Snakes that can change colors have always fascinated people. If you’ve ever wondered why or how some snakes are able to shift their scales to different hues, you’re not alone.
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick answer: Some species of snakes can actively change their skin color as a form of camouflage to match their surroundings and avoid predators or to regulate body temperature.
In this comprehensive guide, we will uncover everything you need to know about color-changing snakes, including:
What Kinds of Snakes Can Change Color
Species That Actively Change Color
Some snakes have the incredible ability to actively change their skin color and patterns to blend into their surroundings. This form of camouflage helps the snakes stay hidden from predators and prey. Here are some of the most fascinating color-changing snake species:
- Chameleon snakes – These thin, tree-dwelling snakes can change their color from light brown to green to gray. They live in dense forests across Central America and use their color-morphing skills to match tree bark and foliage.
- Mangrove snakes – Found in mangrove forests and marshes from Southeast Asia to northern Australia, these arboreal serpents can shift between jet black and bright yellow. Their color changes help them conceal themselves in sun-dappled waters.
- Eastern coral snakes – Brightly banded coral snakes of the Americas can actually adjust the width of their stripes to better match their surroundings. When frightened, they make their normally bold bands thinner to be less conspicuous.
- Western pygmy rattlesnakes – The smallest rattlesnake species has an ontogenetic color shift where younger snakes have a grayish pattern that gradually changes to reddish-brown in adults. This helps the little snakes stay hidden.
Researchers believe these snakes change color using specialized cells called chromatophores in their skin. By dispersing or concentrating pigments in the chromatophores, the snakes can shift their hue and patterns in a matter of minutes or even seconds to camouflage themselves.
Species With Passive Color Change
Other snakes do not actively morph their color but passively change shades in response to their environments. Here are some snakes with this more subtle form of color change:
- Ball pythons – Also called royal pythons, these popular pet snakes lighten or darken based on temperature. In cool conditions, they turn nearly black to absorb heat. In warmth, they lighten to grey or brown to reflect heat.
- Garter snakes – Common garters develop more vivid striping when exposed to warmer weather. Melanin pigments spread out making the stripes more defined in heat.
- Boa constrictors – Boas display ontogenetic color change where young reddish snakes turn silver, brown, or olive as they mature. Their color tone varies among locales.
- Rat snakes – From grey ratsnakes to Texas rat snakes, these species tend to be more vividly patterned in humid, warm climates and duller in cool, arid areas.
These more subtle changes happen as temperature and humidity influence the snakes’ metabolism and circulation, dispersing or concentrating pigments without using chromatophores. While not as dramatic as active color-shifting, it still helps the snakes blend into their local habitats.
How Snakes Change Color
Chromatophore Cells and Pigments
Snakes have specialized cells in their skin called chromatophores that allow them to change color. Chromatophores contain pigments of different colors, including black, brown, red, yellow, and white. By dispersing or concentrating these pigments within the cell, snakes can alter their skin coloration.
For example, the ball python has three main types of chromatophores:
- Melanophores contain black and brown pigment.
- Xanthophores contain yellow pigment.
- Iridophores contain more purplish pigment that breaks up light to generate iridescent effects.
By altering the cell shapes of these chromatophores, ball pythons blend better into their background environment.
Shedding Skin and Growing New Scales
As snakes grow, they regularly shed their entire external layer of skin. This allows not only for physical growth but also color change as new skin contains freshly developed scales.
The new scales that form contain chromatophore cells that can adjust and change to take on new color patterns. For example, young coral snakes may start with banded coloration that gradually shifts to their distinctive red, yellow and black adult markings as they shed and regrow scales over time.
Hormonal Signals That Trigger Color Change
The shifts in chromatophores and development of new scales capable of different coloration occurs due to hormonal changes. These changes act as signals to alter color in ways that aid survival. For example:
- Temperature shifts spark metabolic changes mediated by thyroid hormones – cooler weather leads to darker pigmentation.
- Melatonin coordinates color with time of day, causing paler tones in daylight.
- Reproductive processes involve testosterone and estrogen influencing color often dramatically between genders.
The combinations of specialized cells, skin shedding cycles, and complex hormonal signals enable the remarkable color-changing talents of many snakes throughout their life. This ability continues to be studied and unraveled by scientists aiming to further understand these incredible reptiles.
Why Snakes Change Color
Camouflage and Avoiding Predators
One of the main reasons snakes change color is for camouflage to avoid predators. Snakes blend in with their surroundings to become less visible to predators like birds, mammals, and other reptiles. Some examples of camouflage in snakes include:
- The eastern coralsnake has black, yellow, and red banding that lets it blend in among fallen leaves and pine needles on the forest floor.
- The western pygmy rattlesnake has blotches and stripes in colors like gray, brown, black, and rust red that help it hide in rocky habitats.
- The Amazon tree boa has disruptive coloration with irregular blotches so it’s hard to spot when coiled in a tree.
Snakes like the cottonmouth and copperhead have cryptic coloration to camouflage themselves among leaf litter and debris near waterways. Overall, camouflage gives snakes a survival advantage by making them harder to see so predators are less likely to spot them.
Signaling and Mating Displays
Another reason for color change in snakes is signaling for mating or territorial displays. During the breeding season, the coloring on some snakes becomes more vivid and pronounced. This helps attract mates and communicate readiness to breed. Here are some examples:
- Garter snakes darken their background color and exhibit brighter yellow or green stripes to signal mating readiness.
- Rattlesnakes like the prairie rattlesnake lighten between their darker dorsal blotches when looking for a mate.
- The emerald tree boa develops more distinctive orange-red coloration on their head and anterior body to attract females.
In addition to improving chances of mating, more vivid color displays can signal territoriality and scare away rival males during breeding season. So color change plays an important role in snake reproduction and communication.
Thermoregulation
Color change in snakes can also aid with thermoregulation. As ectotherms that rely on external heat sources, snakes need to regulate their body temperature through their behavior. Some ways snakes use color change for thermoregulation include:
- Darkening their skin to absorb more heat from solar radiation.
- Lightening their skin to reflect rather than absorb heat when they are too hot.
- Developing darker dorsal stripes to gain heat while keeping a light belly to stay cool.
For example, the Texas ratsnake has darker middorsal blotches that help it gain heat to become active on cooler mornings. The coachwhip snake turns darker to absorb heat after a cool night. So color change provides snakes with a thermal advantage to maintain optimal body temperature.
Conclusion
As you can see, a snake’s ability to transform its coloration serves important purposes for survival and communication. Whether through specialized cells, skin shedding, or hormone signals, color-changing snakes have adapted powerful tactics to thrive.
We’ve explored the how and why behind some slithery reptiles’ stunning rainbow scales. Next time you encounter a color-shifting serpent, you’ll view its morphing hue with new appreciation!
