---
title: "Glossy Snake"
description: "Arizona elegans — Reptiles. Arizona elegans is a species of medium-sized colubrid snake commonly referred to as the glossy snake or the faded snake, which is native to southwestern United States and northern Mexico."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/glossy-snake
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Glossy Snake

> Arizona elegans — Reptiles. Arizona elegans is a species of medium-sized colubrid snake commonly referred to as the glossy snake or the faded snake, which is native to southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

- Scientific name: *Arizona elegans*
- Category: `reptiles` (Reptiles)
- Habitats: `desert` (Desert)
- iNaturalist observations: 2527
- Wikidata: [Q670937](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q670937)
- iNaturalist taxon: [28246](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/28246)

## Names

- en: Glossy Snake
- de: Arizonanatter
- es: Culebra brillante
- pl: Arizona (rodzaj)

## Countries with the most observations

US (2207), MX (77)

## Summary

Arizona elegans is a species of medium-sized colubrid snake commonly referred to as the glossy snake or the faded snake, which is native to southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It has several subspecies. Some have recommended that A. elegans occidentalis be granted full species status.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossy_snake

## Photo

![Glossy Snake](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/glossy-snake/medium.jpg)

Photo: laiet17 · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/228519660

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/glossy-snake?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).