Types of glossy snakes

Arizona is a small genus in the family Colubridae, the largest and most diverse snake family in the world. The genus contains the glossy snakes, named for the polished, almost varnished sheen of their dorsal scales. They sit comfortably among the typical New World colubrids: nonvenomous constrictors and active foragers with smooth scales and round pupils. The three species recognized in our database fall under this genus, including the Glossy Snake, the Western Glossy Snake, and the Peninsular Glossy Snake.

These snakes are animals of dry, open country. Their range covers the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, with the Peninsular form reaching down the Baja California peninsula. Typical habitat is desert, semidesert, sandy flats, scrubland, grassland, and other loose-soiled places where they can burrow. They favor terrain with sandy or gravelly substrate that lets them push beneath the surface, and they are largely nocturnal, emerging after dark to hunt when the desert heat eases.

In general terms, a glossy snake is a slender to moderately built snake with a pale, washed-out look: tan, cream, gray, or light brown ground color marked with darker brown or gray blotches down the back. The scales are smooth and glossy rather than keeled, the belly is usually plain and unmarked, and the head is only slightly wider than the neck with a somewhat flattened, pointed snout suited to burrowing. They are frequently confused with gopher and bull snakes, but glossy snakes are typically smaller, paler, and have that distinctive sheen.

Glossy snakes are harmless to people. They are nonvenomous and kill prey by constriction, and they are not dangerous to humans. When threatened they tend to be mild mannered and may simply try to flee or burrow, though any wild snake can bite defensively if grabbed. There is no medical risk from their bite beyond the minor scratch any small animal can cause. Identification should still be done from a respectful distance, and wild snakes are best left undisturbed.

Ecologically these are nocturnal hunters that feed mainly on small mammals such as mice, along with lizards and occasionally other reptiles, subduing prey by constriction. Like most colubrids in the region they are egg layers, producing a clutch of eggs in the warm months that hatch later in the season. Their burrowing habit and night activity keep them largely out of sight, which is part of why they are less familiar to most people than the lookalike gopher snakes that share their range.