Ring Necked Snake Diadophis punctuas    CLASSIFICATION  Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Reptilia Order Squamata Family Colubridae Genus Diadophis Species punctuas   Description: The Ringneck snake is a very small reptile. It is a slender and very secretive snake of the woodland wetland habitat. Its dorsal color, or back color, is greyish, and its head is black with a yellow, cream, or orange ring around its neck. Its belly is bright yellow, orange, or red. although the ring around tis neck is usually there, it sometimes is indistinct and missing altogether. Ringnecks lay about 10 long leatherly eggs at a time in the summer. They take about 8 weeks to hatch.   Habitat: It inhabits moist habitats, forest, grasslands,rocky wooded hillsides, woodlands, chaparral, and riparian habitats from sea level to about 7000'.   Range and Distribution: Occurs throughout North America from Nova Scotia to the Florida Keys, west to the Pacific Coast and csouth to central Mexico. Cool Stuff: There are about 12 subspecies of Ringneck snakes. When they are scared they will stick up their tail to show their brightly colored underside and emit anal gland secretions. Mostly they don't bite, but if picked up, they will empty the vile smelling contents of their cloaca or void their musk gland. This page was created by Patrick B. Back to Field Guide Menu