Massasauga
Sistrurus catenatus (Rafinesque, 1818)
Status not recordedsnakes
The massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) is a species in the family Viperidae, order Squamata. Recorded adults weigh about 384 g and live up to 17 years.
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Quick facts about the massasauga
- Weight
- 384 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- up to 1.03 msrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 17 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 20 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 8 – 9.3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3.01 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.5 – 0.75src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Live birthsrc for Reproduction
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Which animals does the massasauga eat?
Species recorded in published studies and collections.
Recorded prey of the massasauga
4 on record
- House mouse Mus musculus3 sources
- American red squirrel Tamiasciurus hudsonicus3 sources
- Redbelly snake Storeria occipitomaculata2 sources
- Garden snake Thamnophis sirtalis2 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
- John David Curlis (Expert)
- Cody Thompson (Expert)
- Notes on the natural history of the western Massasauga. 1965. Herpetologica 21(3): 225-228
- Feeding and breeding: a northern population of Massasauga rattlesnakes, Sistrurus catenatus (Rafinesque 1818), continues to hunt during the mating season. 2015. Herpetology Notes 8: 277-280
Where does the massasauga live?
Not recorded
Is the massasauga 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 massasauga classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyViperidae
- genusSistrurus
- SpeciesSistrurus catenatus (Rafinesque, 1818)
Synonyms Crotalinus catenatus, Crotalinus catenatus, Crotalophorus consors, Crotalus messasaugus, Sistrurus catenatus catenatus
Other names and names in other languages (18)
- Black massasaugaEnglish
- chřestýšek malýCzech
- Ketten-KlapperschlangeGerman
- Wüsten-Massasauga [edwardsi]German
- Cascabel pigmea norteñaSpanish
- cascabel pigmea-norteñaSpanish
- Víbora-cascabel pigmea-norteñaSpanish
- massasauga de l'EstFrench
- láncos törpecsörgőkígyóHungarian
- マサソーガJapanese
- O'nekén:tsiMohawk
- Massasauga Medwe'enhOjibwa
- Wabanaung Massasauga MedwehnwhenOjibwa
- grzechotniczek pospolityPolish
- МассасаугаRussian
- Цепочный карликовый гремучникRussian
- Eastern Massasaugaroot
- 北美侏儒響尾蛇Chinese
Relatives of the massasauga
Other species in the same genus Sistrurus.
Pigmy rattlesnake
Sistrurus miliarius
Desert massasauga
Sistrurus tergeminus
CompareMassasauga vs Pigmy rattlesnakeMassasauga vs Desert massasauga
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the massasauga?
An adult massasauga weighs 384 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
How long does the massasauga live?
The massasauga has a recorded lifespan of 17 years.
What kind of animal is the massasauga?
The massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) belongs to the family Viperidae in the order Squamata.
Which animals does the massasauga eat?
Animals recorded as prey of the massasauga include house mouse, american red squirrel, redbelly snake and garden snake. 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). Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/massasauga
“Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/massasauga.
@misc{massasauga_2026,
title = {Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/massasauga},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}