Glossy snake
Arizona elegans Kennicott, 1859
Status not recordedsnakes
The glossy snake (Arizona elegans) is a species in the family Colubridae, order Squamata. Recorded adults weigh about 2.19 kg and live up to 12.2 years.
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Quick facts about the glossy snake
- Weight
- 2.19 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- up to 1.78 msrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 12.2 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 25 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- desert, shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 84 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 6 – 13src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3.5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.75src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
What does the glossy snake eat, and what eats it?
Species recorded in published studies and collections.
Recorded prey of the glossy snake
9 on record
- Merriam's kangaroo rat Dipodomys merriami3 sources
- Desert iguana Dipsosaurus dorsalis5 sources
- Texas horned lizard Phrynosoma cornutum4 sources
- Side-blotched lizard Uta stansburiana4 sources
- Western banded gecko Coleonyx variegatus2 sources
- Zebra-tailed lizard Callisaurus draconoides2 sources
- Sagebrush lizard Sceloporus graciosus2 sources
- Desert spiny lizard Sceloporus magister2 sources
- Utah night lizard Xantusia vigilis2 sources
Recorded predators of the glossy snake
3 on record
- California kingsnake Lampropeltis californiae2 sources
- Sidewinder Crotalus cerastes2 sources
- Coachwhip Masticophis flagellum2 sources
Each pair is recorded by at least two independent datasets. A record shows the animal was seen or found to have eaten the other, including scavenged carcasses and young animals; it does not say how often. Compiled by Global Biotic Interactions (CC0 1.0).
References for these records
- Eichenwald, A. J., Fefferman, N. H., & Reed, J. M. (2024). Potential extinction cascades in a desert ecosystem: Linking food web interactions to community viability. Ecology and Evolution, 14, e10930. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10930. Accessed at <https://github.com/aeiche01/MojaveFoodWeb/archive/
- https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27423724
- Food Habits of the Glossy Snake, Arizona elegans, with Comparisons to the Diet of Sympatric Long-Nosed Snakes, Rhinocheilus lecontei. 1999. Journal of Herpetology 33(1): 87-92
- Observations on the winter activities of desert reptiles. 1941. Ecology 22: 125-140
- Reproduction and food of some California snakes. 1959. Herpetologica 15(1): 17-19
- https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/14638568
- https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/363490562
- The glossy snake, Arizona, with descriptions of new subspecies. 1946. Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 10: 311-398
- Predation on the black-throated sparrow Amphispiza bilineata (Cassin, 1850) and scavenging behaviour on the western banded gecko Coleonyx variegatus (Baird, 1858) by the glossy snake Arizona elegans Kennicott, 1859. 2020. Herpetology Notes 13: 401-403
- https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/337690
- https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/95015702
- https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/266284091
Where does the glossy snake live?
Not recorded
Is the glossy snake endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the glossy snake classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyColubridae
- genusArizona
- SpeciesArizona elegans Kennicott, 1859
Synonyms Arizona elegans australis, Arizona elegans blanchardi
Other names and names in other languages (18)
- užovka leskláCzech
- Arizona-glanssnogDanish
- ArizonanatterGerman
- Culebra brillanteSpanish
- Brillante ArenicolaSpanish
- Cobra-lustrosaPortuguese
- Стройный глянцевый ужRussian
- coíimajSeri
- Texas Glossy Snakeroot
- Arizona Glossy Snakeroot
- California Glossy Snakeroot
- Desert Glossy Snakeroot
- Eastern Glossy Snakeroot
- Kansas Glossy Snakeroot
- Mojave Glossy Snakeroot
- Painted Desert Glossy Snakeroot
- Western Glossy Snakeroot
- 麗紋亞利桑那蛇Chinese
Relatives of the glossy snake
Other species in the same genus Arizona.
Peninsula glossy snake
Arizona pacata
CompareGlossy snake vs Arizona occidentalisGlossy snake vs Peninsula glossy snake
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the glossy snake?
An adult glossy snake weighs 2.19 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
How long does the glossy snake live?
The glossy snake has a recorded lifespan of 12.2 years.
What kind of animal is the glossy snake?
The glossy snake (Arizona elegans) belongs to the family Colubridae in the order Squamata.
What eats the glossy snake?
Animals recorded preying on the glossy snake include california kingsnake, sidewinder and coachwhip. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.
Which animals does the glossy snake eat?
Animals recorded as prey of the glossy snake include merriam's kangaroo rat, desert iguana, texas horned lizard and side-blotched lizard. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · 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 · 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 · 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 · 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 · 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
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Glossy snake (Arizona elegans). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/glossy-snake
“Glossy snake (Arizona elegans).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/glossy-snake.
@misc{glossy_snake_2026,
title = {Glossy snake (Arizona elegans)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/glossy-snake},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}