It’s easy to confuse an Aurora House Snake with the Spotted Harlequin Snake.

The Aurora House Snake is usually olive green in colour with yellow edged scales. It has a central orange line down the length of the snake. It has large round olive eyes with a black pupil. The belly is pearl white in colour.

The easily confused eastern grassland form of the Spotted Harlequin Snake is usually black in colour with yellow spots, and a yellow to orange central line of spots down the length of the snake. They have small black eyes and yellow markings on the upper lip. The scales on the sides of the snake have black between them, giving them a fish net appearance. The belly is usually yellowish with black blotches.

The graphic below illustrates how to recognize the key differences between the two species.