Description: Most adults are about 10 to 15 inches in total length. These small snakes are shiny and black. The belly is bright red with black markings on the edges. Juvenile coloration is similar to adults.

Habitat: primarily aquatic and inhabit a variety of aquatic environments such as cypress swamps, marshes, prairies, lakes, ponds, slow moving streams and rivers, willow heads, hyacinth-choked canals, and estuaries. They are particularly fond of waters with dense aquatic vegetation. These secretive snakes are rarely encountered away from water, but they can sometimes be found under logs or debris near water, in crayfish burrows, or crossing roads during or after heavy rains.

Range: They are known only from the central peninsula south to the tip of Florida.

Found in these States: FL

Diet: Swampsnakes are nocturnal (active at night) and feed on earthworms, leeches, small fish, frogs, salamanders, and small arthropods. Prey are swallowed alive without constriction

Reproduction: In Florida, females typically give live birth to 2 to 15 young between May and October.

Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a degree of habitat modification, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.

Taxonomy: