Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just saw a snake in our hose, and I'm freaking out cuz I have two little kids.

It had a black head that was wider than its neck. Is there a chance it's non-venomous? I'd love to have a "safe" snake take up residence in the yard. Or are all snakes with wide heads venomous...

TIA for any help. Sorry if this is a repeat post - tried to search the forum and didn't find anything.

I live in SW Florida.

its very possible that it is a non vemomous snake. The whole triangular head thing, while true to some extent, is not a true indicator of being poisonous or non poisonous. Could you describe the rest of the body for us. Size, striped, blotched, skinny, stout bodied, anything else you can think of.

ep
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Occupants not paying rent:
1.1. balls
1.1 corns
1 everglades rat
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
2.1 cats

I don't think I got a good enough look to actually identify it. I mostly saw its head.

It was very glossy black, slightly wider than the neck, with a squarish nose. (Does that make sense? It wasn't smooth and round like a black racers's nose, or triangular like a rattlesnake.) I don't think it had markings, but with the sun shining on it and the hose wound around it, it may have. I think the eyes were round and solid black, but I'm not positive. I didn't see the belly at all.

Sorry I'm not more help with a description. The last time we had a snake in the yard it started striking at my two-year-old, so I kinda freaked, grabbed the kids, and ran. I'm just relieved that it's *possible* the snake is non-venomous. We had two black racers at our previous home that kept all the others away so I didn't worry about it.

You've already helped a lot, thank you.

my guess is that its not poisonous, but obviously there is no way to know for sure.
Here is a link to a florida snake site. See if you recognize it there
www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/FL-GUIDE/onlineguide.htm

ep
-----
Occupants not paying rent:
1.1. balls
1.1 corns
1 everglades rat
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
2.1 cats

I looked more closely at the black racer pix on that site, and it's possible it was just a racer. I scrolled through some of the pix of juvenile racers on this forum, and I'd bet that's what struck at my son last July, about 15 feet from where I found this one.

So I might have a racer in my yard. I'll try to calm my nerves and get a better look the next time I see it.

Again, thanks for the help!

It was probably a nonvenomous water snake species.
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Cameron

If memory serves; if it was not a coral snake, a pygmy rattler, an Eastern diamondback rattlesnake, or a cottonmouth; you should be OK.

The attached website may be of some help to you...now or in the future. Chances are it was a racer...they are by far the most common snake in south Florida.

~~Greg~~
Florida's Venomous Snakes