Banded water snake
Not venomous · Nerodia fasciata
HarmlessNot dangerous to people
Not venomous, though often mistaken for a cottonmouth.
- Lives in
- 14 states
- Size
- 24–42 in
- Open US records
- 11,650
- Group
- Snake
How to identify it
- Dark crossbands along the whole body
- Dark stripe from eye to jaw angle
- Round pupils, no heat pit
Size: 24–42 in (total length). Habitat: Coastal plain wetlands of the Southeast.
Also called southern water snake.
Where it lives
- Lives here
- Rare records
- Gone
- Not here
When it is out
Look-alikes
- Cottonmouth vs Banded Water Snake Cottonmouth: dangerous
State by state
| State | Status | Open records | Counties |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | Lives here | 3,425 | 60 |
| Louisiana | Lives here | 2,556 | 53 |
| North Carolina | Lives here | 1,983 | 40 |
| Texas | Lives here | 1,264 | 75 |
| Georgia | Lives here | 916 | 37 |
| South Carolina | Lives here | 437 | 27 |
| Alabama | Lives here | 290 | 12 |
| Arkansas | Lives here | 262 | 21 |
| Mississippi | Lives here | 154 | 17 |
| Arizona | Lives here | 119 | 1 |
| Oklahoma | Lives here | 78 | 7 |
| Missouri | Lives here | 52 | 6 |
| California | Lives here | 35 | 3 |
| Tennessee | Lives here | 32 | 3 |
| Kentucky | Rare records | 19 | 1 |
| Illinois | Rare records | 10 | 1 |
| Indiana | Rare records | 3 | 1 |
| Kansas | Rare records | 3 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania | Rare records | 3 | 0 |
| New Jersey | Rare records | 2 | 0 |
| Virginia | Rare records | 2 | 2 |
| Maryland | Rare records | 1 | 0 |
| Minnesota | Rare records | 1 | 1 |
| New York | Rare records | 1 | 1 |
| West Virginia | Rare records | 1 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | Rare records | 1 | 0 |
States not listed have no open records and are outside the range.
Questions
Where does the banded water snake live?
In 14 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Rare records also come from Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland and Minnesota and other states.
Is the banded water snake dangerous?
Harmless. Not venomous, though often mistaken for a cottonmouth.
How do you identify a banded water snake?
Dark crossbands along the whole body. Dark stripe from eye to jaw angle. Round pupils, no heat pit.
When is the banded water snake most active?
Most open US records fall in April to August.