Range in California: Green
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to the other subspecies.
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Adult, Imperial County |
Adult, Imperial County |
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Adult, Imperial County |
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Juvenile, San Diego County |
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Juvenile, San Diego County |
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Adult, Imperial County |
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| Adult, Riverside County |
Adult, San Diego County, found by David Young. Photo © Stuart Young |
Juvenile, Imperial County |
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Snake tracks in the sand |
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| Habitat |
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| Habitat, San Diego County |
Habitat, San Diego County |
Habitat, San Diego County |
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| Habitat, Imperial County |
Habitat, Imperial County |
Habitat, Imperial County |
| Short Video |
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A nocturnal Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed snake crawls across the desert floor. |
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Description |
Nonvenomous |
| Considered harmless to humans. |
| Size |
| Adults are 11 - 17 inches long (25 - 43 cm) |
| Appearance |
| Smooth, shiny scales, not keeled. The ground color is cream or yellowish and the body is circled with black bands, usually fewer than 25, and most often with narrow red crossbands between them. Usually less than 45 bands. Many black bands completely encircle the body. The head is narrow with a large spade-like scale on the tip of a flat shovel-like snout, acountersunk lower jaw, and nasal valves. |
| Behavior |
| Nocturnal. Burrows underground in daytime, but occasionally found by day in shaded areas. Smooth scales, flat shout, concave abdomen, and nasal valves are adaptations that allow for a quick swimming movement through loose sand, with an s-shaped, side-to-side movement. Often seen crossing desert roads at night. |
| Diet |
| Eats invertebrates: insects, scorpions, spiders, centipedes, larval insects and moths, often while the snake is burrowing. |
| Reproduction |
| Lays eggs late spring through summer. |
| Range |
| Found in extreme southeastern California, east of the desert slope of the peninsular range to the Colorado River. Ranges south into Baja California, and east into southwestern Arizona. |
| Habitat |
| Inhabits dry desert habitats with loose sand and often with little vegetation - washes, dunes, sandy flats, rocky hillsides. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| None. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Colubridae |
Colubrids |
| Genus |
Chionactis |
Shovel-nosed Snakes |
| Species |
occipitalis |
Western Shovel-nosed Snake |
Subspecies
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annulata |
Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake |
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Original Description |
Chionactis occipitalis - (Hallowell, 1854) - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 7, p. 95
Chionactis occipitalis annulata - (Baird, 1859) - U.S. Mex. Bound. Surv., Vol. 2, Rept., Pt. 2, p. 22, pl. 21
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Chionactis - Greek - chion - snow and aktis - ray or beam
occipitalis - Latin - pertaining to the back of the head
annulata - Latin - ringed - referring to the banded body
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
None
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Related or Similar California Snakes |
C. o. occipitalis - Mohave Shovel-nosed Snake
C. o. talpina - Nevada Shovel-nosed Snake
C. stramineus - Variable Sandsnake
S. s. semiannulata - Variable Groundsnake
R. l. lecontei - Western Long-nosed Snake
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
Behler, John L., and F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Powell, Robert., Joseph T. Collins, and Errol D. Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians and Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. The University Press of Kansas, 1998.
Bartlett, R. D. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Snakes of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009.
Bartlett, R.D. , & Alan Tennant. Snakes of North America - Western Region. Gulf Publishing Co., 2000.
Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997.
Ernst, Carl H., Evelyn M. Ernst, & Robert M. Corker. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Wright, Albert Hazen & Anna Allen Wright. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press.
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The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game.
This snake is not included on the Special Animals List, which indicates that there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
None |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
None |
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| California Department of Fish and Game |
None |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
None |
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| USDA Forest Service |
None |
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| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
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World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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