/r/whatsthissnake
The authoritative source on Reddit for your snake identification needs. Please post your rough geographic location [in square brackets] in your title. If you're just sharing, also include your ID!
Operated by Snake Evolution and Biogeography [SEB]. Join our Discord by following the link at either the pinned post or tab at the top of the page.
WELCOME TO /R/WHATSTHISSNAKE!
Do you have a photo of a snake you'd like identified? Submit it here!
If your submission does not appear in the "NEW" bucket, message the mods to check the spam filter.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
- Indicate the geographic location in the title [using square brackets].
- Take the clearest and most detailed photos possible.
- Indicate the rough size.
- If you're looking for an ID of a shed skin, please provide a closeup of the head, scales along the back, and the bottom of the tail if possible.
- Provide any other information you feel could help!
- This is a place to foster understanding and appreciation of snakes. Posts about how you purposely killed a snake or how snakes should be killed are not met warmly.
IDing TIPS
- Don't make blind/random guesses. Our goal is to provide positive leads; false leads are counter-productive, e.g. "similar looking" is rarely good enough at the species level. If one is unfamiliar with the taxon, practice diligence, e.g. check other members of the taxon, as well as those of higher taxa. Especially for medically significant snakes, if you aren't 100% sure, leave the ID to someone more knowledgeable.
- If you know better, explain why using (ideally) discrete diagnostic characters.
- Cite/Link a source or point out a diagnostic character whenever possible.
Related Subreddits
/r/whatsthissnake
161,478 Subscribers
From Facebook unsure of the location, but does any of this seem correct? Is this a boomslang?
20:26 UTC
Found in Houston, TX
My two guesses are cottonmouth or yellow-bellied water snake.
18:57 UTC
Skin ID [NE Pennsylvania]
Biggest pile of skin I have ever found. Might be time to move...
What is it??
15:01 UTC
What snake is this? My neighbor is saying it's venemous [Richmond, TX]
14:33 UTC
[Florid, United States]
Found in a swimming pool. Was alive, I pulled it out and it just sat there, so I picked it up from behind on a piece of wood and carried it to a bush in a grassy space and it slithered away right away.
My main question is whether it’s venomous.
Thanks!
13:58 UTC
[Koh phangan, Thailand]. Chilling on the stairs to a party. Help with ID please.
Hiding in the leaves on the side of the stairs. Brown, about 60cm. Have a video that I can’t seem to post. Gently and safely encouraged to move off the stairs as people were walking up and down and didn’t want him to either get stepped on…. (Or provoked to bite in case he is a dangerous noodle.)
13:11 UTC
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta - Columbia
Cat eyed snake? Thanks all
07:29 UTC
What is this guy? [Sydney, Aus]
04:16 UTC
Snake I briefly saw in [Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico]
Fairly certain this is Symphimus mayae the Yucatán White-Lipped Snake based on the terrible photo and what I saw of the snake as it paused on the path.
I live in a snake diversity wasteland and was really hoping to see a snake on my trip, so this was really exciting for me!
22:11 UTC
The best-looking Boiga cat snake? Jasper cat snake, Boiga jaspidea, from [Singapore] secondary forest.
14:00 UTC
Last one for the night, found [Phillip Island Victoria Australia]
I don't normally come across snakes but I came across 3 in 2022. I wonder if having less tourism in the COVID years brought the snakes out.
11:59 UTC
Snake found on a walk a few years ago [Stephenson Falls Otways Victoria Australia]
I thought it was a brown snake but wasn't sure because the head was a bit flat. It's hard to see in the picture. I was too scared to get close enough to take a good picture haha.
11:50 UTC
Found in Brisbane Australia in the city
I went to Brisbane a couple of years ago and found this snake chilling in the grass. I was shocked because the park is in the heart of the city.
11:37 UTC
[Hong Kong Island]
05:23 UTC