Snake Coloring Pages – 34 Coiled and Slithering Serpents

Snakes move without a single leg, sense the world through ground vibrations and a flicking forked tongue, and shed their whole skin in one piece as they grow. That makes them some of the most interesting animals to study up close on paper. This collection of snake coloring pages gathers calm coiled portraits, hatching scenes, and slithering shapes moving through grass, water, and desert sand, so kids and animal lovers of any age can spend a quiet afternoon filling in scales one color at a time.

All 34 Snake Coloring Pages

All the snake coloring pages below are free and ready to print. Just click any picture to open the full PDF, sized for A4 paper, and print as many as you like. The collection ranges from very easy, big-lined coils that are perfect for young colorers to detailed, scale-by-scale designs for older kids and adults who enjoy a slower, more patient project.

Snake Species Portraits

Coiled Snake with Raised Head

A friendly snake rests in two thick coils with its head raised and its forked tongue out. Its body has rounded blotches, the raised neck has horizontal belly bands, and two puffy clouds sit above a simple horizon line. The large blotches are open shapes that suit wide crayons.

King Cobra with Flared Hood

A king cobra rises from a coiled body with its hood spread wide and its forked tongue flicking out. Two bamboo stalks, broad jungle leaves, tufts of grass and a round sun surround it. The fine belly bands and dense grass suit older kids with sharp pencils.

Ball Python Curled on a Rock

A ball python lies tightly coiled in a round ball with its head resting on top and its forked tongue just peeking out. Wavy blotches with small oval centers cover the body, and it sits on a flat stone ledge in front of a wall of rounded bricks. The blotches range from small ovals to large patches, so this sheet suits both crayons and fine pencils.

Grass Snake by the Pond

A slender grass snake glides through tall grass toward a calm pond, its forked tongue out and a scalloped collar patch behind the head. Two cattails, a round sun, two small clouds and a bushy far shoreline fill the scene. The long, smooth body is one open shape, so it works well with a single bold color.

Rattlesnake in the Desert

In a desert scene, a coiled rattlesnake lifts its head with its forked tongue out and its segmented rattle standing up at the back. Diamond patterns cover the coil. A tall saguaro cactus, a flat-topped mesa, a round sun and scattered pebbles fill the setting. The diamonds are large and open, so they take two contrasting shades well.

Snake Head Close-Up with Forked Tongue

A side view of a snake’s head fills the lower half, showing a large round eye, a nostril, and a long forked tongue curling downward. Small scales cover the face and jaw, and blotchy patches mark the neck. Two rounded hills and a plain round sun sit behind it. The scales are small, so this sheet suits fine pencils.

In Grass and Water

Water Snake Swimming Among Lily Pads

A snake swims across a rippling pond with its head lifted and its forked tongue flicking out. Blotches mark its back and neck. Three lily pads float in the foreground, three cattails rise on the left bank, and a round sun and two clouds sit above a bushy far shore.

Garter Snake Sunning on a Rock

A slender snake stretches across a large boulder with its neck raised and its forked tongue flicking out. Flower-shaped blotches run along its body and a banded belly shows underneath. A leafy tree, a rayed sun, grass tufts and a bed of bushes surround the rock.

Spotted Python in an S-Curve

A large spotted snake winds through two wide bends across the page, its head resting low at the lower right with a small forked tongue. Rounded blotches cover its back, the belly shows narrow crossbands, and a big rayed sun rises behind the tail. The blotches are big and open, so this sheet works well for bolder crayons.

Garter Snake in a Garden by the Fence

Lengthwise stripes run down a garter snake that glides over garden soil toward the right, its tongue flicking out. Behind it stand a picket fence with four pointed boards, two coneflowers with long petals, broad leaves, a round sun and two clouds. The stripes give the snake a lot of narrow bands to color.

Banded Snake Under a Weeping Willow

On a pebbly riverbank, a banded snake slides toward the water with its forked tongue out, passing a weathered driftwood log. Long willow branches hang from the top left, and a round sun, a cloud and rippling water fill the background. The willow leaves are small and numerous, so they call for a fine pencil.

