PRESENTS THE

VISUAL KEY TO

SNAKES OF

HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS

Please excuse us...this web page is still UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!

This web page is being maintained as a free service by HOUSTON HERPETOLOGICAL SUPPLY to provide residents of Harris County and adjacent areas, as well as others with an interest in the ophidiofauna of this area, with a visual key to assist in identification of the types of venomous and non-venomous snakes found there.

This is not an all-inclusive list. However, this page will attempt to cover as many species as possible. As more specimens are available to be photographed, we will continue to improve the quality and amount of information available.

This is a labor of love - we are very committed to the education of the general public about the benefits of snakes to the environment, as well as the interest of snakes as pets. We do not condone the capture of wild snakes for pets and strive to produce quality captive born offspring to give people the opportunity to experience the wonders of our scaly friends without depleting the natural world of them. For those with an interest in snakes as a pet please check out the rest of our website for our Price List or e-mail us with your questions or comments.

Continue on to the Visual Key

Testimonials to the value of the Visual Key:

March 27, 2006

"Mike - I really appreciate you taking the time to answer. It was a very helpful reply. By the way, your site also confirmed our suspicion that the little Texas Brown Snakes that we see a lot are not baby copperheads. A number of people up here in The Woodlands (Texas) told us that these were young copperheads. Unfortunately we killed several in our ignorance in the last couple of years. This will be good news to the neighborhood. Thanks again! Steven"

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March 19, 2004

"You were a true answer to prayer. I have been scared to death by the snakes I have been finding in my back yard. Come to find out, instead of the copperhead I thought it was, it is the Texas Brown Snake. Thank you so much as we are over run with slugs and snails, and I will stop killing the little buggers. A former snake hater."

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March 22, 2004

Thank you! We looked online and the Texas Brown Snakes are what we caught and we made a home for them. Will they eat the tiny crickets from the pet store or earthworms? Thats what we have tried to feed them. Thanks, Beverly

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April 28, 2004

Thank you for your timely response... I was a bit concerned as we have a three yr. old son that is very active and spends quite a lot of time in the yard. The Texas Brown Snake was feisty and somewhat aggressive, so it did alarm me. You have put my mind at ease, since it appears that there may be a few of them lurking around. Perhaps I need to go and purchase them some slugs for dinner.

Thanks a bunch, James B. - Fort Worth

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May 2, 2004

Thanks again for all the info and advice. I went to your site and my husband concluded that it was a (Texas) Rat Snake as you had suggested. Thanks again...

Ann - Houston

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May 7, 2004

Just thought I would say thanks for your web site and the help it gives.

we were sitting on the back deck at home on the north end of (the Lake) eating dinner last night. Several Blue Jays and a (Tufted) Titmouse started a very large ruckus with lots of noise and diving. I thought they were harrassing a cat; however, we couldn't see anything. We looked a little harder and found a large (5') snake climbing up the base of a tree. As we walked over to see, the snake dropped off the tree and just looked at us. I thought it was a rat snake but was not entirely sure. It was obviously not (venomous). A gentle poke with a stick and he did the coil, raise head and strike just as described in your picture/article on the web site. As we continued to watch, he went to a large sweetgum tree and proceeded to climb out of sight. He was at least 50' up in the tree when we could no longer see him.

I searched Google and your site has by far the best description and pictures of the (Texas Rat) snake. It did indeed confirm that it was a rat snake that we had seen.

Thanks for your help. - David M.

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October 13, 2005

Thanks again for the reply. The Visual Key is outstanding. I will definitely forward this link on to MANY people that will be interested in the info provided."

Billy M.

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