We Challenge You to ID All of These Species If You Think You're a Snake Expert!

By: Ian Fortey
Estimated Completion Time
4 min
We Challenge You to ID All of These Species If You Think You're a Snake Expert!
Image: frank wouters via WikiCommons

About This Quiz

With over 3,600 species of snake in the world, is it possible there's anyone anywhere who could actually identify them all? Anything's possible, but let's say it's highly unlikely. Still, to be a snake expert doesn't mean you have to know every single one on sight. You could probably consider yourself an expert knowing only a fraction of that number. But you really do have to know them: your vipers and your asps, your boas and your cobras. You'd have to be able to tell an arboreal snake from a terrestrial snake, a sea snake from a desert snake. You'd definitely have to know which kinds are venomous and which kinds are generally docile and easy for a human to handle without risking their safety. That's if you consider yourself any kind of expert.

Now we have no interest in making you identify 3,600 different species of snake. We'd be here for days! But if you figure you have some skill at identifying snakes, then no doubt you'd be able to get a few from this quiz correct. But are you such an expert you could get every single one? Only one way to find out! Take the quiz and see what you can do.

Egyptian Cobra
Wiki Commons by Safaritravelplus
What snake is thought to have killed Cleopatra?
Cuban Boa
Egg-Eater
Egyptian cobra
Tan Racer
Reticulated Python
BurmesePython via WikiCommons
This is the longest snake in the world. Can you tell us what it is?
Chicken Snake
Puff Adder
Rat Snake
Reticulated Python
Cottonmouth
Virginia State Parks staff via WikiCommons
Sometimes this snake goes by the name of "water mocassin." What else is it called?
Cottonmouth
Smooth Green Snake
Western Ground Snake
Fifty Pacer

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Emerald Tree Boa
Derek Ramsey via WikiCommons
Do you know which snake can be orange or red as a baby?
File Snake
Hundred Pacer
Checkered Keelback
Emerald Tree Boa
Green Anaconda
shankar s. via WikiCommons
Which snake is the heaviest species of snake in the world?
Green Anaconda
Boiga
King Cobra
Garter Snake
Corn Snake
SloanePhoenix via WikiCommons
Rodent populations are kept under control by this helpful snake that also makes a good pet. Can you identify it?
Hill Keelback
Mojave Rattlesnake
Gaboon Viper
Corn Snake

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Green Snake
Dr. Raju Kasambe via WikiCommons
Effective camouflage is this snake's best defense. What is it?
Fox Snake
Congo Snake
Pit Viper
Green Snake
Red-headed Krait
touchthestove via WikiCommons
Even though this snake is venomous it's also rather lazy and rarely bites. What is it called?
Sri Lankan Pit Viper
Red-Headed Krait
Savu Python
Harlequin Snake
Black Mamba
TimVickers via WikiCommons
Few snakes around the world are more feared than this one. What is it?
Brown Taipan
Black Mamba
Mexican Racer
Tentacled Snake

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Hognose Snake
NPS via WikiCommons
Some people call this snake a Texas Rooter. What else is it called?
Western Hognose Snake
Indian Krait
Lancehead
Trinket
Arizona Coral Snake
Bob Beatson via WikiCommons
What is this snake that you likely won't see during the day unless it gets rained out of its burrow?
Zebra Spitting Cobra
Arizona Coral Snake
Milk Snake
Blind Snake
American Copperhead
Magalhães via WikiCommons
If you translate the scientific name of this snake it's called "twisted hook-tooth." What is it better known as?
Collett's Snake
Blood Python
American Copperhead
Palm Viper

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Eastern Diamondback
Ryan E. Poplin via WikiCommons
Bites from this snake have a high mortality rate. Do you recognize it?
Brown Boa
Red-Backed Rat Snake
Indian Python
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Black Headed Python
Sardaka via WikiCommons
Native to Australia, these snakes are actually rather docile. Do you know them?
Pipe Snake
Black-Headed Python
Texas Night Snake
Blind Snake
King Cobra
Jubair1985 via WikiCommons
In India, this is the national reptile. Does it look familiar?
King Cobra
Lancehead
Spotted Python
Timber Rattlesnake

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Gold Ringed Cat Snake
Cymothoa exigua via WikiCommons
Which snake is sometimes known as a mangrove snake?
Gold-Ringed Cat Snake
Burrowing Cobra
Indigo Snake
River Jack
Sidewinder Snake
National Park Service via WikiCommons
Which of these snakes have venom that's just not nearly as potent as some of their cousins?
Sidewinder
Scarlet Snake
Cat Snake
Banded Krait
Milk Snake
Deror avi via WikiCommons
Do you know this snake you might find in a barn?
Patchnose Snake
Snail-Eating Snake
Water Moccasin
Milk Snake

