The ring around the neck is usually one to two and a half scales wide. Rarely, an individual will have an incomplete neck-band.There are about 150 scales along the snake's belly.
One communal nest found under a boulder near McCabe Lake in Halifax County had 117 eggs, ranging in length from 2.1 to 3.6 cm. A female lays from one to eight eggs each year. They hatch some time between late August and early October.
How big do they get? Girl snakes get longer than boy snakes. Here are some measurements:
Newly hatched babies (58 were measured) are 10 to 13 cm long. This species lives from Nova Scotia west to Wisconsin, south to Georgia. In Nova Scotia it is most common in the southwestern and eastern mainland, including Big Tancook Island in Mahone Bay. There are two localities in northern Cape Breton Island.
Adult males (69 measured) were 28 - 41 cm long
Adult females (66 measured) were 26 - 54 cm long The earliest date for seeing one out of hibernation in Nova Scotia is May 7, in 1972, under a rock near Donnellan Lake, Queens County. An adult female was dug out of hibernation on February 1, 1964, from next to a house foundation at Westphal, Halifax County. The radiating heat probably causes snakes that hibernate next to building foundations warm up early.
In 1975, a small Ringneck was found alive in the hallway of an apartment at Dartmouth, Halifax County - probably was hibernating next to the foundation and warmed up early. They also like to live in rock walls.
The latest date in the year for seeing one in Nova Scotia is October 12, in 1970, when 19 hatchlings and one juvenile were discovered in a pile of rock near an abandoned gold mine near Little Gammon Lake, Halifax County.
Ringnecks have often been seen crossing roads at night. Some have been accidently caught in dip nets, swimming across streams.
Ringneck Snakes eat Redback Salamanders, mostly. Some eat other snakes - young Redbelly Snakes and Green Snakes have been found in their stomachs.