‹ Compare two snakes
Burmese Python vs Red Cornsnake
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(c) Teá Montagna, some rights reserved (CC BY)
Burmese Python
Python bivittatus
Non-venomousDia D, no rights reserved
Red Cornsnake
Pantherophis guttatus
Non-venomousThe quick way to tell
Check the color and blotch shape. The Red Cornsnake has neat red-orange saddles edged in black, plus a black-and-white checkerboard belly. The Burmese Python is tan with big, irregular dark brown puzzle-piece blotches.
Pattern ★ This settles it
Dark brown puzzle-piece blotches edged in black on tan.
Bold red-orange saddles edged in black on orange to gray; black-and-white checkerboard belly.
Head
Big and blocky; dark arrow points forward on top, dark stripe through each eye.
Narrow head with a spear-point marking running forward between the eyes.
Eyes
Vertical slit pupil; heat-sensing pits along the lip scales rather than one facial pit.
Round pupil, orange-brown iris; no heat-sensing pit.
Pits
Heat-sensing pits in the scales along the lips — not between the eye and the nostril.
None. There is no pit between the eye and the nostril.
Tail
Thick and muscular, tapering; no rattle.
Tapers evenly, often striped underneath; no rattle.
What it does
Lies still in cover; a large one is strong and will bite if handled.
Calm and slow to bite; freezes or slips into cover.
Where it lives
Introduced and established in south Florida, mainly the Everglades and surrounding wetlands. Native to Southeast Asia.
Southeast: New Jersey south through Florida, west to Louisiana, Tennessee and Kentucky.