Trees, Rocks and Sand

Green Tree Python Coiled on a Branch

A green tree python wraps its thick coils around a bark-textured branch, its head resting on top with a slit-pupil eye and a thin forked tongue. Cloud-shaped blotches mark the body, and a monstera leaf, hanging vines and two large leaves fill the jungle setting. The tiny scales on the head are the finest detail on the page.

Snake Winding Along a Branch

A slender snake winds around a thick, bark-textured branch, with its tail dangling down on the left and its head raised toward the right, tongue flicking. A large round sun, three puffy clouds, three big leaves and fern fronds fill the scene. Its ring-shaped belly bands and irregular patches suit a pattern of two alternating colors.

Sidewinder Snake on Desert Dunes

A sidewinder snake moves in a wavy line across open desert, its tongue flicking out and short speed lines trailing behind its tail. Oval and shell-shaped blotches mark its body, with a large round sun, two distant dune ridges and rows of rippled sand below. The wide, open sand areas are easy to color, while the snake’s small spots need a sharper pencil.

Snake Emerging from a Rock Crack

A snake slips out from behind a tall cracked rock face, its head raised and a forked tongue flicking out. Round blotches mark the coils, a banded belly runs down the neck, and a big sun, distant hills and scattered pebbles fill the scene. The wide, open rock faces suit broad strokes of gray or brown.

Boa Resting on a Mossy Log

A thick boa lies in loose coils on a moss-covered log, its head turned right with the tongue just out. Behind it rise a huge tree trunk, two ferns, hanging vines with heart-shaped leaves and a round moon, while fallen leaves and twigs cover the ground. The big blotches on the body are easy to color, but the ferns and bark lines need a sharp pencil.

Hatching, Shedding, Growing

Baby Snake Hatching from a Spotted Egg

A baby snake pokes its head out of a cracked, spotted egg with its forked tongue out, while two more large eggs sit beside it. A fallen log with a spiral end ring, a round sun, scattered leaves and eggshell fragments fill the scene. The big egg spots are easy to color, but the leaf veins need a sharp pencil.

Python Coiled Around Eggs in a Twig Nest

A blotched python wraps its body around six smooth eggs in a woven twig nest, its head raised to the right with a thin tongue showing. Two large split-edged leaves rise behind the nest. The eggs and body blotches are big, open shapes, while the tightly woven twigs along the bottom need patience.

Snake Shedding Its Skin on a Rock

A blotched snake slides out of its old skin on a large boulder, head raised with the tongue flicking out under a rayed sun. The empty, scale-patterned skin lies crumpled on the ground below, among tall grass blades, a leafy bush and small pebbles. The scaly skins are fine, dense detail, while the big body blotches are easy, open shapes.

Baby Snake Resting on a Big Leaf

A small blotched snake lies coiled on a large curved leaf, its head lifted and a forked tongue flicking out. Below it grow six three-lobed clover plants among grass blades, with a rayed sun and a few loose leaves above. The clover leaves are big, open shapes, while the small blotches on the snake are the finest detail.

Adult and Baby Python Together

A large blotched python rears its head beside a big boulder while a small young snake coils in front of it, both with forked tongues out. A plain round sun sits at the top right, and sandy ground with a few pebbles runs along the bottom. The banded bellies are a fine, repeating pattern, and the big blotches on the adult body are easy to fill.

Snake Behavior

Snake Tasting the Air in a Meadow

A friendly snake lifts its neck in a tall curve with its forked tongue out, while the rest of its body lies in loose coils in the grass. A round sun, a small cloud, two bushes and a low hill fill the background. The wavy blotches on the coils are the finest detail here, and the banded neck is easy to color.

Spotted Snake Among Fallen Leaves

Between two tall tree trunks, a spotted snake glides past with its head turned right and its forked tongue out. Three big leaves lie in front of it (maple, oak and a serrated one), with ferns and a round sun behind. The large blotches on its coils are easy to fill, while the fern fronds hold the finest detail.

Python Wrapped Around a Tree Trunk

A blotched python winds in four loops up a thick tree trunk, its head raised and forked tongue flicking toward a round sun. The trunk has bark lines and spreading roots, with grass tufts, rounded bushes and two small trees behind. The bark is the finest detail, while the snake’s big blotches are open shapes.

