17 Types of Black and Green Snakes (with Pictures)

Black and green snakes are found all around the world. These snakes come in all types of color patterns including dominant green or a dominant black coloring.,

Manu black and green snakes are also known for having a third and even a fourth color.

Like most snakes, black and green snakes are highly likely to also have a bright underbelly.

Are Black and Green Snakes Venomous?

Black and green snakes can be venomous, mildly venomous, and non-venomous.

Many arboreal black and green snakes are venomous or mildly venomous. Some of them can kill people while those that are mildly venomous only cause pain and skin-level irritation.

Non-venomous species can still bite as a lack of venom doesn’t guarantee a docile nature in black and green snakes.

Many black and green snakes are found in Southeast Asia, Central America, and South America. Some black and green species are also found in North America.

Black and green snakes can be terrestrial, arboreal, aquatic, or semi-aquatic.

The nature of these snakes can be elusive as many of them are nocturnal and secretive. Only a small number of these snakes are diurnal and easy to spot as they don’t come out during the day.

17 Black and Green Snakes

The following snake species are known for either being mainly black and green or for being multicolored while still dominantly black and green.

1. Garter snake – black snake with green stripes

Genus thamnophis
Garter snake. Image by Trent Pearce via inaturalist

Scientific name: Genus thamnophis

Common name: Garter snake

Garter snakes are common in North America. They can have a black background color with green stripes that run from head to tail.

Growing up to 54 inches, this morph isn’t common in all of North America.

They are the most common in the Northern parts of Florida.

Another morph of the Common Garter snake that is black, green but also yellow is found in Northern Washington and further North in Vancouver.

These snakes are known for having toxic saliva. Not dangerous to people in the eventuality of a bite, this saliva might still lead to itching or burning sensations.

2. Speckled Racer

Speckled Racer

Scientific name: Drymobius margaritiferus

Common name: Speckled racer

The Speckled Racer is common in black and green specks. This morph comes with a green or yellow underbelly.

Snakes of this genus have a maximum length of 30 to 40 inches.

It can be seen easily during the day as the Speckled Racer is a diurnal species.

Fast moving, the snake isn’t venomous but it’s known to bite if threatened.

Speckled Racers are the most common in Central America and Southern Texas.

3. Spotted Bush Snake – green snake with black spots

Spotted Bush Snake

Scientific name: Philothamnus semivariegatus

Common name: Spotted bush snake

This snake species has a green background color with black spots along its body.

Endemic to Africa, the Spotted Bush snake is a diurnal species seen in South Africa, Uganda, and other African countries.

Like the Speckled Racer, the Spotted Bush snake is an agile species that climb easily.

These snakes can also swim and they are good at making a quick escape when seeing people.

While also nervous, Spotted Bush Snakes aren’t as likely to bite as the Speckled Racer. These African snakes are only interested in geckos.

4. Wagler’s Pit Viper

Wagler’s Pit Viper

Scientific name: Tropidolaemus wagleri

Common name: Wagler’s Pit Viper, temple viper, temple pit viper, bamboo snake, temple snake, speckled pit viper, temple pitviper

This striped snake species is known for differences in size and coloring between the sexes.

Female snakes have a striped black and yellow body while males have black and green bodies.

Wagler’s Pit Vipers are arboreal snakes endemic to Southeast Asia.

The species is nocturnal and arboreal which means it’s not easy to spot. It prefers forests at high altitudes.

Snakes of this genus are venomous. They have potent peptides that can kill small animals.

Often feeding on mice, this pit viper is capable of injecting venom that suffocates rodents and other small prey.

5. Red-tailed Green Ratsnake

Red-tailed Green Ratsnake

Scientific name: Gonyosoma oxycephalum

Common name: Red-tailed green ratsnake, arboreal ratsnake, red-tailed racer

Endemic to Southeast Asia, the Red-tailed Green Ratsnake has a main green color.

Its specks have black margins that appear to be forming a black and green net.

Other ports of its body may appear in different colors.

Some morphs have a green underbelly while others have a yellow underbelly.

