Physical Characteristics Average length of adult copperheads is 30 inches.
Copperheads are thick-bodied and have keeled scales.
There is a temperature sensitive pit organ on each side of the head between the eye and the nostril. Young Copperheads are 7-10 inches long and grayer in color than adults. They have a sulfur yellow tipped tail, which fades with age and is lost by age 3 or 4 Copperheads are sexually dimorphic in size. The head of the Northern Copperhead is a red, copper color with the rest of its body being pinkish to gray-brown with a dark chestnut colored hourglass shaped pattern. The hourglass pattern is narrow on the top of its back and wider on its sides.