States Wildlife
Menu

Are there coral snakes in Texas?

Last checked November 3, 2026 against official sources.

On this page
  1. The answer
  2. More official answers
  3. Which ones
  4. Where in the US
  5. Lookalikes
  6. Sources

Yes.

TPWD: the Texas coral snake is the state's only elapid and is found in the southeastern half of Texas.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: “The brightly colored Texas coral snake is the state's only member of the Elapidae family, which includes the cobras of Asia and Africa. … Coral snakes are found in the southeastern half of Texas in woodlands, canyons and coastal plains.” Source

How we answer questions

  • Are there rattlesnakes in Texas?

    Yes. TPWD Junior Naturalists and AgriLife Extension give eight species: two Sistrurus and six Crotalus (Extension counts 10 subspecies). TPWD hunter education says 10 species. The western diamondback is the most common and widespread venomous snake in Texas. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

  • Are there water moccasins in Texas?

    Yes. TPWD: one subspecies, the western cottonmouth, in the eastern half of the state. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

On Texas's official list

Texas Coralsnake
Photo: Brady Reed · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Texas Coralsnake

Micrurus tener

Venomous per Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Size
Usually 2.5 feet or shorter (TPWD); adults average 20 to 30 inches (AGFC).
How to recognize it
  • The only snake in Texas with touching red and yellow bands
  • Slender with a small head and round pupils; AGFC warns round pupils and a slender head do not mean a snake is nonvenomous
Where in Texas
Coral snakes are found in the southeastern half of Texas in woodlands, canyons and coastal plains. Herps of Texas, Biodiversity Collections, Dept. of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin
229 records by month.
What the sources say

Venom: “Coral snakes, which are venomous, do not have cat’s-eye pupils.” (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department)

Full Texas Coralsnake guide

All snakes in the state: Texas snakes.

Where coral snakes live in the US

Texas: on an official sourceGeorgia: on an official sourceLouisiana: on an official sourceFlorida: on an official sourceMississippi: on an official sourceNorth Carolina: on an official sourceSouth Carolina: on an official sourceNew Mexico: on an official sourceAlabama: on an official sourceArizona: on an official source
Official presence. 10 states where a state list or official source names it. Gray means no official record in our data, not that it is absent.
  • Native or listed
  • Nonnative or not established
  • No official record in our data
Texas: 234 recordsGeorgia: 1 recordLouisiana: 5 recordsFlorida: 73 recordsSouth Carolina: 1 recordNew Mexico: 1 recordArizona: 35 records
Observation records. Open-licence records on GBIF for all US coral snakes (genera Micrurus and Micruroides) in 7 states. Records are sightings people shared, not confirmation that a population lives there.
  • 1–9
  • 10–99
  • 100–999
  • 1,000+

Coral snakes: identification, range and danger

What else it could be

When snakes are seen in Texas

10,909 records (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY).

Other questions about Texas

Sources

  1. Venomous Snake Safety (Texas Junior Naturalists). Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. undated page; checked November 3, 2026.
    Quoted passages (2)
    “The brightly colored Texas coral snake is the state's only member of the Elapidae family, which includes the cobras of Asia and Africa. … Coral snakes are found in the southeastern half of Texas in woodlands, canyons and coastal plains.”
    “The coral snake is slender with a small indistinctive head and round pupils, and is usually is 2-1/2 feet or shorter.”
  2. Herps of Texas: Snakes of Texas. Herps of Texas, Biodiversity Collections, Dept. of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin. 2020-07-23 (archive capture date; checked November 3, 2026.
  3. Hunter Education Online Course: Snakes. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. undated page; checked November 3, 2026.
    Quoted passages (3)
    “Coral snakes, which are venomous, do not have cat’s-eye pupils.”
    “There are 10 species of rattlesnakes in Texas. … This is the most common and widespread venomous snake in Texas, found in all but the easternmost part of the state.”
    “Also known as 'water moccasins', only one recognized subspecies is found in Texas; Western cottonmouth (A.p. leucostoma).”
  4. Snake (Venom: Animal Bites, Venomous Bites). Texas Department of State Health Services. undated page; checked November 3, 2026.
    Quoted passages (1)
    “The Texas Coral Snake is the only snake in Texas with touching red and yellow bands.”
  5. GBIF.org occurrence records, human observations licensed CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, accessed November 3, 2026. The datasets behind these counts are listed on our Sources page.