hours beside a trail. When disturbed, most try to stay hidden or crawl away; if cornered, they coil and rattle loudly as a warning.

Its bite is a medical emergency, but bites are uncommon and nearly always follow a person stepping on, touching or trying to handle the snake. The species has declined across much of its range because of habitat loss and road traffic.

Timber rattlesnake (canebrake rattlesnake)

The timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), called the canebrake rattlesnake in the Southeast, has a limited range in Florida: the Florida Museum has confirmed it in only 12 counties in the north of the state. Most adults are about 0.9–1.5 m (3–5 ft) long.

It is pinkish gray to tan with black, chevron-shaped (V-shaped) crossbands, a reddish-brown stripe along the middle of the back and an all-black tail ending in a rattle. It lives in hardwood forests, river floodplains and other damp woodland, where its pattern blends into leaf litter. The only Florida snake easily confused with it is the eastern diamondback, which has diamonds instead of chevrons and a banded rather than black tail.

Dusky pygmy rattlesnake

The dusky pygmy rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius barbouri) is Florida’s smallest venomous snake, usually 30–61 cm (12–24 in) long. It is gray with rows of dark blotches and a reddish-brown stripe down the middle of the back. Its rattle is so small that the warning sounds like a buzzing insect and is easy to miss.

Pygmy rattlesnakes live in every Florida county, though not in the Keys, and are common in pine flatwoods, wet prairies, marsh edges and suburban yards near wetlands. Bites are painful but generally not life-threatening for healthy adults; they can be more serious for children. Harmless hognose snakes are often mistaken for pygmy rattlesnakes, but they have an upturned snout, round pupils and no rattle.

Cottonmouth (water moccasin)

The cottonmouth, also called the water moccasin, is found in every Florida county and on many nearshore islands, including the Upper Keys. Most authorities treat Florida’s cottonmouths as the Florida cottonmouth (Agkistrodon conanti). Adults are usually 76–122 cm (30–48 in) long and heavy-bodied. Young snakes have bold brown crossbands and a sulfur-yellow tail tip, but adults darken with age and may look almost uniformly black. A broad dark stripe runs through each eye.

Cottonmouths live in and around swamps, marshes, ponds, ditches and slow rivers, and they eat fish, frogs, other snakes and small mammals. When threatened, a cottonmouth often stands its ground, coils and opens its mouth wide to show the white lining that gives it its name. Despite their reputation, field studies have found that cottonmouths usually try to escape or warn rather than bite; most bites happen when people handle or step on them.

Eastern copperhead: Panhandle only

The eastern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) is common in much of the eastern US but rare in Florida, where it occurs only in the Panhandle, mainly along the Apalachicola River and its tributaries and at the far western tip of the state. The Florida Museum has verified records from Calhoun, Escambia, Gadsden, Jackson, Liberty, Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties.

Adults are usually 56–91 cm (22–36 in) long, with an hourglass pattern of broad light and dark brown crossbands that are narrow on the back and wide on the sides. Copperhead bites are very painful but rarely life-threatening for healthy adults. In the peninsula, a “copperhead” is almost always a young cottonmouth, a banded water snake or a corn snake.

Eastern coral snake

The eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius), also called the harlequin coral snake, is a slim snake usually 51–76 cm (20–30 in) long, with wide red and black rings separated by narrow yellow rings. Its head is small, with a black snout followed by a broad yellow band. It occurs in every Florida county and on Key Largo.

Coral snakes are secretive and spend much of their time under leaf litter, logs and loose soil, feeding mainly on other snakes and lizards. Their venom attacks the nervous system and a bite can be life-threatening, but bites are extremely rare and almost all involve people deliberately picking up or handling the snake. They are not aggressive.

Harmless look-alikes

Many harmless Florida snakes resemble venomous ones, and some imitate them on purpose. The safest rule is the same for every snake: if you are not sure, leave it alone.

• Scarlet kingsnake (Lampropeltis elapsoides): red, black and yellow rings that circle the body, like a coral snake, but the yellow rings touch only black ones and the snout is red. The old rhyme “red touches yellow, dangerous fellow; red touches black, friend of Jack” works for Florida’s native snakes, but it does not apply in other parts of the world and is no reason to handle a ringed snake.
• Scarletsnake (Cemophora coccinea): similar colors and a red, pointed snout, but the bands do not continue across its plain white belly.
• Water snakes (Nerodia): Florida has eight species of non-venomous water snakes, including the southern (banded) water snake, brown water snake and Florida green water snake. All are often mistaken for cottonmouths. Water snakes have round pupils, no facial pit and usually dark vertical bars on the lips, but these details should only be checked with binoculars or a photo.
• Hognose snakes (Heterodon): stout, blotched snakes with upturned snouts that flatten their necks, hiss and may even roll over and play dead. They are often confused with pygmy rattlesnakes.
• Corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus): an orange to red, blotched rat snake often mistaken for a copperhead.

Other common and notable native snakes

The snake Floridians see most often is probably the southern black racer, a fast, slender, glossy black snake with a white chin that hunts by day. Eastern rat snakes, corn snakes, garter and ribbon snakes and ring-necked snakes are also widespread, including in towns and gardens.

The eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) is the longest native snake in the United States and can exceed 2.4 m (8 ft). This glossy blue-black snake eats other snakes, including venomous ones, and is listed as Threatened under the US Endangered Species Act. Florida also has rare endemic species found nowhere else, such as the short-tailed snake of north-central Florida and the rim rock crowned snake of the Miami area and the Keys.

Burmese pythons and other invasive snakes

The Burmese python (Python bivittatus) is a giant, non-venomous constrictor from Southeast Asia, released or escaped from the pet trade. Pythons have been found in the Everglades since the 1980s, and by 2000 scientists had recognized a breeding population. The species is now established from Lake Okeechobee south through the Everglades to Florida Bay and Key Largo. Everglades National Park is its stronghold. Most adults are 3–5 m (10–16 ft) long, and the largest caught in Florida measured about 5.8 m (19 ft); the heaviest weighed about 98 kg (215 lb). For more giants, see our list of the largest snakes.

Pythons eat mammals, birds and reptiles up to the size of deer and even American alligators. A 2012 study by Dorcas and colleagues found that sightings of raccoons, opossums and bobcats along Everglades roads had fallen by roughly 88–99% since the 1990s, and rabbits and foxes had virtually disappeared. Some scientists have questioned the survey methods, but the overall decline is widely accepted. Python numbers are unknown: estimates range from about 30,000 to more than 300,000.

The state runs removal programs with trained contractors and an annual Florida Python Challenge, and it asks the public to report sightings of pythons and other non-native reptiles to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Small populations of other introduced snakes also live in South Florida, including northern African pythons and boa constrictors near Miami and the tiny Brahminy blind snake, a harmless, worm-like species whose populations are all female.

Where and when to see snakes in Florida

Snakes are active year-round in South Florida and on most warm days farther north, with peaks in spring and early summer and again in fall. In the heat of summer, many snakes move at dawn, dusk and after dark, especially after rain. Good places to watch reptiles safely from trails and boardwalks include Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park and the Ocala National Forest.

Staying safe around snakes

Venomous snakebites are uncommon, and deaths are rare. Across the whole US, the CDC estimates that about 7,000–8,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes each year and about five die. Most bites happen when someone tries to catch, move or kill a snake, or steps on one unseen.

• Leave every snake alone. Keep well back, never try to touch, catch or move it, and give it a clear path to escape.
• Watch where you step and reach, especially in tall grass, leaf litter and around logs, and use a flashlight on paths at night.
• If someone is bitten, call 911 immediately and get the person to emergency medical care as fast as possible.