Snake family · Sand & grass snakes
Psammophiidae
Fast, slender, day-active snakes of open country.
About the Psammophiidae family
Psammophiids are alert, fast-moving snakes of grasslands and deserts, including the sand racers and the Montpellier snakes. Many are rear-fanged. They often raise the head to scan for prey and can move at surprising speed.
- Where they live
- Africa, southern Europe, and central and southern Asia.
- How to recognize one
- Long, slim, and fast, with large eyes and a streamlined head, often striped lengthwise.
- Danger to people
- Rear-fanged and mildly venomous; bites can cause local swelling but are not considered dangerous to people.
Species (50)
Angolan skaapstekerPsammophylax ocellatusHarmless
Beaked SkaapstekerKladirostratus acutusHarmless
Cape Sand SnakePsammophis leightoniHarmless
Condanarous SandsnakePsammophis condanarusHarmless
Cross-marked Sand SnakePsammophis cruciferHarmless
Dwarf Beaked SnakeDipsina multimaculataHarmless
Dwarf Sand SnakePsammophis angolensisHarmless
Eastern Montpellier SnakeMalpolon insignitusHarmless
Eastern Rufous Beaked SnakeRhamphiophis rostratusHarmless
Eastern Stripe-bellied Sand SnakePsammophis orientalisHarmless
Egyptian Sand SnakePsammophis aegyptiusHarmless
Elegant Sand RacerPsammophis elegansHarmless
Forskal Sand SnakePsammophis schokariHarmless
Grey-bellied SkaapstekerPsammophylax variabilisHarmless
Hissing Sand SnakePsammophis sibilansHarmless
Indochinese Sand SnakePsammophis indochinensisHarmless
Jalla's Sand SnakePsammophis jallaeHarmless
Karoo Sand SnakePsammophis notostictusHarmless
Keller's Bark SnakeHemirhagerrhis kelleriHarmless
Kenyan Bark SnakeHemirhagerrhis hildebrandtiiHarmless
Kenyan Striped SkaapstekerPsammophylax multisquamisHarmless
Leopard Grass SnakePsammophis leopardinusHarmless
Lined Olympic SnakePsammophis lineatusHarmless
Link-marked Sand SnakePsammophis biseriatusHarmless
Long Sand RacerPsammophis longifronsHarmless
Moila SnakeMalpolon moilensisHarmless
Mopane SnakeHemirhagerrhis nototaeniaHarmless
Northern Pencil SnakeMimophis occultusHarmless
Northern Stripe-bellied Sand SnakePsammophis sudanensisHarmless
Olive Grass RacerPsammophis phillipsiiHarmless
Olive Whip SnakePsammophis mossambicusHarmless
Ornate Olympic SnakePsammophis praeornatusHarmless
Pakistan Sand RacerPsammophis leithiiHarmless
Pencil SnakeMimophis mahfalensisHarmless
Red-spotted Beaked SnakeRhamphiophis rubropunctatusHarmless
Rhombic SkaapstekerPsammophylax rhombeatusHarmless
Rukwa Sand RacerPsammophis rukwaeHarmless
Short-snouted Whip SnakePsammophis brevirostrisHarmless
Speckled Sand RacerPsammophis punctulatusHarmless
Steppe Ribbon RacerPsammophis lineolatusHarmless
Stripe-bellied Sand SnakePsammophis subtaeniatusHarmless
Striped SkaapstekerPsammophylax tritaeniatusHarmless
Tanganyika Sand SnakePsammophis tanganicusHarmless
West African Whip SnakePsammophis afroccidentalisHarmless
Western Bark SnakeHemirhagerrhis viperinaHarmless
Western Montpellier SnakeMalpolon monspessulanusHarmless
Western Rufous Beaked SnakeRhamphiophis oxyrhynchusHarmless
Western Sand SnakePsammophis trigrammusHarmless
Zambian Whip SnakePsammophis zambiensisHarmless- No photoBeautiful Sand snakePsammophis pulcherHarmless
Genera in the Psammophiidae family
6 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.