Is the banded water snake venomous?

The banded water snake is harmless. Harmless. Bites bleed but carry no venom of consequence. The greater risk is to the snake, which is frequently killed on sight by people who believe it is a moccasin.

How do you identify a banded water snake?

Swims low with the body under the surface; cottonmouths ride high. Slender head that flows smoothly into the neck, without the blocky jowls of a pit viper.

Where do banded water snakes live?

They are found in 10 US states, in habitats including water and wetland.

Banded Water Snake

Harmless

Nerodia fasciata · also called southern water snake

The banded water snake fills the same role in the southeast that the northern water snake fills further north, and it is mistaken for a cottonmouth just as often. It shares its habitat with real cottonmouths across most of its range, so the behavioural differences — how it swims and how it reacts — matter more than colour.

Venom: Harmless. Bites bleed but carry no venom of consequence. The greater risk is to the snake, which is frequently killed on sight by people who believe it is a moccasin.
Adult length: 22–42 inches (56–107 cm)
Markings: Dark crossbands the whole length of the body on a tan, grey or reddish ground. A dark stripe usually runs from the eye to the angle of the jaw. Older animals become very dark and nearly patternless.
Habitat: water, wetland
Family: colubrid
Range: 10 US states

How to identify a banded water snake

Swims low with the body under the surface; cottonmouths ride high.
Slender head that flows smoothly into the neck, without the blocky jowls of a pit viper.
Round pupil and no facial pit between eye and nostril.
Bolts for the water when disturbed rather than holding ground and gaping.

What it does when it sees you

Basks on branches over water and drops in when startled. Bluffs hard if cornered — flattening, striking and musking — but has no dangerous bite.

What the banded water snake is confused with

One test settles each of these.

Cottonmouth →

The white open-mouth gape is definitive for cottonmouth. Water snakes never do it.

Where it lives

Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina Oklahoma South Carolina Texas

Before anything else

Back away and leave it alone. A snake that can see you leaving has no reason to bite. Most bites in the United States happen to people who picked up, cornered, or tried to kill a snake.
Never handle a snake to identify it. Every identification on this site can be made from a photo or from several feet away.
If someone is bitten, call emergency services now. Keep the limb still and below the heart, remove rings and watches, and go to hospital. Do not cut, suck, apply ice, or use a tourniquet — all of these make outcomes worse.
Do not try to catch the snake for identification. A photo from a distance is enough, and hospitals treat symptoms rather than species.

In the US, the Poison Help line is 1-800-222-1222. This site is a reference, not medical advice.

Not sure it was a banded water snake? Identify it step by step →