1
Aesculapian Snake
Zamenis longissimus
A large, slender non-venomous European colubrid named for the staff of Asclepius, the ancient Greek god of medicine.
Below are snakes that contain the letter I anywhere in the name. Each of the 57 snakes below opens to a full profile.
Table of contents
List of Snakes That Contain I
2
African Rock Python
Python sebae
Africa's largest snake and one of the world's heaviest constrictors, blotched with rich brown and tan along its long, muscular body.
3
Arabian Sand Boa
Eryx jayakari
A small, pop-eyed desert boa with eyes set on top of its head, allowing it to ambush prey while completely buried in loose sand.
4
Asian Vine Snake
Ahaetulla nasuta
A slender, leaf-green tree snake of South and Southeast Asia with binocular vision and a delicate pointed snout.
5
Asp Viper
Vipera aspis
A short, thick alpine viper of southwestern Europe, named for the asp of Greek and Roman antiquity but distinct from Cleopatra's snake.
6
Banded Krait
Bungarus fasciatus
A boldly black-and-yellow ringed elapid of South and Southeast Asia, shy by day but highly venomous if cornered.
7
Boa Constrictor
Boa constrictor
A heavy-bodied neotropical boa famed for its strong constriction and adaptability across forests, savannas, and human-modified habitats.
8
Coachwhip
Masticophis flagellum
A long, slender, exceptionally fast North American colubrid whose tail is patterned like a braided whip.
9
Coastal Taipan
Oxyuranus scutellatus
Australia's largest venomous snake and one of the world's most dangerous elapids, with a coffin-shaped head and lightning-fast strike.
10
Common Krait
Bungarus caeruleus
A glossy black-and-white South Asian elapid responsible for many bites at night because it readily enters homes and beds.
11
Desert Kingsnake
Lampropeltis splendida
A handsome chain-patterned North American constrictor that hunts and eats other snakes, including rattlesnakes.
12
Dice Snake
Natrix tessellata
A non-venomous European water snake with a peppered "dice" pattern, hunting fish almost exclusively in clean streams and lakes.
13
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Crotalus adamanteus
The largest rattlesnake in the world, a heavy-bodied pit viper of the longleaf pine ecosystems of the American Southeast.
14
Eastern Indigo Snake
Drymarchon couperi
The longest native snake in the United States, a glossy blue-black colubrid that preys on venomous snakes in the southeastern coastal plain.
15
Egyptian Cobra
Naja haje
A large, broad-hooded African elapid steeped in ancient Egyptian symbolism and reputed to be the snake of Cleopatra's death.
16
Eyelash Viper
Bothriechis schlegelii
A small, colourful arboreal pit viper of Central American cloud forests, named for the spiky raised scales above its eyes.
17
Gaboon Viper
Bitis gabonica
A massive, perfectly camouflaged African viper with the longest fangs of any snake, lying motionless in leaf litter for weeks at a time.
18
Horned Viper
Cerastes cerastes
A small, sand-coloured desert viper of North Africa and the Middle East, recognisable by the upright horn above each eye.
19
Indian Cobra
Naja naja
A widespread South Asian elapid bearing the iconic spectacle marking on its hood, sacred in Hindu mythology and one of the Big Four medically important snakes of India.
20
Indian Python
Python molurus
A large South Asian python, paler and a touch shorter than its Burmese relative, equally at home in jungles and rocky hillsides.
21
Inland Taipan
Oxyuranus microlepidotus
The world's most venomous land snake, an elusive elapid of the cracked clay plains of central Australia.
22
Jamaican Boa
Chilabothrus subflavus
A handsome yellow-and-black Caribbean constrictor endemic to Jamaica, critically reduced by introduced mongooses and habitat loss.
23
King Brown Snake
Pseudechis australis
A heavy, broad-headed Australian elapid also known as the mulga snake, with the largest venom yield of any Australian snake.
24
King Cobra
Ophiophagus hannah
The world's longest venomous snake, native to South and Southeast Asian forests, known for the hooded display and powerful neurotoxic venom.
25
Kingsnake
Lampropeltis getula
A widespread North American constrictor renowned for eating other snakes, including venomous rattlesnakes and copperheads, to which it is immune.
26
Kirtland Snake
Clonophis kirtlandii
A small, secretive Midwestern North American natricine snake that lives almost entirely in burrows beneath wet meadows and is now seriously declining.
27
Levant Viper
Macrovipera lebetina
A heavy-bodied Near Eastern viper formerly considered the same species as the Ottoman viper, common across rocky hillsides from Turkey to Iran.
28
Long-nosed Whip Snake
Platyceps najadum
A slim Mediterranean colubrid with a sharply pointed snout, racing through dry scrub and stone walls at remarkable speed.
