This is a fine and colorful reptile that I frequently come across on my visits to the Golden State.

Adult Pacific Ringneck Snakes are normally around 11 to 16 inches long and about the diameter of a pencil. They have smooth scales and are usually a dark olive green color on their backs, although they can vary from brown to almost black.

These snakes are secretive and nocturnal, so they are rarely seen out during the daytime. I usually find them under logs, rocks or flagstones and sometimes in leaf litter.

True to there name, they generally have a bright ring around their neck. They are well known for their unique defense posture of curling up their tails and exposing their bright red-orange underside when threatened.

This reptile prefers moist habitats and can be found in wet meadows, rocky hillsides, riparian coridors, gardens, farmland, grassland, chaparral, mixed coniferous forests and woodlands.

The diet of the Pacific Ringneck Snake consists primarily of small salamanders, earthworms, and slugs – but they also sometimes eat lizards, frogs, and smaller juvenile snakes of other species.

Females lay their eggs in the Summer, sometimes doing so in a communal nest. In the Winter, hibernating individuals often aggregate in groups.

As a species, Ringneck Snakes have one of the largest geographic ranges of any species of snake in North America and are represented by several subspecies.

Third Eye Herp
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