Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was outside herping for alligator lizards and salamanders and when I flipped my last rock of the day I found a little snake about 2-3 inches long. Its just a baby. I was thinking about how it looked like a copper head, but I put it in a bucket anyways. He is solid brown right now, but his body is shaped different from the ringneck snake I also found. He has a small head and then as you go down his body it gets bigger and then smaller right near the tail. I live in alabama if that helps any. Please let me know what it is because i'm afraid to handle it even though it was mellow yesterday.

Oh and what field guide do you use? I have an old one, but not an updated version.

Sounds like it could be a Pine Woods Snake, Rhadinaea flavilata. They are usually an orangy brown, stay small (15 in. max). They are also rear-fanged, but they don't bite and the venom is not dangerous to humans. I found one when I was 13 and at first thought it was a copperhead, I couldn't get it to eat so I let it go where I found it. You can do a search on the net with the above scientific name and find a picture. I hope this helps.

Rob

Could also be a dekay's brown snake, they are very common and that is their adult size. Don't worry it certainly isn't a copper head. Copper heads are born at 6-9 inches are are about as thick as an adult garter snake with a bright neon yellow tail. The tail color fades as they get older.