Florida Green Watersnake

Nerodia floridana

Reptiles & AmphibiansIn the app

The largest watersnake in North America, this species reaches 30-55 inches in length. It has large eyes with round pupils and a narrow head with a short tapered snout. It…

How to identify

The largest watersnake in North America, this species reaches 30-55 inches in length. It has large eyes with round pupils and a narrow head with a short tapered snout. It is dark greenish brown with a pale cream unmarked ventrum. Juveniles have a dark checkered pattern which fades with age. Its scales are mildly keeled. A distinguishing feature of this watersnake is the presence of a scale between the eye and the row of upper lip scales.

Range

Ranges throughout Florida and extreme south Georgia, with a separate isolated population in southern South Carolina and a small patch of eastern Georgia.

Habitat

This species is semi-aquatic and prefers calm bodies of water, such as wet prairies, marshes, swamps, ponds, lakes, canals, and estuaries. It is often found in dense vegetation, and sometimes in brackish water.

Variations

Some are reddish brown instead of greenish brown. Others are very dark and appear almost black.

Similar species

Like all watersnakes, it is commonly misidentified as the Florida cottonmouth (*Agkistrodon conanti*) or northern cottonmouth (*Agkistrodon piscivorus*), even though it is more akin to other watersnakes such as the banded watersnake (*Nerodia fasciata*) or brown watersnake (*Nerodia taxispilota*) which overlap in range, or the northern watersnake (*Nerodia sipedon*) or diamondback watersnake (*Nerodia rhombifer*) which do not overlap.