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Cabeza Prieta Natural History Association
Sonoran Desert Reptiles
Chionactis palarostris (Sonoran shovelnose snake)

  

 

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No Photo available for Sonoran shovelnose snake reptile number 1296

Diet: insects, centipedes, spiders and other invertebrates
Size: 10" to 17"

Resembles Sonoran Coral Snake, but is harmless. Crossbanded with black, yellow (or whitish) and red, mot of the black bands encircling body. Red saddles vary in width; in s. Arizona about same width as the black bands, but in Sonora may be 2 or nearly 3 times wider. Usually fewer than 21 black bands on body, bordered in front and back by a narrow or wide (Sonora) yellow band. Snout yellow, slightly convex in profile; back of head black. Lower jaw countersunk. Belly concaved. Nasal valves well developed. Scales smooth, usually in 15 rows. Anal divided.

References

Excerpts from A FIELD GUIDE TO WESTERN REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS, 3/e by Robert C. Stebbins. Copyright (c) 2003 by Robert C. Stebbins. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

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