Diet. See the fact file for more information on the snakes or alternatively, you can download our 28-page Snakes worksheet pack. Some lizards are legless and look like snakes, however, most lizards have eyelids, and snakes do not. There are about 3,000 different kinds of snakes, and of these, about 375 are venomous. There are more than 3,000 species of snakes on the planet and they’re found everywhere except in Antarctica, Iceland, Ireland, Greenland, and New Zealand. There are 126 types of snakes in the United States, but only 19 are harmful to people.

Though snakes are generally thought to be venomous, dangerous and basically a threat to mortality, majority of them are nonvenomous. A rattlesnake skull, showing the long fangs used to inject venom. Snakes have two ways of making a kill. Various Types of Snakes. Vipers are predators, meaning that they eat other animals, their main diet is eating birds (including bird eggs), amphibians, such as frogs and toads, and other small reptiles like lizards and other smaller snakes. Like all reptiles, snakes warm their body temperature by lying in the sun and lower it by moving into the shade. They are cold-blooded animals meaning their body temperature can change according to the surroundings.

Images for kids. Rattlesnakes regularly share their winter burrows with a wide variety of other species (such as turtles, small mammals, invertebrates, and other types of snakes). Snakes are vertebrates, which means they have a backbone, and belong to the group of animals called reptiles.This group also includes crocodiles, lizards, and turtles. A snake's jaws are flexible and can open very wide, so snakes can tackle big prey. There are many snakes on Earth, but few are as deadly as the venomous eastern brown snake. They often gather together for brumation in large numbers (sometimes over 1,000 snakes), huddling together inside underground "rattlesnake dens" or hibernacula.

It’s the venomous kind that has created a bad name for all snakes, which results in thousands of snakes being killed for no reason other than their frightful appearance. All snakes eat live prey, which is grabbed and swallowed whole without chewing it into pieces. Type genus = Vipera—Laurenti, 1768. Snakes are classified as reptiles along with crocodiles, lizards and turtles. For more information on snakes, see the list below or alternatively download our comprehensive worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment. There are more than 3,000 species of snakes in the world and there is at least one type of snake on every continent except Antarctica.