Red-tailed Green Ratsnakes don’t have a red tail but a brown tail.

Coloring on the head differs as well. Some snakes have black marks on their head while others don’t.

These snakes can also have yellow or blue coloring around the mouth.

Red-tailed Green Ratsnakes are arboreal and they eat birds and bird eggs.

6. Cope’s Vine Snake

Cope’s Vine Snake

Scientific name: Oxybelis brevirostris

Common name: Cope’s vine snake

Cope’s Vine Snake is common in Southern US and native in Central America and Northeastern South America.

This species is known for having a slender green body with specks that have black-colored edges.

Cope’s Vine Snakes have a head larger than the body that appears laterally compressed.

The head is also green and lateral black stripes are visible right next to the eyes.

White stripes also start at the head and continue along the body to the tail.

Snakes of this genus can also be further identified by their upward turned snout.

These green snakes also have black or pink mouth walls.

7. Elegant Bronzeback

Elegant Bronzeback

Scientific name: Dendrelaphis formosus

Common name: Elegant bronzeback,  bronzeback tree snake

Common in Southeast Asia, the Elegant Bronzeback is an arboreal species.

This slender green snake has thin black lines visible from the top of its snout down to the tip of its tail.

It also has large black and green eyes in comparison to the reduced size of its head.

Common in Singapore and Thailand, the Elegant Bronzeback is a snake species that mostly lives up on trees.

It rarely comes down since it also eats the food it finds on trees.

The snake can be seen from below as it’s active during the day.

Elegant Bronzeback black and green snakes are seen moving along tree branches following geckoes.

8. Green Keelback

Green Keelback

Scientific name: Rhabdophis plumbicolor

Common name: Green keelback, lead keelback

This snake has an olive-green color with black specks and asymmetric black marks on its body.

As juveniles, these snakes show different coloring and different black marks.

Juvenile Green Keelbacks have a V-shaped black mark at the back of the head and another V-shaped mark further down on its neck.

Green Keelbacks have a large head and adaptive jaws which allow them to eat toads.

The snake isn’t aggressive but it’s known to adopt a cobra-like defensive position. It flattens its body only raising its head in an aggressive posture.

9. Black-speckled Palm Pit Viper

Black-speckled Palm Pit Viper

Scientific name: Bothriechis nigroviridis

Common name: Black-speckled palm pit viper, speckled palm viper, black-spotted palm viper, yellow-spotted palm viper

Black-speckled Palm Pit Vipers are common in Costa Rica and Central America. 

This snake species has a green color with black molting and a mostly green underbelly.

At times, the species is seen in yellow color with black molting but its green color is dominant in most snakes.

This snake lives in the mountains and is considered very dangerous and venomous.

Black-speckled Palm Pit Viper can inject a fatal amount of venom when biting people.

This snake might not kill all of the people it bites, but its bite is considered highly painful.

10. Striped Lizard Eater

Mastigodryas dorsalis
Striped Lizard Eater. Image by Grete Pasch via inaturalist

Scientific name: Mastigodryas dorsalis

Common name: Striped lizard eater

The Striped Lizard Eater is native to Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Snakes of this genus are mostly green but they all have a black line that runs across the central part of the dorsum.

This line starts at the head and runs to the tip of the tail.

The coloring around its mouth is yellow.

Underbelly coloring is mostly yellow or yellow and green.

These snakes can appear darker in some morphs to the extent they look gray-green.

Common in forests and grassland, the Striped Lizard Eater is a slender species known for eating lizards and frogs.

11. Schokar’s Bronzeback

Schokar’s Bronzeback

Scientific name: Dendrelaphis schokari

Common name: Schokar’s bronzeback, common bronze-back

This snake species grows to 21 inches.

It comes in multiple morphs but a common color combination of black and green is specific to the species.

A black dorsum line on a brown dorsum and a green underbelly are common color combinations in this slender snake species.

Snakes of this genus are common in Asia. Like many black and green snakes, it’s mostly seen up on trees.

Schokar’s Bronzeback snakes are also seen on the ground where they might be eating lizards.

