Western Patchnose snake
Salvadora hexalepis (Cope, 1867)
Status not recordedsnakes
The western patchnose snake (Salvadora hexalepis) is a species in the family Colubridae, order Squamata. Recorded adults weigh about 585 g and live up to 14.3 years.
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Quick facts about the western patchnose snake
- Weight
- 585 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- up to 1.14 msrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 14.3 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- desert, shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 122 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 6src for Young per litter or clutch
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Which animals does the western patchnose snake eat?
Species recorded in published studies and collections.
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/320849900
- https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/213575938
- 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/
Where does the western patchnose snake live?
Not recorded
Is the western patchnose 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 western patchnose snake classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyColubridae
- genusSalvadora
- SpeciesSalvadora hexalepis (Cope, 1867)
Synonyms Phimothyra hexalepis, Salvadora grahamiae virgultea, Salvadora hexalepis virgultea
Other names and names in other languages (12)
- Western patch-nosed snakeEnglish
- Vestlig FlignæsesnogDanish
- Westliche PflasternasennatterGerman
- CabestrilloSpanish
- Culebra ChataSpanish
- Culebra-parchada de cabestrilloSpanish
- Couleuvre à nez plaqué de l’OuestFrench
- Западный заплатоносый ужRussian
- Coast Patchnose Snakeroot
- Desert Patchnose Snakeroot
- Klauber’s Patchnose Snakeroot
- Mojave Patchnose Snakeroot
Relatives of the western patchnose snake
Other species in the same genus Salvadora.
Baird's Patchnose snake
Salvadora bairdi
Big bend Patchnose snake
Salvadora deserticola
Texas patch-nosed snake
Salvadora grahamiae
Pacific Patchnose snake
Salvadora lemniscata
Oaxacan Patchnose snake
Salvadora intermedia
Mexican Patchnose snake
Salvadora mexicana
CompareWestern Patchnose snake vs Baird's Patchnose snakeWestern Patchnose snake vs Big bend Patchnose snakeWestern Patchnose snake vs Texas patch-nosed snakeWestern Patchnose snake vs Pacific Patchnose snake
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the western patchnose snake?
An adult western patchnose snake weighs 585 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
How long does the western patchnose snake live?
The western patchnose snake has a recorded lifespan of 14.3 years.
What kind of animal is the western patchnose snake?
The western patchnose snake (Salvadora hexalepis) belongs to the family Colubridae in the order Squamata.
Which animals does the western patchnose snake eat?
Animals recorded as prey of the western patchnose snake include tiger whiptail. 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
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Western Patchnose snake (Salvadora hexalepis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/western-patchnose-snake
“Western Patchnose snake (Salvadora hexalepis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/western-patchnose-snake.
@misc{western_patchnose_snake_2026,
title = {Western Patchnose snake (Salvadora hexalepis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/western-patchnose-snake},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}