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Red-Necked Keelback
Rushenb via WikiCommons
Which deadly snake did people used to think was harmless, but it's not?
Red-Necked Keelback
Tokara Habu
Sunbeam Snake
Tentacled Snake
Gaboon Viper
Jannes Pockele via WikiCommons
Do you know which snake has two-inch fangs, making them the longest fangs in the world?
Gaboon Viper
Paradise Flying Snake
Grey Rattler
Desert Cobra
Ball Python
Tris T7 via WikiCommons
Many people keep these snakes as pets. Do you know what they are?
Ball Python
Coral Snake
Grass Snake
King Snake

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Golden Tree Snake
Conrad Baetsle via WikiCommons
This snake can fly. Can you tell us what it's called?
Sand Adder
Bushmaster
Golden Tree Snake
Beaked Sea Snake
Olive Sea Snake
Sylke Rohrlach via WikiCommons
Photoreceptors on this snake's tail allow it to sense the light. Do you know it?
Stilleto Snake
Gopher Snake
Olive Sea Snake
Bull Snake
Gray Ratsnake
Will Brown via WikiCommons
Can you tell us the name of this snake that you can find on the ground or in the trees of North America?
African Rock Python
Brown Tree Snake
Gray Ratsnake
Small-Eyed Snake

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Monocled Cobra
Vassil via WikiCommons
Name this snake from Thailand that has the highest mortality rate of all snakes?
Ribbon Snake
Shield-Tailed Snake
Monocled Cobra
Leaf Viper
Boa Constrictor
Paata Vardanashvili via WikiCommons
Unlike many snake breeds, this one has two lungs, even though the left one doesn't really do anything. Can you identify it?
Bird Snake
Boa Constrictor
Copperhead
Blue Krait
Ground Snake
Geoff Gallice via WikiCommons
Miter snake is another name for this one. Do you recognize it?
Many-Spotted Cat Snake
Western Ground Snake
Grey Asp
Silver Adder

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Eyelash Viper
Paul Harrison via WikiCommons
The fangs of this snake fold back against its jaw when they're not in use. What is it?
Crowned Snake
Eyelash Viper
Fierce Snake
Green Vine Snake
Garter Snake
Steve Jurvetson via WikiCommons
Massachusettes named this their state reptile. Do you know what it is?
Bush Viper
Wart Snake
Garter Snake
Canebrake
Parrot Snake
Geoff Gallice via WikiCommons
Lora is another name for this snake. What is it?
Habu
Plains Hognose
Parrot Snake
Scarlet Kingsnake

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California Kingsnake
Ltshears via WikiCommons
Tell us the name of this colorful snake that makes a very popular pet.
Bull Snake
Yellow Vine Snake
White Taipan
California Kingsnake
Brown Tree Snake
Gordon H. Rodda via WikiCommons
Which species is responsible for eradicating numerous bird species in Guam?
Brown Tree Snake
Hognose Snake
House Snake
Coral Snake
Texas Lyre Snake
Dawson via WikiCommons
This snake can kill by venom or by constriction. Do you know what it is?
Texas Lyre Snake
Small-Eyed Snake
River Jack
Dwarf Pipe Snake

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Worm Snake
John Sullivan via WikiCommons
What snake is also known as the brahminy blind snake?
Worm Snake
Pit Viper
Brown Taipan
Flying Snake
Inland Taipan
Bjoertvedt via WikiCommons
No snake in the world is more toxic than this one. What is it?
Aruba Rattlesnake
Pine Snake
Nose-Horned Viper
Inland Taipan
Asian Vine Snake
Rushen via WikiCommons
Almost no other animal on earth has eyes like this unusual snake. Tell us what it is.
Tree Boa
Sharp's Anaconda
Green Mamba
Asian Vine Snake

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Boomslang
safaritravelplus via WikiCommons
"Tree snake" is what the name of this snake actually means. What is it?
Kukri Snake
Mussurana
Krait
Boomslang
Eastern Racer
Peter Paplanus via WikiCommons
Which of these little snakes usually won't grow beyond two feet in length?
Eastern Racer
Black Snake
Beauty Rat Snake
Glossy Snake
Tiger Snake
Stevage via WikiCommons
What is this snake called?
Eastern Rattler
Red Racer
Tiger Snake
Mangrove Snake

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Death Adder
Taipan198 via WikiCommons
Be wary of this snake, as it's one of the most venomous in the world. Do you know what it's called?
Rat Snake
Death Adder
Gopher Snake
Twig Snake