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Southeastern crowned snake

Tantilla coronata · Snakes · Reptiles

Southeastern crowned snake (Tantilla coronata): Very small, slender snake, about 8-10 in (Louisiana reports 6-13 in) with smooth scales in 15 rows. Black or dark-brown head, a light collar, then a black neck band; body light brown, tan or reddish-brown, unpatterned. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Tantilla coronata
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
Southeastern United States from North Carolina west to Louisiana, with an isolated population in Kentucky (Indiana also records it); generally absent from southern Georgia and peninsular Florida; not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Very small, slender snake, about 8-10 in (Louisiana reports 6-13 in) with smooth scales in 15 rows. [1][2][3]

Black or dark-brown head, a light collar, then a black neck band; body light brown, tan or reddish-brown, unpatterned. [1][2][3]

Belly white, pink or yellowish; young resemble adults; tiny eyes. [1][2][3]

Compared with the midland brownsnake: Lacks the black neck band and has keeled scales (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency). [1][2][3]

Compared with the red-bellied snake: Lacks the black neck band and has keeled scales (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency). [1][2][3]

Compared with the ring-necked snake: Has a bright yellow belly (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency). [1][2][3]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a southeastern crowned snake before you act. Compared with the midland brownsnake: Lacks the black neck band and has keeled scales (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency).[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Dry, well-drained wooded ridges and hillsides, pine and oak woodland, sandy pine flatwoods and sandhills, always with cover such as rocks, logs and stumps. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Highly fossorial; burrows under rocks, woody debris, leaf litter and in rotting logs or stumps and is rarely seen except when cover is turned. [1][2][3]

Eats centipedes, insect larvae, earthworms, spiders, termites and snails; small rear fangs do not threaten people. [1][2][3]

Active March to October in the north; lays 1-3 eggs under cover in summer. [1][2][3]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Southeastern United States from North Carolina west to Louisiana, with an isolated population in Kentucky (Indiana also records it); generally absent from southern Georgia and peninsular Florida; not in Canada.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

  3. Outdoor Alabama (Alabama Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources) · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Outdoor Alabama (Alabama Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources)