Range in California: Red
Click the map for a guide
to the other subspecies.
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Electronic Field Guide to the
Reptiles and Amphibians of
Southern California
Available Now at the
iTunes App Store. |
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| Adult, Kern County |
Adult, Kern County |
Adult, Kern County |
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Adult, Riverside County |
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Adult, Riverside County |
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| Adult, Inyo County |
Adult, Riverside County
© Harold De Lisle |
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Adult, northeast Kern County
(possible intergrade with C. o. talpina.) |
Adult male, San Bernardino County
© Trevor Yehle |
This black and white snake was found in Riverside County © Brian Hinds |
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Adult, northern Riverside County © Brian Hinds
This snake from the Little San Bernardino Mountains, which are in the range of C. o. occipitalis, shows characteristics of the southern subspecies C. o. annulata - including some red markings and black bands that circle the body. |
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| Habitat |
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| Habitat, Inyo County |
Habitat, Inyo County |
Habitat, Riverside County |
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| Habitat, Riverside County |
Habitat, Riverside County |
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Short Videos |
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| Two views of a Mohave Shovel-nosed Snake crawling. |
Tired of being continually picked up and posed for the camera, this tiny but gutsy Mohave Shovel-nosed Snake finally got angry and struck repeatedly at the camera. |
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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 40 or more black bands, usually with no red crossbands between them. Most black bands do not completely encircle the body. The head is narrow with a large spade-like scale on the tip of a flat shovel-like snout, a countersunk 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 |
This subspecies, Chionactis occipitalis occipitalis - Mohave Shovel-nosed Snake, is found in the central southern California deserts to the base of the mountains - south and east of the Sierras and Tehachapis, and north and west of the Transverse and Peninsular ranges, north to around the Panamint Valley, south to near the Salton Sea, and east into southern Nevada and west central Arizona.
The species Chionactis occipitalis - Western Shovel-nosed Snake, occurs from the Southern California deserts into Nevada, western Arizona, to Baja California and northern Sonora, Mexico. |
| 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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occipitalis |
Mohave Shovel-nosed Snake |
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Original Description |
Chionactis occipitalis - (Hallowell, 1854) - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 7, p. 95
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
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
Mojave Desert Shovelnose Snake
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Related or Similar California Snakes |
C. o. annulata - Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake
C. o. talpina - Nevada Shovel-nosed Snake
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., and McGinnis, Samuel M. Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Revised Edition (California Natural History Guides) University of California Press, 2012.
Stebbins, Robert C. California Amphibians and Reptiles. The University of California Press, 1972.
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 by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
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 Wildlife |
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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