Rainbow Snake

Breeding:
In July, female lays a clutch of 20-52 eggs, each about 1 ½ “ long, in a cavity in andy soil.

Habitat:
Areas of loose sandy soil near water; streams, rivers, cypress swamps, springs runs, and marshland.

Range:
Coastal plain, s. Maryland south to c. Florida and west to Mississippi River.

Subspecies:
Rainbow, belly predominantly red; s. Maryland south to c. Florida, west Mississippi
River South Florida, belly scales and several rows of adjacent scales with heavy black
pigment; vicinity of Lake Okeechobee, Florida.

Rarely seen. Burrows in sandy soil or under wet debris and mats of vegetation along
water’s edge. Active at night but occasionally ay be seen during the day foraging for eels, its principal pry. Hatchlings eat salamanders and tadpoles. Fold tales have it that the “stinging snakes,” “hoop snake,” or “thunderbolt,” bites its tail, rolls like a hoop, and stings a victim to death with the spine on the tail tip. In fact, the Rainbow Snake is usually docile and the spine is harmless.