Persian rat snake
Zamenis persicus (Werner, 1913)
Status not recordedsnakes
The persian rat snake (Zamenis persicus) is a species in the family Colubridae, order Squamata. Recorded adults weigh about 3.11 kg and live up to 3.55 years.
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Quick facts about the persian rat snake
- Weight
- 3.11 kg
- Length
- up to 1.31 m
- Lifespan
- 3.55 years
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 3.9 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forest
- Egg incubation
- 50 days
- Young per litter or clutch
- 6.5
- Age at maturity
- 4.5 years
- Reproduction
- Eggs
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the persian rat snake live?
Not recorded
Is the persian rat 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 persian rat snake classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyColubridae
- genusZamenis
- SpeciesZamenis persicus (Werner, 1913)
Synonyms Coluber longissimus persica, Coluber longissimus var. nigra, Coluber longissimus var. persica, Elaphe persica
Other names and names in other languages (9)
- užovka perskáCzech
- Persische KletternatterGerman
- Culebra ratonera persaSpanish
- مار موش خوار پارسیPersian
- Serpent ratier de PerseFrench
- perzsa patkánysiklóHungarian
- Cobra-rateira-persaPortuguese
- Persidsky PolozRussian
- Персидский полозRussian
Relatives of the persian rat snake
Other species in the same genus Zamenis.

Aesculapian snake
Zamenis longissimus
Leopard snake
Zamenis situla
Caucasian rat snake
Zamenis hohenackeri
Italian Aesculapian snake
Zamenis lineatus
Ladder snake
Zamenis scalaris
ComparePersian rat snake vs Aesculapian snakePersian rat snake vs Leopard snakePersian rat snake vs Caucasian rat snakePersian rat snake vs Italian Aesculapian snake
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the persian rat snake?
An adult persian rat snake weighs 3.11 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
How long does the persian rat snake live?
The persian rat snake has a recorded lifespan of 3.55 years.
What kind of animal is the persian rat snake?
The persian rat snake (Zamenis persicus) belongs to the family Colubridae in the order Squamata.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
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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 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - 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 - Wikimedia Commons · 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). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits (raw datasets) · CC BY 4.0 · 2024-12-17
Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - 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 - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - 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 - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · 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).
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CreatureData. (2026). Persian rat snake (Zamenis persicus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/persian-rat-snake
“Persian rat snake (Zamenis persicus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/persian-rat-snake.
@misc{persian_rat_snake_2026,
title = {Persian rat snake (Zamenis persicus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/persian-rat-snake},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}