Florida Museum of Natural History’s

Comparison of Pygmy Rattlesnake and Hognose Snake

Image of top of pygmy rattlesnake head. Image of underside of pygmy rattlesnake head.
Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake: Top of head (left), and underside of head (right). The nose is blunt and rounded and tipped with one small scale

. Image of top of hognose snake head. Image of underside of hognose snake head.
Hognose snake: Top of head (left), and underside of head (right). The nose is tipped with a single large shovel-like scale.



Image of side of pygmy rattlesnake head.
Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake: The tip of the snout is blunt and rounded; pupil of the eye is a catlike vertical slit; and there is a pit on the side of the head between the eye and nostril.

Image of side of hognose snake head.
Hognose snake: Single large upturned shovel-like scale on the tip of the snout; pupil of the eye is round; and there is no pit on the side of the head between the eye and nostril.



The hognose snake illustrated here is the southern hognose snake, Heterodon simus.

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Copyright © 1996 Florida Museum of Natural History.