Texas brown snake facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Texas brown snake |
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| Texas brown snake Storeria dekayi texana |
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Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Genus: | Storeria |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: |
S. d. texana
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| Trinomial name | |
| Storeria dekayi texana Trapido, 1944
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The Texas brown snake (Storeria dekayi texana) is a small, non-venomous snake. It is a type of brown snake found only in North America. This snake belongs to the Colubridae family, which includes many common snakes. It is a subspecies of the Storeria dekayi snake.
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Where Texas Brown Snakes Live
You can find the Texas brown snake in a wide area. They live from southern Minnesota all the way to eastern Texas. They are also found in northeastern Mexico.
What Texas Brown Snakes Look Like
Adults and young Texas brown snakes have reddish-brown bodies. They have dark brown spots around their eyes. These spots are wider than those on other types of S. dekayi snakes. The fourth upper lip scale is usually darker too.
Texas brown snakes also look different because they do not have a black bar or stripe on their front head shield. Adult snakes are usually about 30.5 centimeters (12 inches) long. Some can grow up to 48.3 centimeters (19 inches) long.
Texas Brown Snake Homes
These snakes like to live in damp woodlands. You can often find them hiding under logs and tree bark. In cities, they might live in gardens and flower beds. They also hide under old pieces of roofing or linoleum in backyards and empty lots.
What Texas Brown Snakes Eat
Texas brown snakes mostly eat slugs and earthworms. They also enjoy eating insects and spiders. Sometimes, they will even eat cricket frogs, which are small frogs from the Acris group.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Texas brown snakes give birth to live young. This is called being ovoviviparous. It means the eggs hatch inside the mother's body, and then the babies are born alive.
Females usually have their babies in August and early September. A mother snake can have anywhere from 3 to 15 babies at one time. Each newborn snake comes out in a thin tissue sac. This sac breaks open quickly, and the baby snake sheds it. Newborn snakes are quite small, measuring about 9 to 11.5 centimeters (3.5 to 4.5 inches) long.
