Banded Sand Snake

Banded Sand Snake

The Banded Sand snake is a small (7-10 inch snake) with a flattened shovel shaped snout and no discernable neck. The snake has dark brown or black bands that encircle the tail with pale yellow to reddish-orange saddles between the dark bands. The belly is pale to whitish.

Natural History

The shovel nosed snake is found in open desert

dominated by creosote bush; coarse sandy areas in rocky upland washes and arroyos with paloverde and saguaro in Arizona, Baja California and Mexico.

Banded Sand Snake are excellent "sand swimmers", spending most of their time just under the desert sand's surface.

The body shape, smooth scales, and shovel nose make this snake very good at 'swimming' in the sand. During the heat of the day, it is usually submerged beneath the surface, emerging at night to hunt for food. It feeds on numerous kinds of insects including centipedes, sand-burrowing cockroaches, and other soft-bodied bugs.

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