Snake family · Blindsnakes
Typhlopidae
Tiny, worm-like burrowing snakes that raid ant and termite nests.
About the Typhlopidae family
Blindsnakes are small, shiny, cylindrical snakes that spend their lives underground. Their eyes are reduced to dark spots beneath the head scales, and they feed mostly on the eggs and larvae of ants and termites. They are completely harmless.
- Where they live
- Tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. The brahminy blindsnake has spread globally in potted-plant soil.
- How to recognize one
- Looks like a small, glossy earthworm with smooth scales and no obvious neck, eyes, or pattern.
- Danger to people
- Harmless. They do not bite people and have no venom.
Species (110)
Acutotyphlops solomonisHarmless
Afrotyphlops liberiensisHarmless
Afrotyphlops nigrocandidusHarmless
Amerotyphlops amoipiraHarmless
Amerotyphlops arenensisHarmless
Andasibe Blind SnakeMadatyphlops andasibensisHarmless
Angola blind snakeAfrotyphlops angolensisHarmless
Bahaman Slender BlindsnakeCubatyphlops biminiensisHarmless
Beaked Blind SnakeGrypotyphlops acutusHarmless
Beaked Blind SnakeAnilios waitiiHarmless
Bibron's Blind SnakeAfrotyphlops bibroniiHarmless
Blackish Blind SnakeAnilios nigrescensHarmless
Blotched blind snakeAfrotyphlops congestusHarmless
Brahminy BlindsnakeIndotyphlops braminusHarmless
Brongersma's Worm SnakeAmerotyphlops brongersmianusHarmless
Brown-backed Blind SnakeAntillotyphlops catapontusHarmless
Brown-snouted Blind SnakeAnilios wiediiHarmless
Cape York Striped Blind SnakeAnilios chamodracaenaHarmless
Cayman Worm SnakeCubatyphlops caymanensisHarmless
Centralian Blind SnakeAnilios centralisHarmless
Claw-snouted Blind SnakeAnilios unguirostrisHarmless
Coffee Worm SnakeAmerotyphlops tenuisHarmless
Common Lined Worm SnakeAfrotyphlops lineolatusHarmless
Costa Rica Worm SnakeAmerotyphlops costaricensisHarmless
Cuming's Blind SnakeRamphotyphlops cumingiiHarmless
Dark-spined Blind SnakeAnilios bicolorHarmless
Deharveng’s Blind SnakeCyclotyphlops deharvengiHarmless
Delalande's Beaked Blind SnakeRhinotyphlops lalandeiHarmless
Diard's BlindsnakeArgyrophis diardiiHarmless
Dominican Worm SnakeAntillotyphlops dominicanusHarmless
Earthworm Blind SnakeTyphlops lumbricalisHarmless
Elegant Worm SnakeAfrotyphlops elegansHarmless
Eurasian Blind SnakeXerotyphlops vermicularisHarmless
Faint-striped Blind SnakeAnilios broomiHarmless
Fornasini's Blind SnakeAfrotyphlops fornasiniiHarmless
Gane's Blind SnakeAnilios ganeiHarmless
Goliath BlindsnakeCubatyphlops golyathiHarmless
Gracile blind-snakeLetheobia gracilisHarmless
Great Sandy Blind SnakeAnilios silviaHarmless
Grenada Worm SnakeAmerotyphlops tasymicrisHarmless
Guantanamo Bay BlindsnakeCubatyphlops perimychusHarmless
Hispaniola Worm SnakeTyphlops pusillusHarmless
Honduras Worm SnakeAmerotyphlops tycherusHarmless
Interior Blind SnakeAnilios endoterusHarmless
Island Worm SnakeTyphlops sulcatusHarmless
Israeli Worm SnakeLetheobia simoniHarmless
Jamaica Worm SnakeTyphlops jamaicensisHarmless
Kenya Beaked SnakeRhinotyphlops unitaeniatusHarmless
Kunua Blind SnakeAcutotyphlops kunuaensisHarmless
Leeward BlindsnakeAntillotyphlops geotomusHarmless
Letheobia akageraeHarmless
Letheobia episcopusHarmless
Long-beaked Blind SnakeAnilios grypusHarmless
Madatyphlops domergueiHarmless
Madatyphlops microcephalusHarmless
Madatyphlops rajeryiHarmless
Montserrat Worm SnakeAntillotyphlops monastusHarmless
Murchison Blind SnakeAnilios leptosomaHarmless
Müller's Blind SnakeArgyrophis muelleriHarmless
North-eastern Blind SnakeAnilios torresianusHarmless
Northern Blind SnakeAnilios diversusHarmless
Olive Blind SnakeRamphotyphlops olivaceusHarmless
Pale-headed Blind SnakeAnilios hamatusHarmless
Pernambuco Worm SnakeAmerotyphlops paucisquamusHarmless
Prong-snouted Blind SnakeAnilios bituberculatusHarmless
Puerto Rican Coastal BlindsnakeAntillotyphlops hypomethesHarmless
Puerto Rican White-tailed BlindsnakeAntillotyphlops platycephalusHarmless
Puerto Rican Worm SnakeTyphlops rostellatusHarmless
Reticulate Worm SnakeAmerotyphlops reticulatusHarmless
Richard's Worm SnakeAntillotyphlops richardiiHarmless
Robust Blind SnakeAnilios ligatusHarmless
Rotund Blind SnakeAnilios pinguisHarmless
Sand Worm SnakeMadatyphlops arenariusHarmless
Sand-diving Blind SnakeAnilios ammodytesHarmless
Sandamara Blind SnakeAnilios troglodytesHarmless
Schinz's Beaked Blind SnakeRhinotyphlops schinziHarmless
Schlegel’s Beaked blind snakeAfrotyphlops schlegeliiHarmless
Schmidt’s blind-snakeAfrotyphlops schmidtiHarmless
Schwartz' Worm SnakeTyphlops schwartziHarmless
Siamese Blind SnakeArgyrophis siamensisHarmless
Slender Blind SnakeAfrotyphlops obtususHarmless
Socotra Worm SnakeXerotyphlops socotranusHarmless
Southern Blind SnakeAnilios australisHarmless
Spotted Blind SnakeAfrotyphlops punctatusHarmless
Striped Blind SnakeRamphotyphlops lineatusHarmless
Swahili gracile blind-snakeLetheobia swahilicaHarmless
Syrian Blind SnakeXerotyphlops syriacusHarmless
Thread-like Blind SnakeAnilios nemaHarmless
Top End Blind SnakeAnilios guentheriHarmless
Trinidad Worm SnakeAmerotyphlops trinitatusHarmless
Showing the 90 most commonly recorded of 110 Typhlopidae species. Open any genus below to browse the rest.
Genera in the Typhlopidae family
14 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.