Snake Playing Dead on Its Back

A snake lies belly-up on open ground with its head at the right and its forked tongue hanging out, while the tail curls up at the left. A round sun, a winding path and several rocks and pebbles fill the scene. The striped belly is easy to color, and the blotched sides hold the finer detail.

Resting Python Under Two Stars

A plump python lies in two stacked coils with its chin on the top loop, big round eye and a small forked tongue showing. Two large outlined stars hang above it, and the wavy blotches on the body are wide, open shapes that suit young colorers.

Snakes and Their Neighbors

Boy Studying a Spotted Snake with a Magnifying Glass

A crouching boy with tousled hair holds a magnifying glass up to a spotted snake stretched along a mossy log, its forked tongue flicking out. Tall grass fills the foreground, and a round sun, a scalloped tree and small bushes sit behind. The boy’s face and shirt are large, open areas, while the grass blades and log bark are the finer detail.

Children Watching a Python in a Terrarium

Two smiling children, a boy and a girl with a ponytail, press close to a glass terrarium where a blotched python winds around a gnarled branch with its tongue out. Pebbles, two large rocks and a leafy plant line the floor, and a window with clouds sits behind. The python’s patches are big and open, while the pebbles are the small-detail area.

Snake Keeper Showing a Python to Children

A smiling keeper with a ponytail and a paw-print shirt cradles a patterned python in both arms while three delighted children watch from a wooden table. A window behind shows a scalloped tree. The python’s ringed spots are the finest detail on the page.

Blotched Snake and Striped Snake Meeting in the Grass

Two snakes face each other on open ground: on the left a blotched snake with a wavy-edged pattern and its forked tongue out, on the right a slimmer snake with long lengthwise stripes. Tufts of grass, small pebbles, a scalloped hedge and a sun with rays fill the scene. The wavy blotches are the fiddly part, while the striped snake and the sky are easy, open areas.

Three Snakes Hibernating in a Winter Burrow

A cross-section shows three coiled snakes, one striped, one with blotchy patches and one with wide bands, curled together in an underground den. Above ground, a bare tree, a small leafless bush, snowy mounds, grass tufts and a round sun fill the winter landscape.

Scale Patterns

Six Coiled Snakes in Two Columns

Six coiled snakes with raised heads and forked tongues are arranged in two mirrored columns beneath a large round sun, with two scalloped bushes on low hills at the top. Each has its own pattern: blotches, diamonds, wide bands, round spots, wavy stripes. The diamond and blotch coils have the most small shapes to fill.

Diamond-Patterned Snake by a Boulder

A thick snake lies in wide coils with its head raised and its forked tongue flicking out. Rows of outlined diamonds and zigzag bands cover the body, and the belly has thin cross-lines. A round sun, a large boulder and a clump of tall grass blades sit behind it. The many small diamonds make this a fiddly sheet, so it suits patient colorers.

Diamond-Patterned Snake by a Boulder

A friendly snake rises from a wide coil in an S-shaped neck, its tongue flicking out. Its banded body carries outlined diamonds and small circles, and a round sun, two grass tufts and a rock frame the scene. The bold, open shapes are easy to fill.

All About Snakes

Snakes are reptiles without any legs at all, and they are far more varied than most people realize. Scientists have described around 4,000 species, and snakes live on every continent except Antarctica, from damp forests to open deserts. Whatever the setting, a snake’s body always works the same way: a long, scaled tube of muscle that pulls itself forward in smooth curves, which is exactly the motion you can bring out with a coloring pencil by following the lines of each coil.

What Makes a Snake a Snake

A snake has no eyelids, so its eyes are always open, even when it is resting, and it has no outer ears either. Instead of hearing sounds the way we do, a snake feels vibrations moving through the ground. Its forked tongue does another job entirely: flicking it in and out gathers scent particles from the air, and a special organ in the roof of its mouth reads those scents almost like a nose. Snakes are also cold-blooded, which means they warm themselves by resting in the sun rather than generating their own body heat.