29
Milk Snake
Lampropeltis triangulum
A widely distributed, brightly banded constrictor whose mimicry of coral snakes inspired the famous "red touches black, friend of Jack" rhyme.
30
Night Snake
Hypsiglena torquata
A small, vertically pupilled North American colubrid often mistaken for a baby rattlesnake but armed only with mildly toxic rear-fang saliva.
31
Nose-horned Viper
Vipera ammodytes
A southern European viper with a single upward-curving horn on the snout, considered the most dangerous snake in Europe.
32
Olive Python
Liasis olivaceus
A large, uniformly coloured Australian python of rocky watercourses across the tropical north, second only to the scrub python in Australian length.
33
Olive Sea Snake
Aipysurus laevis
A large, curious Indo-Pacific marine elapid often encountered on coral reefs, approaching divers without aggression but bearing potent venom.
34
Oriental Rat Snake
Ptyas mucosa
A long, slim, alert Asian colubrid often kept by snake charmers, beneficial around villages for controlling rats and rodents.
35
Pit Viper
Calloselasma rhodostoma
The Malayan pit viper is a stout, irritable Southeast Asian ambush hunter responsible for many bites in Thai and Vietnamese plantations.
36
Pope Pit Viper
Trimeresurus popeiorum
A slender green arboreal pit viper of Southeast Asian rainforests, named for the American herpetologist Clifford H. Pope.
37
Reticulated Python
Malayopython reticulatus
The longest snake species in the world, a slender Southeast Asian giant with a complex network-like geometric pattern.
38
Rhinoceros Viper
Bitis nasicornis
A spectacularly patterned West and Central African viper with two or three horns at the tip of the snout.
39
Ribbon Snake
Thamnophis sauritus
A long, thin striped garter-snake relative that hunts frogs along the edges of clean ponds and streams in eastern North America.
40
Ringneck Snake
Diadophis punctatus
A small, slate-grey North American snake with a vivid orange neck ring and belly, often found under logs and flat stones.
41
Russell Viper
Daboia russelii
A heavy, irritable South Asian viper named for Scottish naturalist Patrick Russell, responsible for tens of thousands of fatal bites each year.
42
Saw-scaled Viper
Echis carinatus
A small, irritable Asian viper that produces a rasping warning sound by rubbing its serrated scales together and kills more people each year than any other snake.
43
Sea Krait
Laticauda colubrina
A handsome black-and-white ringed marine elapid that returns to land to rest and digest its eel-only diet.
44
Sidewinder
Crotalus cerastes
A small horned rattlesnake of North American deserts that moves by throwing its body sideways across hot loose sand.
45
Spitting Cobra
Naja nigricollis
A black-necked African cobra that defends itself by spraying venom from modified fangs straight at the eyes of a threat.
46
Sumatran Pit Viper
Trimeresurus sumatranus
A small green arboreal pit viper of high-elevation Indonesian forests, distinguished by tiny scales on the head and a yellow eye.
47
Tiger Snake
Notechis scutatus
A boldly banded Australian elapid of cool, wet southern habitats, responsible for a steady share of the country's serious snakebites.
48
Timber Rattlesnake
Crotalus horridus
A large, heavy-bodied rattlesnake of eastern North American hardwood forests, calm by nature and culturally important in colonial American history.
49
Twin-spotted Rattlesnake
Crotalus pricei
A small, high-altitude rattlesnake of the sky-island pine forests on the U.S.-Mexico border, with a row of paired dark blotches along the back.
50
Usambara Bush Viper
Atheris ceratophora
A small, glittering arboreal viper of the Usambara Mountains in Tanzania, with strongly keeled scales that give it a rough armoured look.
51
Vine Snake
Oxybelis aeneus
A slim, brown American tree snake with an extraordinary pointed snout, hunting lizards in the foliage of dry forests from Mexico to Argentina.
52
Viperine Snake
Natrix maura
A harmless European water snake that mimics the adder's zig-zag pattern as a defence against predators.
53
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
Crotalus atrox
The most widespread rattlesnake in the American Southwest, responsible for a large share of snakebites across the desert states.
54
Whip Snake
Demansia psammophis
A long, slim, fast-moving Australian colubrid renowned for chasing prey over open ground at impressive speed.
55
Yamakagashi
Rhabdophis tigrinus
A handsome rear-fanged Japanese natricine snake with unusual neck glands that sequester toxins from the toads it eats.
56
Yellow-bellied Sea Snake
Hydrophis platurus
A fully pelagic marine elapid found drifting in open ocean across most of the Indian and Pacific, the most widely distributed snake in the world.
57
Zebra Spitting Cobra
Naja nigricincta
A small African elapid of dry savanna and rocky scrub, marked with stark light-and-dark bars that resemble zebra stripes on the throat.
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