Can you guess the size of the world’s smallest snake?

These snakes live underground and feed mostly on ants and termites, which makes sense when you think about their size.

New Delhi | Updated: May 21, 2025 04:46 PM IST

2 min read

Get to know the Barbados threadsnake—the world's smallest snake (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

If you’ve ever thought snakes were all long, slithery, and a little terrifying, the Barbados threadsnake might just change your mind. This tiny creature is officially the smallest known snake in the world—and it’s so small, it can curl up comfortably on a coin.

Biologist S. Blair Hedges discovered the Tetracheilostoma carlae (scientific name) in 2008 in a forest patch on the Caribbean island of Barbados. It measures just over 10 cm, or about 4 inches. For reference, that’s shorter than most pencils and about as thin as a spaghetti noodle.

These snakes live underground and feed mainly on ants and termites, which makes sense considering their size. They’re part of a family of burrowing snakes called Leptotyphlopidae and are so small that females usually lay only one egg at a time. Interestingly, the baby snake that hatches is already half the size of an adult—huge, proportionally speaking!

Discovered in 2008 by biologist S. Blair Hedges, the Barbados threadsnake (scientific name Tetracheilostoma carlae) measures just over 10 cm, or about 4 inches (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

You won’t find them everywhere, though. As far as scientists know, they only live in a small patch of forest on the eastern side of Barbados. And sadly, that forest is shrinking fast. With so much of their natural habitat being cleared for development, the species is now considered critically endangered.

So, next time you think of snakes, don’t just picture the giant pythons or dramatic cobras. Somewhere in the soil of a Caribbean island, the world’s smallest snake is quietly going about its life—smaller than a shoelace, and possibly just as shy.

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