Snakes
Risk to humansHarmless
Smooth snake
Coronella austriaca
A harmless, smooth-scaled snake of Georgia — secretive and often mistaken for a viper.
Found in
Abkhazia, Samegrelo — Zemo Svaneti, Guria +9
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Species atlas
Species atlas
Species recorded in Georgia — reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals, spiders, and insects. Descriptions, photos, and identification notes.
132
species in the atlas
905 photos · 12 regions
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Birds, mammals, spiders, and insects are in the catalog under the same standard. Reptiles and amphibians are still the most complete layer.
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67 species
SnakesRisk to humansHarmlessUrartian ratsnake
Elaphe urartica
A harmless blotched ratsnake of dry eastern Georgia. Formerly treated as Elaphe sauromates; a candidate species in the 2026 Georgian checklist.
Found in
Samtskhe — Javakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Kakheti +1
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SnakesRisk to humansHarmlessSteppe ratsnake
Elaphe dione
A harmless patterned ratsnake of Georgia’s drier habitats. Non-venomous and not dangerous to people.
Found in
Kvemo Kartli, Kakheti, Tbilisi
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SnakesRisk to humansHarmlessDice snake
Natrix tessellata
Dice snake (Natrix tessellata) in Georgia — how to identify it, where it occurs, how large it gets, what it eats, and why this water snake is harmless to people.
Found in
Abkhazia, Samegrelo — Zemo Svaneti, Guria +9
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SnakesRisk to humansHarmlessGrass snake
Natrix natrix
Non-venomous grass snake in Georgia — yellow collar; not a viper.
Found in
Abkhazia, Samegrelo — Zemo Svaneti, Guria +9
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SnakesRisk to humansHarmlessRed-bellied racer
Dolichophis schmidti
A fast, non-venomous racer of dry eastern Georgia. The belly is red or orange; it is not a viper.
Found in
Samtskhe — Javakheti, Shida Kartli, Mtskheta — Mtianeti +3
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SnakesRisk to humansHarmlessDahl's whip snake
Platyceps najadum
Non-venomous Dahl’s whip snake in Georgia — extremely slender; not a viper.
Found in
Adjara, Samtskhe — Javakheti, Shida Kartli +4
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SnakesRisk to humansHarmlessEuropean cat snake
Telescopus fallax
European cat snake (Telescopus fallax) in Georgia: range, viper separation, dry habitats, nocturnal behavior, and how dangerous it is to people.
Found in
Shida Kartli, Mtskheta — Mtianeti, Kvemo Kartli +2
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LizardsRisk to humansHarmlessEuropean glass lizard
Pseudopus apodus
The European glass lizard is harmless to people and has no venom. If you find one in a yard or garden, leave it where it is and do not kill it because it looks like a snake.
Found in
Shida Kartli, Mtskheta — Mtianeti, Kvemo Kartli +2
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AmphibiansRisk to humansHarmlessCaucasian Salamander
Mertensiella caucasica
A harmless stream salamander with yellow spots. Georgia’s only true salamander.
Found in
Adjara, Samtskhe — Javakheti
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AmphibiansRisk to humansHarmlessCaucasian Smooth Newt
Lissotriton lantzi
A small, harmless newt of forest ponds and lakes in Georgia. A candidate species in the 2026 checklist.
Found in
Abkhazia, Samegrelo — Zemo Svaneti, Guria +8
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AmphibiansRisk to humansHarmlessNorthern Banded Newt
Ommatotriton ophryticus
A newt in Georgia — harmless banded species of mountain forest and subalpine lakes; older books call it the Asia Minor newt.
Found in
Abkhazia, Samegrelo — Zemo Svaneti, Guria +8
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Regional atlas
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Field context
Reptiles of Georgia
Georgia sits between the Black Sea, the Greater Caucasus, and the arid east — a short geographic span that supports vipers of high mountains and Colchic forests, water snakes of rivers and wetlands, racers of dry foothills, and a widespread legless lizard often mistaken for a snake. Reptile profiles here are bilingual, with Georgia-specific range notes and field photography.
Species richness here is shaped by elevation, humidity, and refuge habitats. Western Colchic landscapes favor moisture-linked snakes such as Natrix; eastern semi-arid basins hold Macrovipera lebetina and fast colubrids; alpine and subalpine belts hold Caucasus endemics including Vipera dinniki. This section is about reptiles — snakes, lizards, and turtles.
Amphibians of Georgia
Frogs, toads, newts, and the Caucasian salamander sit in the same catalog, with dedicated guides. This is not a complete national list — only published profiles.
Birds of Georgia
Bird profiles follow the same rule: named sources, no invented maps. The list is growing and does not replace the national avifauna checklist.
Mammals of Georgia
Mammal pages use the same profile structure. Few are published yet — absence from this catalog does not mean the species is absent from Georgia.
Spiders of Georgia
Spider pages follow the same rule: named sources, no invented maps. The list grows with new profiles when a sourced page is ready.
Venomous snakes of Georgia
Only a minority of Georgia’s snakes are medically significant. In this atlas, “venomous” means moderate or high risk to humans: the Levantine viper (Macrovipera lebetina), Caucasus viper (Vipera kaznakovi), Dinnik’s viper (Vipera dinniki), Transcaucasian long-nosed viper (Vipera transcaucasiana), Darevsky’s viper (Vipera darevskii), and steppe viper (Vipera renardi). Most other snakes here — grass snake, dice snake, racers, smooth snake, cat snake — are harmless to people, though several are frequently misidentified.
Safe encounter practice is simple: do not handle wild snakes, keep distance, and learn the lookalikes common in your region. Open each profile for identification traits, habitat, and conservation status. This is educational natural-history guidance, not emergency medical advice.
Species distribution across Georgian regions
Distribution in the atlas is recorded by Georgia’s administrative regions as a practical field layer — from Abkhazia and Adjara on the humid west to Kakheti and Kvemo Kartli in the dry east, plus the capital district of Tbilisi. A species may appear in several regions; endemics and elevational specialists are more narrowly placed.
Use the map to move from place to fauna, then open regional pages for habitats, safety notes, and the local species list. For research-grade occurrence data, profiles also cite databases such as GBIF and the Reptile Database alongside IUCN assessments where available.
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About this atlas
Reptiles.ge compiles bilingual species accounts for Georgia with field photos, regional maps, and cited biodiversity sources — for hikers, students, and researchers.
Catalog last updated 19 September 2026
Methodology
Each profile combines taxonomic identity, Georgia-relevant habitat and behavior notes, conservation status, identification traits, and FAQs. Accounts are reviewed as new literature and Red List changes appear.
Sources
Primary references include IUCN Red List assessments, GBIF, the Reptile Database, and peer-reviewed herpetological literature cited on each species page.
Photography
Images are selected for identification value and field context. Credits appear on species pages when photographer attribution is available.
The organization
Reptiles builds a bilingual atlas of animals of Georgia — from established biodiversity sources, updated as taxonomy and conservation data change. Reptiles remain the deepest layer.
About Reptiles