The long-nosed snake is distinguished by a long, slightly upturned snout, which is the origin of its common name. It is tricolor, vaguely resembling a
coral snake, with
black and
red saddling on a
yellow or cream-colored background. Cream-colored spots within the black saddles are a distinct characteristic of the long-nosed snake. It differs from all other harmless snakes in the United States by having undivided
subcaudal scales.[6] The total length (including tail) of adults is usually 22–32 in (56–81 cm), but the maximum record total length is 41 in (100 cm).[7]
Behavior
R. lecontei is a shy,
nocturnal burrowing snake. It spends most of its time buried underground.[citation needed]
The long-nosed snake is not often found in the exotic
pet trade as it frequently rejects
rodent-based diets that are most readily available for captive snakes.[citation needed]
^Cope ED (1866). "On the REPTILIA and BATRACHIA of the Sonoran Province of the Nearctic Region". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. "1866" [18]: 300-314. ("Rhinochilus [sic] lecontei ", p. 304).
^Boulenger GA (1894). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I-XX. ("Rhinochilus [sic] lecontii ", pp. 212-213).
^Stejneger L,
Barbour T (1917). A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 125 pp. (Rhinocheilus lecontei, p. 91).
^Beolens, Bo;
Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp.
ISBN978-1-4214-0135-5. (Rhinocheilus lecontei, p. 154).
^Schmidt KP,
Davis DD (1941). Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 365 pp. (Rhinocheilus lecontei, pp. 194-196, Figure 61 + Plate 21).
Baird SF,
Girard C (1853). Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part I.—Serpents. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution. xvi + 172 pp. (Rhinocheilus, new genus, p. 120; R. lecontei, new species, pp. 120–121).
Behler JL,
King FW (1979). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp.
ISBN0-394-50824-6. (Rhinocheilus lecontei, pp. 649-650 + Plates 593, 609).
Conant, Roger, Bridges, William (1939). What Snake Is That? A Field Guide to the Snakes of the United States East of the Rocky Mountains. (With 108 drawings by
Edmond Malnate). New York and London: D. Appleton-Century Company. Frontispiece map + viii + 163 pp. + Plates A-C, 1-32. (Rhinocheilus lecontei, p. 86 + Plate 14, Figure 41).
Powell R, Conant R,
Collins JT (2016). Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. xiv + 494 pp., 47 plates, 207 figures.
ISBN978-0-544-12997-9. (Rhinocheilus lecontei, pp. 392-393 + Plate 37).
Smith HM,
Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp.
ISBN0-307-13666-3 (paperback). (Rhinocheilus lecontei, pp. 164–165).
Stebbins RC (2003). A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition. The Peterson Field Guide Series ®. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. xiii + 533 pp.
ISBN0-395-98272-3 (paperback). (Rhinocheilus lecontei, pp. 370–371 + Plate 44 + Map 155).
Wright AH,
Wright AA (1957). Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, a Division of Cornell University Press. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes) (Genus Rhinocheilus, p. 630-633 + Figure 19 on p. 69). (species Rhinocheilus lecontei, pp. 633–644, Figures 183-187, Map 48).
Zim HS, Smith HM (1956). Reptiles and Amphibians: A Guide to Familiar American Species: A Golden Nature Guide. Revised Edition. New York: Simon and Schuster. 160 pp. ("LONG-NOSED SNAKE", Rhinocheilus lecontei, pp. 101, 156).