It is illegal to kill or collect this species by law in Iowa. Common throughout nearly all of Iowa, they are protected under state law.
Adults are uniformly blue, bluish black, greenish, or light brown.
There are no head or dorsal markings. The undersurface is dirty white, porcelain, or yellow with no markings. The throat and neck are bright yellow and the chin and upper labials may be yellow or white. This is one of the few Iowa snakes that go through a remarkable ontogenetic color and pattern change. The young are vividly marked above and below having a white or gray ground color with black, brown, or reddish blotches.