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Infrequently Acknowledged Reptiles of Delaware’s Wetlands

Written on: May 26th, 2026 in Education and Outreach, Wetland Animals

By Alison Stouffer, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program

Take a moment to visualize a wetland scene. Imagine the plants that surround you. Imagine the water that is present. Now imagine the animals that might call this wetland home. Some of the animals you may have envisioned might include birds, muskrats, fish, and turtles – to name a few. However, there are some slender-bodied, scaled, reptile friends that also rely on wetland habitats for food, shelter, and reproduction; snakes! For those who hold a fear of or animosity towards snakes, we bid you farewell and will see you in the next blog post.

While there are 19 species of snakes found throughout the state of Delaware, only a select few can be found in or around wetlands. Before getting into the slippery details of these wetland snakes, take a few minutes to watch this video and familiarize yourself with snake names and terminology.

Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)

Starting off with a widely recognized striped beasty, we have the common garter snake. This snake can live in a variety of habitats but prefers the moist edges of ponds, lakes, and streams. Their semi-aquatic nature allows them to venture into nearby waters to hunt prey such as crayfish, small fish, snails, and amphibians. They also use these waters as quick getaway from snapping turtles, larger snakes, raccoons, and other predators.

Common Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon) and Plain-Bellied Water Snake (Nerodia erythrogaster)

Delaware is home to two species of water snake, the common water snake and the plain-bellied water snake. Both species are semi-aquatic and inhabit freshwater wetlands, with the common water snake even being found in brackish waters. While – as the name suggests – the common water snake is the most common snake seen in these habitats in the Chesapeake region, the plain-bellied water snake is listed as endangered in Delaware. As the only remaining state in the Mid-Atlantic lacking freshwater, nontidal wetland protections, the ecosystems these snakes rely on (i.e. ephemeral ponds, riverine floodplains, etc.) are becoming few and far between as they are lost to anthropogenic activities.

Both the common water snake and plain-bellied water snake use freshwater wetlands to hunt for small fish (as seen in the photo), frogs, toads, salamanders, and crayfish. Like many other semi-aquatic snakes, these two scaled slitherers capitalize on their surroundings to evade predators by diving underwater. Fun fact: the common water snake can remain underwater, without air, for up to one and a half hours!

Queensnake (Regina septemvittata)

Moving on to the cutest booper among the wetland snakes (in my personal opinion), the queensnake. These snakes can be found within and along slow-moving streams and rivers with rocky bottoms. Where these habitat requirements exist, so do the queensnake’s favorite snack – crayfish. These snakes rely almost entirely on a diet of crayfish for survival. As a result, when crayfish populations decline, queensnake populations see a decline as well. Some causes of this decline include water pollution, bank erosion, and channelization of streams/rivers.

Rough Green Snake (Opheodrys aestivus)

Say hello to the lean, green, not-so-mean machine – the rough green snake! This little cutie is the only tree-dwelling snake in the Chesapeake Bay region and can be found among the branches of trees along the edge of creeks, rivers, ponds, and other wetland habitats. These snakes rely on their green coloring to camouflage into dense vegetation. This behaviors aids in hunting their food, which consists of insects (i.e., grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, etc.), snails, spiders, and small frogs. Further, dense vegetation and excellent camouflage skills help the rough green snake to hide from predators. What looks like forbidden spaghetti to the human eye is actually a tasty treat to birds (like the heron in the photo below), larger snakes, and domestic cats.

Eastern Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis sauritus)

While a common garter snake lookalike, the eastern ribbon snake is, in fact, its own species. However, similar to its near-twin, the eastern ribbon snake is a semi-aquatic species of snake. Within the edges of marsh, bog, and lake habitats, the eastern ribbon snake hunts for small fish and amphibians, particularly frogs and salamanders, that inhabit the same wetland margins. However, the eastern ribbon snake must keep a watchful eye for wetland predators like birds, mink, and racoons.

Redbelly Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata)

Our final snake of the blog is the redbelly snake – an appropriate name considering its physical appearance. This snake can be found within creek bottomlands and sphagnum bogs where the environment is damp, cool, and moist. Unlike many other wetland-associated snakes, the redbelly snake does not eat fish or amphibians but rather worms, slugs, and snails. With such a specialized diet, these snakes are known to increase feeding behavior in alignment with increased presence of prey, typically following rain events. They have even adapted to their prey’s slimy bodies by using inward curving teeth that help them grasp their dinner.

I hope you have enjoyed a peek into the secretive lives of wetland snakes; I know I sure have. I think snakes, overall, are largely misunderstood creatures. In reality, they just want to enjoy a cozy spot, eat a robust meal (although theirs come from the wetlands), and look at pretty wetlands like the rest of us. And if you enjoyed the photos provided as much as I did, be sure to check out the iNaturalist pages for these snake species, or other species not discussed here. There are some seriously cute nope rope and danger noodle photos out there that will surely brighten your day.

Tags: Animals, Wetlands