Celebrate The Year Of The Snake With Super Facts About Scaly Serpents!

The Lunar New Year started on Wednesday and marked the start of the Year of the Snake. We’re celebrating with our favourite facts about snakes. Plus, learn why Stikins are so supremely good at sticking onto stuff!

Celebrating The Year Of The Snake

2025 is the Year of the Snake. Snakes are sometimes seen as scary but they have also been associated with wisdom, healing, fertility, and life. They are creator gods (like the Rainbow Snake) and guardians. The Ouroboros symbol, representing the cycle of life, is a snake biting its own tail. The Greek god of healing, Asclepius, carried a staff with a snake coiled around it. Many medical organisations still use this symbol today.

Celebrate 2025 as the Year of the Snake with these 25 facts about scaly serpents!

1. The word snake came from an ancient root word meaning 'to crawl to creep'.
2. Snakes are thought to have developed from burrowing lizards over 100 million years ago. Today, there are around 3,900 different species.
3. Snakes are on every continent except Antarctica. A few islands have no snakes, including Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, and New Zealand.
4. The shortest snake is the Barbados thread snake at about 10cm long. The longest is the reticulated python at 7m long.
5. Snakes don’t have eyelids. Their eyes are covered by a clear scale called a spectacle.
6. Some snakes have pit organs close to each nostril, which can sense infrared thermal radiation (heat signatures).
7. Snakes don’t have external ears; instead, they rest their quadrate bone (part of the jaw) on the ground to pick up vibrations.
8. Snakes use their forked tongues to smell. The tongue draws in tiny scent particles, which are analysed by a special organ called the Jacobson’s or vomeronasal organ.
9. Snakes are ectothermic (“cold-blooded”), which means they rely on external sources to regulate their body temperature. They use sunlight to warm up and shade to cool down.
10. A snake’s skeleton is made up of their skull, hyoid bone (supports the tongue), 100-400 body vertebrae (each with a pair of ribs attached), and 10-200 tail vertebrae. Their ribs protect the organs, help with movement, and expand to fit around large meals.
11. Snake organs are long and thin with paired organs (like kidneys) staggered one behind the other. Snakes have one working lung and their heart moves around their body to make room for large meals.
12. A snake’s skull has more joints than other reptiles and its lower jaw is not fixed solidly to the upper jaw. This is why snakes can eat creatures bigger than their own head.
13. Snakes are carnivorous. Snakes cannot chew so they swallow their food whole. Most eat once every few weeks or months – some can survive over a year without eating.
14. Snake skin is covered in scales made of keratin; the same material as our hair and nails. Snakes shed their skin (in one piece) 4-12 times a year.
15. Some snakes have earthy colours (black, brown, green) to camouflage them from predators and prey. Venomous snakes have bright colours to warn predators about their venom. Some non-venomous snakes have evolved bright colours to fool predators.
16. Rattlesnakes have hollow, loosely connected scales at the tip of their tails that form a rattle. They rattle to warn off predators and let larger animals know they are underfoot. Rattlesnakes cannot hear their own rattle!
17. The Black Mamba is the fastest snake and can reach up to 12 miles per hour.
18. Snakes can swim. Sea snakes spend most of their lives in water and some can partially breathe through their skin, which helps them to dive further underwater.
19. Arboreal snakes live in trees. They have prehensile tails and special scales to help them manoeuvre through branches.
20. Snakes sleep for over 16 hours a day – longer if they have just eaten.
21. 70% of snakes lay eggs with most species abandoning their eggs after laying. The other 30% give birth to live young. The name for a baby snake is a snakelet.
22. Snake charmers actually use movement, not sound, to charm snakes!
23. Snakes have been used to predict earthquakes. They are so sensitive to vibrations, they can sense an earthquake from up to 70 miles away, up to 5 days before it hits.
24. Sometimes snakes are born with two heads. Each head is fully independent and they may fight each other for food.
25. Only three snakes are native to the UK; grass snakes, smooth snakes, and adders.

Get Sticking With Super Sticky Stikins ® Name Labels

There are lots of different name labels around and plenty of stick on name labels to choose from. What separates Stikins® from other sticky name labels is our unique adhesive. Our adhesive is super sticky and means you can use Stikins ® to label almost anything.

You can use one pack of Stikins ® name labels on fabric and non-fabric items. This includes clothing and school uniform, P.E. kit and equipment, shoes and bags, lunch boxes and water bottles, stationery and books, and all the other essentials that you want to keep safe. Simply peel each label off the backing sheet and apply firmly to each item.

You should apply Stikins ® onto the wash-care label of clothing and fabric items, and onto the side wall or beneath the tongue of shoes.

Your labelled items can go through the washing machine, tumble-dryer, microwave, and dishwasher. Independently tested using the BS EN ISO6330 wash test procedure for 60 washes at 40 degrees, thousands of parents have put Stikins ® though wash after wash, week after week.

You can order online at any time or by phone during office hours. We supply five super packs of 30, 60, 90, 120, or 240 name labels. We provide super speedy despatch on the same or next working day and use Royal Mail’s first class service as standard.