Harmless · Native to the United States

Red-bellied snake

Storeria occipitomaculata (Storer, 1839)

Also called northern red-bellied snake, Florida red-bellied snake, redbelly snake
Data updated October 2026

Red-bellied snake on moss, showing a reddish-brown back with a faint pale stripe and a dark head
Fig. 1 — Adult on moss. The back is reddish brown or gray, often with a faint pale stripe.
Red-bellied snake turned over to show its bright orange-red belly
Fig. 2 — The plain red, orange or pink belly gives the snake its name.

At a glance

One of the smallest snakes in eastern North America, rarely more than 10 inches long. It hides under logs, bark and leaf litter in moist woods and eats slugs, snails and earthworms. It is harmless and not known to bite.

01

Identification

The red-bellied snake is small and slender, with a gray, reddish-brown or rarely black back. Many have four narrow dark stripes, a faint light stripe down the middle of the back, or both, and some have a bold red or orange back stripe. The head is darker than the body. Three light spots sit on the nape and can join into a pale collar. The belly is plain red, orange or pink, sometimes yellow, and the scales are keeled. Young are darker, with a clearer neck collar.

  1. 01Red or orange belly. A bright, unspotted belly, edged with dark gray along the sides in some snakes.
  2. 02Three pale nape spots. Light spots on the back of the neck, sometimes fused into a tan collar.
  3. 03Very small. Most adults are 8 to 10 inches long, with a dark head and keeled scales.

Commonly confused with

02

Size

01 ft2 ft3 ft4 ft Typical adult · about 9 in (23 cm)

Most adults are 8 to 10 inches (20–25 cm) long. A few reach about 16 inches. Newborns are only a few inches long and darker than adults.

03

Range & habitat

Moist hardwood forest floor with rotting logs, bark and leaf litter
Fig. 3 — Rotting logs, loose bark and leaf litter in damp woods give it cover.

Red-bellied snakes range across much of eastern North America, from southern Canada south to northern Florida and the Gulf Coast, and west to the eastern Great Plains, including eastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas. They live in moist hardwood and mixed pine-hardwood forests, bottomlands, boreal forest and sphagnum bogs, and nearby fields. In Missouri they are often found on rocky, north-facing wooded slopes. They also turn up in vacant lots and around homes under boards and debris.

State guides: Texas · Oklahoma · Florida

04

Diet & predators

Like its close relative DeKay’s brown snake, the red-bellied snake eats slow, soft-bodied prey. Slugs are a main food, along with land snails, earthworms and beetle larvae and other soft insects. Its blunt head and long teeth likely help it pull snails from their shells.

Feeds on

  • Slugs
  • Land snails
  • Earthworms
  • Beetle larvae

Preyed on by

  • Larger snakes such as racers
  • Hawks and other birds
  • Shrews and other small mammals
  • Other predators that eat small snakes
Earthworm on moist soil
Prey — earthworms.
Red-tailed hawk perched on a branch
Predator — hawks.

05

Behavior & seasons

This snake is secretive and spends most of its time under rocks, bark, logs and boards. When picked up it does not bite. Instead it may give off a musky odor from glands at the base of the tail, play dead, or curl back its upper lip, a habit that may help it grip slippery prey.

Red-bellied snakes are active from about late March to early November. In September and October they are often seen in numbers on warm, sunny days, basking on back roads and trails before winter. They spend the winter under large rocks, in ant mounds, mammal burrows and rock crevices, and possibly in rotting logs.

06

Reproduction

Red-bellied snakes bear live young. Mating takes place mostly in spring and early summer, with some in late summer or fall. Young are born from late July to early September. Litters hold 1 to 21 young, averaging about 7 or 8. Snakes mature at about two years of age.

07

Conservation

The species is not listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. It is locally common in many areas but uncommon or absent in others; Wisconsin describes it as common, and Tennessee reports it is not protected by state or federal law there. Habitat loss and road traffic in fall are local threats.

Keep reading

Sources

Data updated October 2026 · How we build these pages