Many snakes commonly referred to as “black snakes” undergo a transformation in appearance from their juvenile to adult stages. While mature individuals may be uniformly dark, their young often exhibit distinct patterns and colorations. This change in appearance, known as ontogenetic color change, is key to identifying young black snakes accurately.
General Characteristics of Young Black Snakes
Young black snakes typically possess a more slender build than their adult counterparts. While adult black snakes are often solid black, their juveniles usually display a lighter base coloration. This lighter hue can range from shades of gray to tan or even brown.
Juvenile black racers, for example, are generally gray with reddish-brown blotches, and young Eastern ratsnakes can be light to dark gray. These young snakes are born relatively small, with hatchlings often measuring around a foot or less in length. Their body shape, though slender, often retains a somewhat rounded or “loaf of bread” cross-section, particularly in species like the Eastern ratsnake.
Distinguishing Markings and Patterns
Young black snakes are characterized by patterned skin, which differs significantly from the solid coloration of adults. These patterns typically consist of dark blotches, spots, or bands set against their lighter background color.
For instance, juvenile black racers have distinct reddish-brown blotches that gradually fade as they mature. These blotches can be irregular in shape and often cover the back.
Eastern ratsnakes, when young, display a pattern of dark, diamond-shaped blotches on a pale gray background, sometimes described as “saddle patterns.” As these snakes grow, these juvenile patterns become less pronounced, eventually fading to the uniform black or striped appearance of the adults. This color change typically occurs as the snake reaches a length of 1 to 2 feet for black racers, or around 20 inches for black rat snakes.
Identifying Common Species of Baby Black Snakes
The juvenile Eastern ratsnake (also known as the black rat snake) is typically gray with distinct dark blotches along its back. These blotches are often diamond-shaped and pronounced, with the belly showing a black-and-white checkerboard pattern. As the Eastern ratsnake matures, this blotched pattern fades, and the snake typically becomes solid black, though some adults may retain faint traces.
Young black racers, in contrast, are usually gray or bluish-gray with a series of reddish-brown or dark brown blotches. These blotches are typically more rounded than those seen on juvenile ratsnakes. The juvenile black racer’s pattern gradually fades to a solid black as it reaches about 1 to 2 feet in length, and its chin and throat often remain white.
A third species, the Ring-necked snake, is generally black or slate gray with a distinctive yellow or orange band around its neck, a pattern present even in juveniles. This snake remains relatively small, usually 8-15 inches as an adult, and does not grow to the large sizes of ratsnakes or racers.
Telling Them Apart from Look-Alikes
Distinguishing baby black snakes from other species can be challenging, as many juvenile snakes share similar blotched or patterned appearances. Juvenile Eastern ratsnakes are commonly mistaken for Eastern milk snakes, which also have blotches on a lighter background. However, milk snakes typically have brownish blotches and a stouter body, while young ratsnakes are often grayer with a more “loaf of bread” body shape.
Another common confusion arises with gopher snakes, which are tan or brown with darker splotches, and can also grow quite large. Gopher snakes often have keeled scales and a somewhat pointed snout.
Juvenile black snakes are sometimes confused with venomous species like the Eastern copperhead. Young copperheads, like adults, have distinctive hourglass-shaped bands that are wide on the sides and narrow along the backbone, and their tail tip is often sulfur yellow. In contrast, juvenile ratsnakes have irregular, often diamond-shaped blotches that do not typically form hourglass patterns and lack the bright tail tip.
Black racers have smooth scales, while both ratsnakes and hognose snakes have keeled scales, which can be a differentiator. Observing pupil shape can also help; harmless snakes generally have round pupils, while pit vipers like copperheads have vertical pupils.