# Racer (*Coluber constrictor*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/coluber-constrictor  
Data as of: 2026-11-14

The racer (Coluber constrictor) is a species in the family Colubridae, order Squamata. Recorded adults weigh about 1.59 kg and live up to 10.2 years.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 1.59 kg |
| Length | up to 1.91 m |
| Lifespan | 10.2 years |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 10.3 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | grassland, shrubland |
| Egg incubation | 50.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 12 – 13.6 |
| Age at maturity | 13.5 months – 3 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Active | By day (diurnal) |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Brain mass | 271 mg – 303 mg (0.0717% of body mass) |
| Conservation status | Not recorded |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Recorded prey and predators

Recorded prey: Ring-necked snake (*Diadophis punctatus*), Garden snake (*Thamnophis sirtalis*), Southern leopard frog (*Lithobates sphenocephalus*), Greensnake (*Opheodrys aestivus*), Green anole (*Anolis carolinensis*), Six-lined racerunner (*Aspidoscelis sexlineatus*), Common wormsnake (*Carphophis amoenus*), Plains garter snake (*Thamnophis radix*), Fence lizard (*Sceloporus undulatus*), Brown wax (*Nerodia fasciata*), Hispid cotton rat (*Sigmodon hispidus*), Common watersnake (*Nerodia sipedon*). Each pair is recorded by at least two datasets compiled by Global Biotic Interactions (https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/, CC0 1.0).

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Reptilia
- order: Squamata
- family: Colubridae
- genus: Coluber
- species: *Coluber constrictor* Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms: *Bascanion constrictor*, *Bascanion vetustus*, *Bascanium anthicum*, *Coluber flaviventris*, *Coluber mormon*, *Coluber ortenburgeri*, *Coryphodon oaxaca*, *Scoliophis atlanticus*, *Zamenis conirostris*, *Zamenis constrictor*, *Zamenis stejnegerianus*

## Common questions

### How big is the racer?

An adult racer weighs 1.59 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

### How long does the racer live?

The racer has a recorded lifespan of 10.2 years.

### What kind of animal is the racer?

The racer (Coluber constrictor) belongs to the family Colubridae in the order Squamata.

### Which animals does the racer eat?

Animals recorded as prey of the racer include ring-necked snake, garden snake, southern leopard frog and greensnake. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.

## 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
- [AnimalTraits: a curated animal trait database for body mass, metabolic rate and brain size](https://animaltraits.org/), CC0 1.0, 1.0.7. Herberstein, M.E., McLean, D.J., Lowe, E. et al. (2022) AnimalTraits: a curated animal trait database for body mass, metabolic rate and brain size. Scientific Data 9: 265. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01364-9. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6468938
- [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
- [Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI): interpreted data products](https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/), CC0 1.0, 0.11. Poelen, J.H., Simons, J.D. & Mungall, C.J. (2014) Global Biotic Interactions: an open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics 24: 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.08.005. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22691479, with each record's original reference.
- [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

Cite as: Racer (Coluber constrictor). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/coluber-constrictor