Otherwise, they look for food such as geckos up on trees.

Common in Sri Lankan forests, the snake is seen during the day as a diurnal predator.

12. Yellow-blotched Palm Pit Viper

Yellow-blotched Palm Pit Viper

Scientific name: Bothriechis aurifer

Common name: Yellow-blotched palm pit viper, guatemalan palm viper

Snakes of this genus are mostly green with yellow specks and black markings.

They grow to a maximum length of 28 inches and are common in Mexico and neighboring Central American countries.

The green color of the snake can be impacted by its habitat.

Some snakes are seen in rich green color while others are seen in a faded green or yellow-green dominant color.

Small square-shaped black marks are seen sporadically on its dorsal.

This snake species can exhibit either black marks or thick black lines on its head.

13. Mexican Parrot Snake

Mexican Parrot Snake

Scientific name: Leptophis mexicanus

Common name: Mexican parrot snake

Mexican Parrot Snakes get their name from resembling parrots in coloring. This snake has green-black dorsal coloring with a cream underbelly.

The coloring of the underbelly continues below its mouth while its head is dominated by large brown-black eyes.

Common in Mexico, Paraguay, and other South American countries, the Mexican Parrot Snake is also known as the Golden snake.

This species is madly venomous and its bite requires medical attention.

Mexican Parrot Snakes start moving as soon as they are born. This is an agile snake species that kill small prey with its venom.

14. Tiger Keelback

Tiger Keelback

Scientific name: Rhabdophis tigrinus

Common name: Tiger keelback, kkotbaem, yamakagashi

This dark color species has dark green and black crossbands on its body.

Snakes of this species have a bright color underbelly and they grow to a size of up to 39 inches.

Tiger Keelbacks are native to East Asia territories. They are native species in North Korea and South Korea.

These snakes are dangerous to people as they aren’t aggressive. They are known to become defensive when seeing people.

Tiger Keelback snakes flatten their body and neck when meeting people or large predators to appear larger.

These snakes are mostly known for eating frogs.

15. Asian Vine Snake

Asian Vine Snake

Scientific name: Ahaetulla prasina

Common name: Asian vine snake, Boie’s whip snake, Gunther’s whip snake, Oriental whip snake

The Oriental Whip Snake or the Asia Vine snake is a black and green species. The dorsal of this snake has bright green coloring with interrupted black lines going from head to tail.

The head of the snake is also black with thin black lateral lines.

One of the areas this species stands out in is the shape of the head. It has a pointy elongated snout, similar only to South American vine snakes.

Common in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and China among other states, this snake is known for eating lizards and frogs.

The species is arboreal and known for its very thin vine-like body.

The snake is also seen in other morphs such as a gray morph or a yellow morph.

Asian vine snakes are mildly venomous. They should not be handled even if hobbyists raise them for their unique coloring.

Snakes of this genus are endangered in some countries as their natural forested habitat is decreasing.

16. Boomslang

Boomslang

Scientific name: Dispholidus typus

Common name: Boomslang

The Boomslang snake is an arboreal species characterized by a black and green body.

It has a small head with large eyes and green coloring around the mouth.

Bomsslangs are sub-Saharan snakes known to live on trees and vegetation.

These snakes are venomous and dangerous. They can kill people.

The venom of Boomslang snakes impacts the circulatory system and it can kill people with a single bite.

Boomslangs don’t like to bite people as they prefer to chase small prey such as frogs and chameleons.

17. Green Anaconda

Green Anaconda

Scientific name: Eunectes murinus

Common name: Green anaconda, giant anaconda, common anaconda, common water boa, sucuri

The Green Anaconda has an olive-green color with black blotches. Its head is lighter green or even yellow color.

The longest captured Green Anaconda measured just over 17 feet.

This species lives in a vast territory in South America around the Amazon rainforest.

Green Anacondas have large eyes on top of its head. They allow this swimming species to look out of the water without getting out of the water.

Largely nocturnal and living in remote places, Green Anacondas remain one of the most elusive black and green snakes that can feed on entire deer and tapirs.