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Since snakes are my favorite study organism, most of my books are geared towards them. There are certainly more excellent books on other herp groups but my books have a lot of emphasis on snakes. So here are some excellent snake books that I own.

My favorite book more than any other is

#1 - The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere

by Jonathan Campbell and William W. Lamar

This book is a must for anyone interested in venomous species. It lists almost every single species of venomous reptile in North, Central, and South America. $150 price tag but definitely worth every penny. Although it does contain 2 venomous lizards, Heloderma suspectum and Heloderma horridum, all the rest are venomous snakes so I consider it a snake book.

Snakes: The evolution of mystery in nature List Price: $30

by Harry W. Greene (2000) 351 pgs.

This book is great with incredible photos by Michael and Patricia Fogden. This book has become an instant classic for all herpetologist and for any enthusiast who wants to study snakes. Harry Greene did a great job on this book and goes into great detail about their biology and physiology not only as compared to other animals but also narrows it down to different behavioral and morphological differences between the individual families of snakes. A must for all serious snake studiers.

Biology of the Pitvipers

Edited by Jonathan A. Campbell and Edmund D. Brodie, Jr.

An absolutely magnificent book with tons of scientific articles from the top pitviper biologists. Many studies on different pitviper species in different fields of science. From "Molecular systematics of the Agkistrodon complex" to the "Autecology of the Mojave sidewinder" this book has tons of scientific studies on the most interesting species of snakes.

Biology of the Vipers

Edited by Gordon W. Schuett, Mats Höggren, Michael E. Douglas, and Harry W. Greene

Somehow they made this book even better than the "Biology of the Pitvipers"! This book came out several years later and is larger, with more contributors, and more scientific studies on species in this fascinating family of snakes. From "Phylogeography of the Western Rattlesnake" to the "Reproductive Cycle in Male Neotropical Rattlesnakes". Again the best viper and pitviper biologists came together to contribute chapters in this enormous volume.

Snake of the United States and Canada

by Carl & Evelyn Ernst

This is probably the most comprehensive book on the snakes of the United States and Canada. I really enjoy this book and think it is the best reference book for our snakes. It contains a lot of information of every species of snake in the U.S. and Canada. It is also filled with photos on each species as well. An excellent buy.

Rattlesnake: Portrait of a Predator List Price: $50

by Manny Rubio (1998) 240 pgs.

A very specialized book that has information just poured into it from a foreword by William S. Brown to discussing rattlesnake roundups and rattlesnake conservation. One of the most remarkable things about this book is that it not only covers photos and discussions about commonly heard of rattlesnakes like western diamondbacks and timber rattlesnakes but discusses most of the species of rattlesnakes found from North to South America, including the island rattlesnakes in the Sea of Cortez. The book has a photo of just about every subspecies of rattlesnake in the world, which is an unrealistic goal for almost anyone's expectations. This book is highly recommended by me for any one that wants to learn about rattlesnakes.

Rattlesnakes: Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind List Price: $150

by Laurence M. Klauber

I have both the abridged and unabridged versions of this book. The book itself goes into great detail about the studies and natural histories of rattlesnakes. I would suggest that most people interested in rattlesnakes should at least buy the abridged version of this great book. Klauber did a great job writing this book and collecting the data.

Snakes in Question List Price: $25 (I believe)

by Carl H. Ernst and George R. Zug (1996) 201 pgs.

This is a book great for future herpetologists wanting to greatly expand their knowledge with a lot of general information quickly. This book has so many facts that you can use. Almost every question that people have ever asked me about snakes is answered in this book. If there is a question that the general public would ask, it is asked and answered in this book.

Texas Snakes

by John Werler and James Dixon

The only snake book you need for Texas. This book is incredible! It is large and contains a lot of important information. It has excellent distribution maps listing each county that the snakes have been recorded in and separates them by subspecies. It also has tons of photos and is just an all around excellent book. A little large for a field guide but certainly capable of identifying anything you can photograph or remember. Excellent for references.

The Garter Snakes

by Douglas A. Rossman, Neil B. Ford, and Richard A. Seigel

The most comprehensive book on garter snakes. This book is an excellent reference book for anyone studying garter snakes. There is tons of information, good distribution maps, and great photos of each species, including hard to find Mexican species. Also includes chapters on captive keeping, behavior, ecology, dichotomous key, and much more.

Australian Snakes

by Richard Shine

This is not a field guide to snakes of Australia but rather a comprehensive book on a lot of different information on just Australian snakes in general. The book has a lot of photos and useful information, from history of Australian snakes to relationships between Australians and their snakes this book has a whole lot of excellent data that will sufficiently assist anyone wanting to learn about the snakes in Australia.

Asian Pitvipers

By Gumprecht, et. al.

An excellent book with photographs of each and every species/subspecies of Asian pitviper. The main highlight of this book is its incredible photography however its main drawback is the lack of natural history information and distribution maps. Great taxonomic and morphology information on each and every species/subspecies. Slightly expensive but certainly worth it if you are looking for comprehensive taxonomic and morphological features. You can find this book at www.Geitje-Books-Berlin.de

Snakes of the Agkistrodon Complex

By Howard K. Gloyd and Roger Conant

This book is the authority on every pitviper species, new world and old world, that were recently in the genus Agkistrodon. This book has tons of natural history information and distribution maps of each species recognized in 1990. A large and excellent book.

Robert Jadin's Herpetology Journal

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