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| Adult, Imperial County |
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| Adult, Imperial County |
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Adult, Imperial County |
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| Adult, Imperial County |
Adult, Imperial County |
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Adult, extreme southern
Riverside County |
Adult, San Diego County, found by David Young, photo © Stuart Young |
Adult, Imperial County
© Jeremiah Easter |
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Adult, San Diego County © Mark Hilands |
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| Juveniles |
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| Juvenile, San Diego County |
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Juvenile, San Diego County |
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| Juvenile, Imperial County © Ryan Sikola |
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Juvenile, Imperial County
© Ryan Sikola |
Juvenile, Imperial County |
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| Habitat |
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| Habitat, San Diego County |
Habitat, San Diego County |
Habitat, San Diego County |
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Habitat, Imperial County
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Habitat, Imperial County |
Habitat, Imperial County |
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| Short Video |
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A nocturnal Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed snake crawls across the desert floor.
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| Similar Snakes |
Comparison chart of Chionactis in California,
along with the similar sympatric species - Sonora semiannulata,
and the similar species - Chilomeniscus stramineus.
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| Description |
Not Dangerous - This snake does not have venom that can cause death or serious illness or injury in most humans.
Commonly described as "harmless" or "not poisonous" to indicate that its bite is not dangerous, but "not venomous" is more accurate. (A poisonous snake can hurt you if you eat it. A venomous snake can hurt you if it bites you.)
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| Size |
Adults are 11 - 17 inches long (25 - 43 cm)
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| Appearance |
A small rounded snake with smooth, unkeeled, shiny scales.
The head is narrow with a large spade-like scale on the tip of a flat shovel-like snout, a countersunk lower jaw, and nasal valves. |
| Color and Pattern |
The ground color is cream or yellowish and the body is circled with black bands, usually fewer than 25, and most often with narrow red crossbands between them.
Many black bands completely encircle the body.
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| Life History and Behavior |
Activity |
Nocturnal.
Burrows underground in daytime, but occasionally found by day in shaded areas.
Smooth scales, flat shout, concave abdomen, and nasal valves are adaptations that allow for a quick swimming movement through loose sand, with an s-shaped, side-to-side movement.
Often seen crossing desert roads at night. |
| Diet and Feeding |
| Eats invertebrates: insects, scorpions, spiders, centipedes, larval insects and moths, often while the snake is burrowing. |
| Reproduction |
Females are oviparous, laying eggs late spring through summer.
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| Habitat |
Inhabits dry desert habitats with loose sand and often with little vegetation - washes, dunes, sandy flats, rocky hillsides.
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| Geographical Range |
This subspecies, Chionactis annulata annulata - Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake, is found in extreme southeastern California, east of the desert slope of the peninsular range to the Colorado River. Outside of California, it ranges south into Baja California and northern Sonora, Mexico, and east into southwestern Arizona.
The species Chionactis annulata - Resplendent Desert Shovel-nosed Snake, occurs from the Southern California deserts into Arizona, Baja California, and northern Sonora, Mexico.
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| Notes on Taxonomy |
Cox et al in their April 2018 paper "Synopsis and taxonomic revision of three genera in the snake tribe Sonorini," synonymized genera Chilomeniscus and Chionactis with genus Sonora. They did not discuss common names changes.
If their taxomomy is accepted:
* Sonora semiannulata semiannulata becomes Sonora semiannulata;
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Chionactis occipitalis becomes Sonora occipitalis;
* Chionactis annulata annulata becomes Sonora annulata;
* Chilomeniscus stramineus, where possibly present in California, becomes Sonora cincta.
(Synopsis and taxonomic revision of three genera in the snake tribe Sonorini.
Christian L. Cox, Alison R. Davis Rabosky, Iris A. Holmes, Jacobo Reyes-Valasco, Corey E. Roelke, Eric N. Smith, Oscar Flores-Villela, Jimmy A. GcGuire and Jonathan A. Campbell.
Journal of Natural History, 2018 Vol. 52, Nos. 13-16, 945-988.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2018.1449912)
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SSAR Herpetological Circular No. 43, 2017, recommended a change in the currently accepted taxonomy of
Chionactis occipitalis:
"Wood et al. (2008, Conserv. Gen. 9: 1489–1507) demonstrated, using mtDNA and morphological data, that population structure was not concordant with the traditional subspecific taxonomy. They also revealed two potentially independent evolutionary lineages. A phylogeographic study from Wood et al. (2014; PLoS ONE e97494) using mtDNA and microsatellites indicates that C. o. annulata should be elevated to species status, while retaining two subspecies
C. a. annulata and C. a. klauberi, that conform to patterns of genetic structure. The authors found no support for
C. o. talpina and place it in synonomy with C. occipitalis."
C. o. annulata becomes: C. annulata annulata (Baird, 1859 “1858”) - Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake
C. o. klauberi becomes: C. a. klauberi (Stickel, 1941) - Tucson Shovel-nosed Snake
C. o. occipitalis becomes: C. occipitalis (Hallowell, 1854) - Mohave Shovel-nosed Snake
C. o. talpina becomes: C. occipitalis (Hallowell, 1854) - Mohave Shovel-nosed Snake
Alternate and Previous Names (Synonyms)
Formerly: Chionactis occipitalis annulata
C. o. annulata - Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake (Stebbins 1966, 1985, 2003, 2012)
C. o. annulata - desert snake - banded snake; colorado desert shovel-nosed snake; tricolor ground snake; tricolor spade-nosed snake (Wright & Wright 1957)
C. o. annulata - (Stebbins 1954)
C. o. annulata - Shovel-nosed ground snake (Klauber 1932)
Sonora occipitalis - Desert Burrowing Snake (Rhinostoma occipitale; Lamprosoma annulatum; Lamprosoma occipitale; Chionactis occipitalis; Chionactis occipitalis annulatus. Desert Snake; Mohave Ringed Snake) (Grinnell and Camp 1917)
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| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| None |
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| Taxonomy |
| Family |
Colubridae |
Colubrids |
| Genus |
Chionactis |
Shovel-nosed Snakes |
| Species |
annulata |
Resplendent Desert Shovel-nosed Snake |
Subspecies
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annulata |
Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake |
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Original Description |
Chionactis occipitalis - (Hallowell, 1854) - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 7, p. 95
Chionactis occipitalis annulata - (Baird, 1859) - U.S. Mex. Bound. Surv., Vol. 2, Rept., Pt. 2, p. 22, pl. 21
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Chionactis - Greek - chion - snow and aktis - ray or beam
occipitalis - Latin - pertaining to the back of the head
annulata - Latin - ringed - referring to the banded body
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
None
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Related or Similar California Snakes |
C. occipitalis - Mohave Shovel-nosed Snake
C. stramineus - Variable Sandsnake
S. s. semiannulata - Variable Groundsnake
R. l. lecontei - Western Long-nosed Snake
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More Information and References |
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Hansen, Robert W. and Shedd, Jackson D. California Amphibians and Reptiles. (Princeton Field Guides.) Princeton University Press, 2025.
Stebbins, Robert C., and McGinnis, Samuel M. Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Revised Edition (California Natural History Guides) University of California Press, 2012.
Stebbins, Robert C. California Amphibians and Reptiles. The University of California Press, 1972.
Flaxington, William C. Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Field Observations, Distribution, and Natural History. Fieldnotes Press, Anaheim, California, 2021.
Samuel M. McGinnis and Robert C. Stebbins. Peterson Field Guide to Western Reptiles & Amphibians. 4th Edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2018.
Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
Behler, John L., and F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Powell, Robert., Joseph T. Collins, and Errol D. Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians and Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. The University Press of Kansas, 1998.
Bartlett, R. D. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Snakes of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009.
Bartlett, R. D. & Alan Tennant. Snakes of North America - Western Region. Gulf Publishing Co., 2000.
Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997.
Ernst, Carl H., Evelyn M. Ernst, & Robert M. Corker. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Taylor, Emily. California Snakes and How to Find Them. Heyday, Berkeley, California. 2024.
Wright, Albert Hazen & Anna Allen Wright. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press, 1957.
Joseph Grinnell and Charles Lewis Camp. A Distributional List of the Amphibians and Reptiles of California. University of California Publications in Zoology Vol. 17, No. 10, pp. 127-208. July 11, 1917.
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The following conservation status listings for this animal are taken from the April 2024 State of California Special Animals List and the April 2024 Federally Listed Endangered and Threatened Animals of California list (unless indicated otherwise below.) Both lists are produced by multiple agencies every year, and sometimes more than once per year, so the conservation status listing information found below might not be from the most recent lists. To make sure you are seeing the most recent listings, go to this California Department of Fish and Wildlife web page where you can search for and download both lists:
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Data/CNDDB/Plants-and-Animals.
A detailed explanation of the meaning of the status listing symbols can be found at the beginning of the two lists. For quick reference, I have included them on my Special Status Information page.
If no status is listed here, the animal is not included on either list. This most likely indicates that there are no serious conservation concerns for the animal. To find out more about an animal's status you can also go to the NatureServe and IUCN websites to check their rankings.
Check the current California Department of Fish and Wildlife sport fishing regulations to find out if this animal can be legally pursued and handled or collected with possession of a current fishing license. You can also look at the summary of the sport fishing regulations as they apply only to reptiles and amphibians that has been made for this website.
This snake is not included on the Special Animals List, which indicates that there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.
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| Organization |
Status Listing |
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| NatureServe Global Ranking |
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| NatureServe State Ranking |
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
None |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
None |
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| California Department of Fish and Wildlife |
None |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
None |
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| USDA Forest Service |
None |
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| IUCN |
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