Urartian ratsnake
Elaphe urartica
A harmless blotched ratsnake of dry eastern Georgia. Formerly treated as Elaphe sauromates; a candidate species in the 2026 Georgian checklist.
Overview
What is Urartian ratsnake
The Urartian ratsnake (Elaphe urartica) is a harmless blotched ratsnake of dry eastern Georgia. It belongs to the family Colubridae. It was split from the blotched ratsnake (Elaphe sauromates) in 2019 — the two look almost the same, so geography matters for identification. E. sauromates does not occur in Georgia. The 2026 Georgian checklist accepts the name but treats the split as a candidate: the north-western Caspian transition zone has not been studied well enough. Do not expect it in western or Colchic Georgia. Total length usually does not exceed 1.2 m. It is not dangerous to people.
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Identification
How to identify Urartian ratsnake
A large, harmless blotched ratsnake with a round pupil and a dark crown. In Georgia the key is dry eastern habitat and bold rounded dorsal blotches — not the vertical pupil of Levantine viper.
- 01
Length is usually 0.8–1.2 m (measured material about 80–120 cm). The head is relatively large and distinct from the neck. The snout profile is often slightly hooked. The pupil is round. There are 23–25 scale rows at midbody, with 18–21 of those rows keeled.
- 02
The ground colour is yellowish, whitish, or rarely bright yellow. The back has 50–65 rounded brown or black blotches, often with a whitish edge. Blotches may become more transverse toward the tail. The top of the head is dark, often almost black. A dark stripe runs from behind the eye toward the mouth. The belly is whitish to pale yellow, with a marbled speckling stronger on the sides of the ventral plates.
- 03
The steppe ratsnake (Elaphe dione) occurs in the same east but has a finer pattern — often four longitudinal stripes and small transverse blotches, not a series of large rounded spots. Schmidt’s racer (Dolichophis schmidti) is slimmer and faster; the belly is often reddish and the dorsal pattern differs. Levantine viper (Macrovipera lebetina) has a vertical pupil, a triangular head, and strongly keeled scales; it is venomous. Smooth snake is smaller, with smooth scales.
- 04
Elaphe sauromates looks almost the same and does not occur in Georgia — its range lies farther west (Balkans, western/central Anatolia, Pontic-Caspian steppes). In the field the two are separated by geography, not by a single unique mark. Do not pick up a snake to count scales.
- 05
It has no venom. A bite can hurt but is not medically venomous. A large blotched snake with a vertical pupil in the south-east dry zone is Levantine viper, not this species. Do not handle it.
Quiz
Next: which snake is it?
Urartian ratsnake is in the Georgia snake quiz. Ten field photos, four names — eye practice, not field ID.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
In Georgia look in dry and semi-arid east — steppe, semi-desert, forest-steppe, open juniper woodland, and edges of foothill broadleaf forest and rocky slopes. The 2021 Georgian snake survey places it among large snakes of south-eastern semi-arid country, not the humid west. This atlas maps Kakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Tbilisi, and Samtskhe — Javakheti. Named records are strongest in Kakheti and around Tbilisi: genetic samples from Tbilisi (Jablonski et al. 2019), a photograph from Didi Shiraki in the same paper, head photographs from Dedoplistsqaro, and barcodes from Chankaani village in the 2026 checklist. The Alazani valley is inside the published range; a separate Lagodekhi locality is not cited here. The literature western limit is described as far as the Tsalka Plateau or toward the Surami Ridge — that is a range summary after Muskhelishvili and later reviews, not a dense set of western point records. Across the species’ range elevation is about −25 m (Lankaran) to 2,600 m (Shirak, Armenia). A separate Georgian elevation band is not measured here. Outside Georgia the range includes eastern Anatolia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, northern Iran, and southern Dagestan.
Diet
There is no separate Georgian diet study for this species. Elaphe ratsnakes typically eat rodents, small birds, nestlings, and eggs; lizards may be taken. Prey is killed by constriction; there is no venom. They climb shrubs and trees well; nest-raiding is typical of the genus but has not been quantified in Georgia.
Behavior
Active in the warm season. Like other Elaphe it often moves by day; hourly activity in Georgia has not been described separately. When threatened it usually tries to flee. Do not pick it up — a large snake can bite hard even without venom. It lays eggs, as is normal for Elaphe. Mating season and clutch size have not been published for Georgian animals; the old 4–16 egg figure is not supported here by a primary source for this taxon. In the same dry east you may also meet the steppe ratsnake (Elaphe dione) — the pattern is different. Confusion with Levantine viper is dangerous: that species has a vertical pupil and is venomous.
Conservation
Elaphe urartica has not been assessed separately on the IUCN Red List. The 2017 Least Concern listing is for E. sauromates before the split and does not transfer automatically. Georgia’s 2014 Red List includes neither E. urartica nor the older name E. sauromates. In the 2026 checklist it is a candidate: a ~600 km transition zone with E. sauromates in the north-western Caspian region has not been studied with genetics or phenotype. Local threats include habitat conversion, road mortality, and killing after confusion with venomous snakes. It preys on rodents; that does not mean the snake should be handled.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Urartian ratsnake.
Yes — in eastern Georgia. The 2026 checklist accepts the species but treats it as a candidate. It does not occur throughout the country.
In the dry east — Kakheti (including Dedoplistsqaro / Shiraki), around Tbilisi, and the south-eastern semi-arid zone. The map also marks Kvemo Kartli and Samtskhe — Javakheti. It is not a western or Colchic species.
No. It has no venom. It kills prey by constriction. When threatened it usually flees. A large snake can still bite — do not pick it up. A vertical pupil and triangular head point to Levantine viper.
Yellowish or whitish ground with 50–65 large rounded blotches, a dark crown, a round pupil, and length usually up to 1.2 m. Steppe ratsnake has a finer pattern and often four stripes. Levantine viper has a vertical pupil.
In measured material total length is usually 80–120 cm and rarely exceeds 1.2 m. Males have a relatively longer tail; females have more ventral scales.
They look almost the same. In Georgia only E. urartica is implied. E. sauromates occurs farther west. The 2026 checklist accepts the split but still treats the Caspian transition zone as insufficiently studied.
It lays eggs. Diet has not been studied separately in Georgia; other Elaphe ratsnakes eat rodents, small birds, and eggs. Clutch size for this species is not confirmed here.
- Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 — Annotated checklist of Georgia's amphibians and reptiles
- Jablonski et al. 2019 — Description of Elaphe urartica
- Iankoshvili & Tarkhnishvili 2021 — Distribution of snakes in Georgia
- Aghasyan et al. 2017 — IUCN Red List account for Elaphe sauromates
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
- The Reptile Database
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
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