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Western black-headed snake

Tantilla planiceps · Snakes · Reptiles

Western black-headed snake (Tantilla planiceps): Small, slender snake 7-15 in (18-38 cm), brown to olive-gray above. Black head bordered behind by a white collar; head noticeably flattened. 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 planiceps
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
California Coast Ranges from east of Livermore and south of San Francisco Bay, through the Transverse Ranges, south to the tip of Baja California, reaching the desert side of mountains in southern California; not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Small, slender snake 7-15 in (18-38 cm), brown to olive-gray above. [1][2][3]

Black head bordered behind by a white collar; head noticeably flattened. [1][2][3]

Semi-fossorial and crevice-dwelling, so usually seen under flat rocks or other surface objects. [1][2][3]

Compared with the smith's black-headed snake (tantilla hobartsmithi): Visually similar; Smith's has a cream collar and a reddish belly stripe and occurs east of California, whereas the western black-headed snake is the California/Baja species. [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 western black-headed snake before you act. Compared with the smith's black-headed snake (tantilla hobartsmithi): Visually similar; Smith's has a cream collar and a reddish belly stripe and occurs east of California, whereas the western black-headed snake is the California/Baja species.[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Grassland, coastal scrub, chaparral, oak and oak-pine woodland, desert-edge and thornscrub, often rocky areas and along streams, sea level to about 1,220-1,830 m; moist niches within otherwise arid or semiarid country. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Nocturnal: most active on warm nights from spring to early fall, with a winter period of inactivity; underground or under cover by day. [1][2][3]

Eats millipedes, centipedes, spiders and beetle larvae. [1][2][3]

Clutch of 1-3 eggs laid May-June; several snakes are occasionally found together under one rock or log. [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

California Coast Ranges from east of Livermore and south of San Francisco Bay, through the Transverse Ranges, south to the tip of Baja California, reaching the desert side of mountains in southern California; not in Canada.

Biology

Sources

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

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. California Department of Fish and Wildlife · reviewed 2026-09-30

    California Department of Fish and Wildlife

  3. Wikipedia · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Wikipedia