Western Glossy Snake

(Arizona occidentalis)

"California Glossy Snake"

Color Photographs: Chris Brown, U.S. Geological Survey

"Arizona Glossy Snake"

Color Photograph: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

"Desert Glossy Snake"

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of Jonathan Crowe

Western Glossy Snake (Arizona occidentalis)

Identification: Light brown to light gray above with darker, vaguely rectangular, blotches above edged with black. Sides with irregular darker blotches. Underside dull white or light tan without markings. Dorsal scales smooth, without ridges. Head typically with a black light slanting backward and downward from the eye. Anal plate single.

Geographical Variation:

Mojave Glossy Snake (A. o. candida): Dorsum with 53-73 narrow blotches and 27 or fewer scale rows. Range: This population is found in the Mojave Desert region from southwestern Nevada into southwestern California.

Desert Glossy Snake (A. o. eburnata): Snake is pale colored with 53-83 small, narrow blotches on the dorsum and with 27 or fewer scale rows. Range: Southern Nevada and into extreme southwestern California.

California Glossy Snake (A. o. occidentalis): Dorsum dark with 51-75 dark brown blotches and 27 scales rows. Range: From west-central California southward to western Baja California del Norte.

Arizona Glossy Snake (A. o. noctivaga): Dorsal blotches slightly wider than the gaps between them; 25-29 scale rows. Range: Southern and western Arizona southward into western Mexico.

Range (See Map below): Southern and central California, eastward through southern Nevada and into central and southern Arizona. The species also occurs in northern Baja California and along the western coast of Mexico.

Habitat: The Glossy Snake is found in a number of xeric habitats including chaparral, grasslands, shrub desert, and barren desert.

Food: This species feeds on lizards and other snakes as well as mammals.

Behavior: The Glossy Snake is nocturnal and spends most of the daytime underground. Mammals are killed in part by constriction of the prey.

Reproduction: The clutch of 3-23 eggs is laid in summer. Reproductive biology uncertain because of confusion with the Eastern Glossy Snake.

Western Glossy Snake (Arizona occidentalis)

Similar Species:

Eastern Glossy Snake (Arizona elegans)