Many striped snakes can be found in California. Striped snakes are easily distinguished by one or more stripes that run the entire length of their bodies. Garter snakes have one relatively thin stripe running across the top of its body, and the color of the snake and the stripe vary depending on the type of garter snake. Common garter snakes have a reddish body with a light blue stripe. Aquatic garter snakes have greenish bodies with a yellow stripe and terrestial garters have red and black bodies with a yellow stripe. Rosy boa snakes can usually be identified by the green body and the two blue stripes that extend across either side of the snake's body. Whip snakes also have two stripes on their sides, but their bodies are typically green and the stripes are usually yellow.
Many snakes found in California are patternless and contain no designs on their skin, but there are still ways to distinguish between the different types of patternless snakes. The adult rubber boa can be recognized by its smooth, dark green skin and relatively thick body. Racers can typically be identified by the grayish skin accompanied with a strong blue tint, and sharp-tailed snakes have green skin that is tinted with red. Black-head snakes can easily be distinguished from others by the green body crowned with a purely black head, and ring-necked snakes can be recognized by the green body with orange markings that extend along the body and wrap around the neck like a necklace.
Banded snakes contain multiple colors and well-defined bands that, like checkerboards, create circles around the body of the snake at relatively even and consistent intervals so that every other marking is of a different color. This orderly pattern of circular bands continues across the entire length of the snake. Most shovel-nosed snakes have alternating black and yellow bands. Ground snakes also have alternating black and yellow bands, but the yellow marks also contain a strong tint of red coloring. Long-nosed snakes have clearly defined alternating black and white bands, and California king snakes can be identified by the very thick black bands divided and marked by very slender yellow bands.
Many patterned snakes can be found in California. Patterned snakes are characterized by the creative designs and patterns that adorn the skin, often involving spotted, blotched or irregularly marked designs. Glossy snakes possess a solid green underbelly and dark green spots marking the skin on the top of the body. Night snakes have a pale green body with black splotches scattered across the body from head to tail, and water snakes have dark blue or black bodies with thin yellow spots marking the sides at even intervals.
In California, rattlesnakes, which are also patterned snakes, can be identified by the rattles on their tails. Red-diamond rattlesnakes are distinguished by their reddish skin and yellow lines that unite to create diamond shapes across the length of the body, along with a rattle at the tail with black and white stripes. Sidewinders, in addition to the rattle at the tail, have pale green bodies and tiny black and brown markings that dot the skin across the full length of the body.