Japanese striped snake
Amazing fact
Male Japanese striped snakes wrestle with their bodies entwined in a “combat dance” during the breeding season.
札幌市円山動物園
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Male Japanese striped snakes wrestle with their bodies entwined in a “combat dance” during the breeding season.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Japanese striped snake
- Scientific name
- Elaphe quadrivirgata
- Japanese name
- シマヘビ
- Group
- Amphibians and reptiles
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Elaphe
A non-venomous snake of Japan. It lives mainly in fields and on riverbanks, and also in grasslands and forests.
Dark brown stripes run from its neck along its body. Its colors vary a lot, and all-black ones are called crow snakes.
It eats many kinds of small animals, mainly lizards and frogs. When in danger, it shakes its tail and slaps the ground to scare enemies.
How the Japanese striped snake lives
They seldom climb trees and move swiftly along the ground. Their large scales and inflexible skin prevent them from swallowing very large prey. Females reproduce by laying eggs.
札幌市円山動物園Basic data
- Size
- Total length: 70–100 cm
- Lifespan
- about 10–20 years in the wild, about 10–20 years in captivity
- Diet
- Mice, small birds, lizards, frogs, snakes and other animals
- Range
- Japan
Where the Japanese striped snake has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- シマヘビ
- 简体中文
- 缟蛇
- 繁體中文
- 縞蛇
- 한국어
- 줄무늬뱀
- Português (Brasil)
- Cobra-rateira-de-quatro-listras-japonesa
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 札幌市円山動物園 — シマヘビChecked: 2026-11-03
- 国土交通省 大隅河川国道事務所 — 肝属川の爬虫類Checked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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