# Aesculapian snake (*Zamenis longissimus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/aesculapian-snake  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The aesculapian snake (Zamenis longissimus), also called the Aesculapean snake or Aesculapian ratsnake, is a snake in the family Colubridae and subfamily Colubrinae. It falls in the small size class, with a representative adult body mass of 302.2 g and a body length of 99.6 cm, and its main food is rodent. It lays 1 clutch per year with a clutch or litter size of 11.5, the egg incubation period is 53.5 days, and sexual maturity comes at 4.5 years. The IUCN Red List classes it as Least Concern in its global assessment, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 72.2 g – 302.2 g |
| Length | 99.6 cm – 1.2 m |
| Lifespan | 3.55 years |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 3.9 years |
| Main food | rodent |
| Habitat | forest |
| Egg incubation | 53.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 6.7 – 15 |
| Age at maturity | 4.5 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 0.82 – 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Active | By day (diurnal) |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Reptilia
- order: Squamata
- family: Colubridae
- genus: Zamenis
- species: *Zamenis longissimus* (Laurenti, 1768)

Synonyms: *Coluber aesculapi*, *Coluber auculapii*, *Coluber longissimus*, *Coluber scopoli*, *Coluber sellmanni*, *Elaphe longissima*, *Natrix longissima*, *Zamenis aesculapii var. nigra*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the aesculapian snake?

The aesculapian snake is a reptile, a snake of the family Colubridae in the order Squamata.

### How big is the aesculapian snake?

It has a representative adult body mass of 302.2 g and a body length of 99.6 cm, placing it in the small size class.

### What does the aesculapian snake eat?

Its main food is rodent.

### Is the aesculapian snake endangered?

No. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the aesculapian snake live?

Its representative lifespan is 3.55 years, and the highest value reported by our sources is 3.9 years.

### How many eggs does the aesculapian snake lay?

Its clutch or litter size is 11.5, with 1 clutch per year and an egg incubation period of 53.5 days.

### Who named the aesculapian snake?

Its scientific name, Zamenis longissimus, carries the authority (Laurenti, 1768).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4), CC BY 4.0, v1-2. Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4
- [SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b), CC0 1.0, 1.0-dryad-v5. Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Aesculapian snake (Zamenis longissimus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/aesculapian-snake