Snake family · Slug-eating snakes
Pareidae
Snail and slug specialists with lopsided jaws.
About the Pareidae family
Pareid snakes are slow, harmless, mostly nocturnal snakes that eat snails and slugs. Many have asymmetric jaws, with more teeth on one side, an adaptation for extracting snails from right-coiling shells.
- Where they live
- South and Southeast Asia.
- How to recognize one
- Slender, blunt-headed snakes, often with large eyes; usually found in damp forest.
- Danger to people
- Harmless. No venom of concern.
Species (42)
Anamalai Wood SnakeXylophis mosaicusHarmless
Asian Slug SnakeAsthenodipsas vertebralisHarmless
Asthenodipsas ingeriHarmless
Asthenodipsas lasgalenensisHarmless
Asthenodipsas stuebingiHarmless
Atayal Slug-eating SnakePareas atayalHarmless
Baise slug-eating snakePareas baiseensisHarmless
Blunthead Slug SnakeAplopeltura boaHarmless
Bornean dark-necked slug snakeAsthenodipsas borneensisHarmless
Boulenger's Slug SnakePareas boulengeriHarmless
Captain’s Wood SnakeXylophis captainiHarmless
Chinese Slug SnakePareas chinensisHarmless
Common Slug SnakePareas monticolaHarmless
Di Linh Snail-eating SnakePareas temporalisHarmless
Formosa Slug SnakePareas formosensisHarmless
Formosan Slug SnakePareas komaiiHarmless
Günther's Mountain SnakeXylophis stenorhynchusHarmless
Hampton's Slug SnakePareas hamptoniHarmless
Iwasaki's Snail-eaterPareas iwasakiiHarmless
Jamil Slug SnakeAsthenodipsas jamilinaisiHarmless
Keeled Slug SnakePareas carinatusHarmless
Malayan slug snakeAsthenodipsas malaccanusHarmless
Mountain Slug SnakePareas maculariusHarmless
Pareas abrosHarmless
Pareas andersoniiHarmless
Pareas berdmoreiHarmless
Pareas dulongjiangensisHarmless
Pareas guanyinshanensisHarmless
Pareas kuznetsovorumHarmless
Pareas modestusHarmless
Pareas nigerHarmless
Pareas nuchalisHarmless
Pareas tigerinusHarmless
Pareas vindumiHarmless
Pareas yunnanensisHarmless
Perrotet's Mountain SnakeXylophis perrotetiHarmless
Smooth Slug SnakeAsthenodipsas laevisHarmless
Stanley's Slug SnakePareas stanleyiHarmless
Sumatran Slug SnakeAsthenodipsas tropidonotusHarmless
Wayanad Narrow-headed SnakeXylophis chenkaruppanHarmless
White-spotted slug snakePareas margaritophorusHarmless
Xiaoheishan Slug-eater SnakePareas nigricepsHarmless
Genera in the Pareidae family
3 genera with two or more species. Open one to read about the group and browse all its snakes.
Keep learning
- What Is a Snake? Anatomy and the BasicsA clear overview of what makes a snake a snake: limbless body plan, anatomy, evolution from lizards, species diversity, and why they are ectothermic.
- How Snakes Move, Hunt, and EatHow snakes move without legs, hunt as ambushers or active foragers, kill by constriction or venom, and swallow prey wider than their head.
- What Do Snakes Eat?All snakes are carnivores. Learn what snakes eat, how diet changes with size and age, how often they feed, and how they hunt and swallow prey.
- Venomous vs Nonvenomous: How to Tell the DifferenceThe folk rules for telling venomous snakes apart, where each one fails, and why location-based identification beats guessing by sight.