Chicken Snake
Spilotes pullatus
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassSquamata
- FamilyColubridae (Colubrid Snakes)
- GenusSpilotes
- SpeciesSpilotes pullatus (Chicken Snake)
About the Chicken Snake
Spilotes pullatus, commonly known as the chicken snake, tropical chicken snake, yellow rat snake, or tiger rat snake is a species of large nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to the Neotropics. Including the nominotypical subspecies, the following five subspecies are recognized:
S. p. pullatus (Linnaeus, 1758) S. p. anomalepis Bocourt, 1888 S. p. argusiformis Amaral, 1929 S. p. maculatus Amaral, 1929 S. p. mexicanus (Laurenti, 1768) It is found in southern Mexico, Central America, northern and central South America, and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean.
Adults may attain a maximum total length of 2.7 m (8.9 ft), with the average length ranging from 1.5 to 2 m (4.9 to 6.6 ft). Dorsally, S. pullatus is black with yellow spots which may form crossbands. The tip of the snout is yellow. The head shields may be mostly yellow, or mostly black, or crossbanded with a combination of yellow and black, but the sutures between the shields are always black. Ventrally, it is yellow with irregular black crossbands.
The body is relatively slender and somewhat laterally compressed. The head is distinct from the neck. The eye... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Chicken Snake in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve
Amazon Puffing Snake
Spilotes sulphureus
Blunthead Tree Snake
Imantodes cenchoa
Wagler's Sipo
Chironius scurrulus
Mountain Keelback
Helicops angulatus
Catesby's Snail-eater
Dipsas catesbyi
Diurnal Vine Snake
Xenoxybelis argenteus
South American Sipo
Chironius multiventris
Tropical Flat Snake
Siphlophis compressus
Wucherer's Ground Snake
Xenopholis scalaris
Banded Cat-eyed Snake
Leptodeira annulata
Northern Woodland Racer
Drymoluber dichrous
Brown Sipo
Chironius fuscus
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Chicken Snake in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve?
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Chicken Snake sighting in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Chicken Snake in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve?
December has the highest sighting rate for Chicken Snake in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in our monthly data.