This nonpoisonous snake can grow as long as 8 feet. It is a popular pet because it is slow and gentle. During very warm months, the snake is found along canal banks or near swamps, using crab holes for dens. The rest of the year, it lives in burrows made by other animals in the dry, sandy soils of old pine forests of Georgia and Florida. As forests have been cut down, the snake has lost some of its habitat.