Species
Striped swampsnake
Liodytes alleni
A glossy, striped snake of south Georgia's bogs and wet prairies that eats crayfish.
Photo jimeckert49 (opens in a new tab) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- Usually 33 to 55 cm long
- Habitat
- Cypress ponds, marshes, wet prairies and floating mats of vegetation
- Diet
- Crayfish
- In Georgia
- Southeast Georgia
- Venomous
- No
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Glossy brown with three dark stripes and yellow stripes along the sides; yellow belly
- Told apart from
- Glossy swampsnake, which lacks the yellow side stripes
- Where to look
- Among water hyacinths and sphagnum in southern wetlands
Behaviour
It lives in dense wet vegetation and hunts crayfish, swallowing them whole. It rarely bites.
Why they matter
It is a specialist of southern wetlands and part of what makes places like the Okefenokee distinctive.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Young — Born live, usually 4 to 12
Size at birth — About 15 to 18 cm
Maturity — In two years
Breeding — Every year
Lifespan — Several years
Diet — Crayfish from birth
Living around people
- It is harmless.
Misconceptions
- Striped snakes are garter snakes. This one is a swampsnake of the far south.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | Sheltering | Active on warm days | Active | Active | Mating | Active | Young born | Young born | Active | Active | Active on warm days | Sheltering |
Where it lives
Recorded in 2 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
If you found one
Answer a few questions and you will get a specific answer for what you are looking at.
I found an animal