Southeastern Crowned Snake

Tantilla coronata

Southeastern Crowned Snake

SOSN

Status

The Southeastern Crowned Snake is uncommon in the Mountains and Piedmont to common in the Coastal Plain.

Description

The Southeastern Crowned Snake is a small (20–33 cm), tan or reddish-brown snake. It has a characteristic black or dark brown head and collar separated by a light band across the back of the head (Martof and others 1980). The venter is white or yellowish-white.

Distribution

Tantilla coronata ranges from south-central Virginia and southern Illinois to the Florida panhandle and eastern Louisiana.

Habitat

This secretive snake is an excellent burrower, spending much of its time concealed in rotting logs, under bark, stones, leaf litter, pine needles, or burrowed in the soil. The Southeastern Crowned Snake apparently prefers relatively xeric, well-drained soils in pine flatwoods, maritime forests, sandhills, and dry hillsides.

Special Requirements

The Southeastern Crowned Snake requires dry habitats with friable soil and sufficient debris for shelter.

Breeding Habits

Courtship and mating apparently can occur throughout the year, but are concentrated in late spring. Females deposit eggs in rotting logs or sawdust piles. Clutch sizes average between three and four eggs.

Food Habits

The Southeastern Crowned Snake has enlarged and grooved rear teeth and a weak venom. Although harmless to humans, this venom apparently aids the snake in the capture of prey. The diet consists of centipedes, spiders, termites, and other small, soft-bodied arthropods.

Management Suggestions

The retention of fallen trees, snags, stumps, and sawdust piles provide shelter for this snake.

Additional References

Semlitsch and others 1981; Telford 1966, 1982; Wright and Wright 1957.