CreatureData

Ribbon snake

Thamnophis saurita (Linnaeus, 1766)

Status not recordedsnakes

The ribbon snake (Thamnophis saurita) is a species in the family Colubridae, order Squamata.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the ribbon snake

Weight
up to 299.1 gsrc for Weight
Length
up to 1.02 msrc for Length
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
10.6 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
6 – 12.2src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
2 years – 3 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
0.42 – 1.25src 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

What does the ribbon snake eat, and what eats it?

Species recorded in published studies and collections.

Recorded prey of the ribbon snake

5 on record

  1. Cuban tree frog Osteopilus septentrionalis9 sources
  2. Gray treefrog Dryophytes versicolor5 sources
  3. Eastern narrowmouth toad Gastrophryne carolinensis3 sources
  4. Fowler's toad Anaxyrus fowleri3 sources
  5. Spring peeper Pseudacris crucifer3 sources

Recorded predators of the ribbon snake

2 on record

  1. Red-shouldered hawk Buteo lineatus3 sources
  2. Great blue heron Ardea herodias2 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
  • https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/12290776
  • https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/71825197
  • https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/238431711
  • https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143307495
  • John David Curlis (Expert)
  • https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/344794094
  • https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/172011252
  • GASTROPHRYNE CAROLINENSIS (Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad). PREDATION. 2012. Herpetological Review 43(1): 118-118
  • https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/112683260
  • https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/54981875
  • https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/122526254
  • https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/204858631

Where does the ribbon snake live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the ribbon snake as introduced in 1 country.

  1. Belgium

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the ribbon 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 ribbon snake classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classReptilia
  4. orderSquamata
  5. familyColubridae
  6. genusThamnophis
  7. SpeciesThamnophis saurita (Linnaeus, 1766)

Synonyms Amphiesma nicobarensis, Amphiesma nicobariense, Amphiesma nicobariense, Coluber saurita, Eutaenia sackenii, Hebius nicobarense, Hebius nicobariense, Natrix nicobarensis, Natrix nicobariensis, Paranatrix nicobariensis, Prymnomiodon chalceus, Thamnophis sauritus nitae, Thamnophis sauritus septentrionalis, Tropidonotus nicobarensis, Tropidonotus nicobarensis, Tropidonotus nicobaricus, Tropidonotus nicobariensis, Xenochrophis nicobarensis

Other names and names in other languages (15)
  • Common ribbon snakeEnglish
  • Eastern RibbonsnakeEnglish
  • Nicobar island keelbackEnglish
  • Östliche BändernatterGerman
  • Östliche Streifen-StrumpfbandnatterGerman
  • couleuvre minceFrench
  • Ká:nheks Ò:nyareMohawk
  • Waabinong Zenbaan GinebigOjibwa
  • Cobra-fita-orientalPortuguese
  • Восточная подвязочная змеяRussian
  • Eastern Ribbon Snakeroot
  • Bluestripe Ribbon Snakeroot
  • Northern Ribbon Snakeroot
  • Peninsula Ribbon Snakeroot
  • 東部束帶蛇Chinese

Catalogue of LifeiNaturalistITISITISWikidata

Relatives of the ribbon snake

Other species in the same genus Thamnophis.

CompareRibbon snake vs Garden snakeRibbon snake vs Terrestrial garter snakeRibbon snake vs Western RibbonsnakeRibbon snake vs Giant garter snake

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the ribbon snake an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the ribbon snake as introduced in 1 country: Belgium, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

What kind of animal is the ribbon snake?

The ribbon snake (Thamnophis saurita) belongs to the family Colubridae in the order Squamata.

What eats the ribbon snake?

Animals recorded preying on the ribbon snake include red-shouldered hawk and great blue heron. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.

Which animals does the ribbon snake eat?

Animals recorded as prey of the ribbon snake include cuban tree frog, gray treefrog, eastern narrowmouth toad and fowler's toad. 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.

  • 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.
  • Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS) · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-11-13
    Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group.
  • 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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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Ribbon snake (Thamnophis saurita). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/ribbon-snake

MLA

“Ribbon snake (Thamnophis saurita).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/ribbon-snake.

BibTeX
@misc{ribbon_snake_2026,
  title = {Ribbon snake (Thamnophis saurita)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/ribbon-snake},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}