Stats

Lifespan: 5-10 yrs
Size: Tiny
Diet: Insectivore
Activity: Nocturnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Temperate forest
Range: North America
Movement: Burrowing
Breeding: Live birth
Defense: Burrowing
Status: Uncommon

About

The Rough Earthsnake is a small, secretive burrower found across the southeastern United States, rarely growing longer than a pencil and spending most of its life hidden under logs, leaf litter, and loose soil. Its keeled (rough-textured) scales give the species its name, and it feeds almost exclusively on earthworms and soft-bodied insect larvae, which it locates by smell while tunneling through damp ground.

Life cycle

1.
hatchling
A miniature snake emerges from the egg or from its mother (live-bearers), already venomous or strong-coiled in some species.
2.
juvenile
A juvenile sheds its skin, grows quickly, and hunts smaller prey than the adults.
3.
adult
Fully grown at adult length and pattern.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Virginia
Species: Virginia striatula