How Snakes Grow, Shed and Hatch

As a snake grows, its skin does not stretch to keep up, so it sheds the old layer in one complete piece. Just before a shed, a snake’s eyes turn cloudy, which is a good clue that a new skin is on the way underneath. Most snakes lay eggs, though some species give birth to live young instead. Python mothers are especially attentive, coiling around their clutch of eggs and shivering their muscles to keep the eggs warm until they hatch. A rattlesnake’s rattle is made of keratin, the same material as fingernails, and it gains a new ring with every shed.

Big, Small and Found Everywhere

Only a small share of snakes, roughly 600 species, are venomous, and of those, just a handful pose any real danger to people. Pythons and boas are not venomous at all; instead, they wrap around their prey to subdue it. Every snake eats only other animals, whether that means mice, frogs, fish, birds, eggs, or insects, and thanks to unusually flexible jaws, they swallow their meals whole. Snakes also come in an enormous range of sizes: the smallest thread snakes measure only about 10 centimeters, while the reticulated python can grow past six meters long. Closer to home, the grass snake is a common, harmless species that is protected by law.

Printing and Coloring Tips

Every sheet in this gallery is formatted for A4 paper, so choose that size in your printer settings and print at 100 percent or “actual size” rather than “fit to page,” which keeps the line thickness even for coloring. Regular printer paper works fine for pencils and crayons, but if your child likes to use markers or watercolors, switch to a slightly heavier paper so the color does not bleed through onto the table. For toddlers and younger children, look for the sheets with the simplest coiled shapes and the fewest small details. School-age kids usually enjoy the sheets showing a snake in its habitat, such as the grass or desert scenes, while the more detailed pattern and portrait pages give older kids and adults something to sink their teeth into over a longer sitting.

After Coloring: Craft Ideas

• String several finished snakes together end to end with tape to build a long paper garland for a bedroom wall or a classroom door.
• Glue a coiled snake page onto a paper plate, then cut around the spiral shape to turn it into a hanging 3D decoration.
• Mount a favorite sheet on a craft stick or a wooden spoon to make a simple puppet for retelling a favorite animal story.
• Sort the finished pages by habitat, grass, water, or desert, and use them to build a small nature-table display.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are these snake coloring pages free?

Yes. Every sheet in this collection can be downloaded and printed at no cost, for personal or classroom use.

What age are these coloring pages suitable for?

The gallery covers a wide range, from very simple, thick-lined coils for toddlers and preschoolers up to detailed, patterned designs that older kids and adults will find more satisfying to finish.

Which colors are correct for a snake?

There is no single right answer, since real snakes come in an enormous range of natural colors and patterns, from the green of a grass snake to the diamond markings of a rattlesnake. Sticking to natural greens, browns, and tans gives a realistic look, but bright or unusual colors work just as well for a fun, imaginative version.

Can I use these in a classroom?

Yes. Teachers are welcome to print these pages for classroom activities, reptile or habitat units, and quiet-time work, since they are free for personal and educational use.

What paper works best for printing?

Standard printer paper is fine for pencils and crayons. If you plan to use markers, gel pens, or watercolors, a slightly heavier paper will hold the color better and prevent it from soaking through.

How many designs are in this collection?

There are 34 different snake coloring sheets in total, grouped into themes such as species portraits, habitats, behavior, and scale patterns, so there is plenty of variety to choose from.

Matthew Matthysen( Drawing and Painting Artist )

Matthew Matthysen is an educated multidisciplinary artist and illustrator. He successfully completed his art degree at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, majoring in art history and contemporary drawing. The focus of his thesis was to explore the philosophical implications of the macro and micro-universe on the human experience. Matthew uses diverse media, such as written and hands-on components, to explore various approaches that are on the border between philosophy and science.

Matthew organized various exhibitions before and during his years as a student and is still passionate about doing so today. He currently works as a freelance artist and writer in various fields. He also has a permanent position at a renowned online gallery (ArtGazette) where he produces various works on commission. As a freelance artist, he creates several series and successfully sells them to galleries and collectors. He loves to use his work and skills in various fields of interest.

Matthew has been creating drawing and painting tutorials since the relaunch in 2020. Through his involvement with artincontext.org, he has been able to deepen his knowledge of various painting mediums. For example, watercolor techniques, calligraphy and lately digital drawing, which is becoming more and more popular.

Learn more about Matthew Matthysen and the Art in Context Team.