Young Copperhead Identification

Copperheads are highly venomous, potentially deadly snakes commonly found throughout the southern U.S. As adults they have a distinctive appearance, which includes a reddish, copper-colored head, as the name suggests. The snakes are just as dangerous when they are young, but are less distinctive and slightly harder to identify.

  1. Body

    • In body shape, a young copperhead, or juvenile copperhead, is just like a scaled-down adult copperhead. At birth, the snakes are between 7 and 10 inches in length and reach an adult size of around 24 inches. The body is stout compared to the snake's length, and the tail tapers to a slender point. In juveniles, this slender tail tip is bright yellow and is used as a lure to attract prey. The yellow tip fades and disappears once the snake is an adult.

    Head

    • The head shape of a young copperhead is the same as that of an adult copperhead, but requires getting very close to the danger zone to be a help in identification. Its head is an arrow shape, which is broad near the neck and tapers to a point with a slight prominence to the snout. The eyes will differentiate juvenile copperheads from nonvenomous look-a-likes. Like most venomous snakes, its eyes have elliptical pupils like a cat, while nonvenomous species have round pupils. The head also lacks markings, much like the adult's, but is not yet copper colored.

    Coloration and Pattern

    • Adult copperheads tend to be reddish in color, but juveniles are bland and more grayish, except for their tails. They have the same basic body patterns as the adults, which generally include light gray base colors with darker cross-bands. These cross-bands resemble an hourglass, being wide at the snakes' sides and narrowing at the spines. These hourglass patterns sometimes do not meet at the spines and are more broken.

    Nest

    • Coming across newborn copperheads, one telling identification factor is that if egg shells are present they probably are not baby copperheads. The reason is that copperheads are born live, hatching internally within the mother. This is not exact, however, as sometimes the mother will lay the eggs just before birth, but this is less common. When born live, the copperheads are in a membranous sac that they break out of. If you come across two to 10 small copperheadlike snakes near a slimy looking mass, they may be newborns and should not be touched.