Genus: Storeria

Scales: Keeled

Anal Plate: Divided

Northern Red-bellied snakes are found throughout the eastern half of the U.S., they are replaced by the Florida subspecies in East Texas and most of the southeastern states. This species inhabits forests, sphagnum bogs, open woodlands, swamp forests and prairies.

Red-bellied snakes grow to just under and foot in length. Food items include soft bodied insects, slugs and earthworms.

This species has a unique defensive behavior of raising its lip scales and showing its teeth (Dixon & Werler 2000). Other defensive behaviors include flattening its body and more commonly, expelling musk and feces. The musk is sort of like cologne or perfume to any real herpetologist.

Breeding usually occurs in late spring and early summer, but this species is known to store sperm so fall mating can occur. The gestation time is two to two and a half months. Litter sizes are usually some where around 10 to 15. Frank Blanchard observed a litter of one, while Alan Tennant wrote about a litter of 23 neonates.

Like water snakes, garter snakes and brown snakes; Red-bellied snakes give birth to their young. There are two types of live birth: true viviparity and ovoviviparity. Live bearing snake can do both, but Red-bellied Snakes do the latter. This means that embryo snakes get their nutrition from the egg, rather than directly from the mother. So basically, the eggs are incubated inside the mother. The closely related Garter Snakes are truly viviparous, their embryos get nourished directly through a connection with the mother.

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