Anatomy: Snakes have a long, narrow body and scaly skin. They have no eyelids, no external ear openings, and no legs (although a few snakes, like boas and pythons, have vestigial hind legs). As they grow, snakes shed their old skin and the film that covers their eyes. Like other reptiles, snakes are cold-blooded.

Diet: Snakes are carnivores (meat-eaters). They eat rodents and other mammals, birds, reptiles, fish,amphibians, insects, and eggs. Some snakes (like cobras, vipers, and rattlesnakes) are venomous and kill (or paralyze) their prey by injecting poison through hollow fangs. Some snakes (like boas and the anaconda) kill their prey by squeezing it to death. Snakes do not chew their food or even bite it into pieces; snakes swallow their food whole. Other snakes just catch their food and swallow it.