On babies there is less contrast and less orange. On the bellies there are usually black checks on an orange or white background. There are ventral checks sometimes which are mostly orange or almost absent on the underside of the tail. The anal plate consists of 2 scales. The scales reach 25 - 35 rows at the mid body.
Males are generally longer than females.
The Greek word 'elaphe' means deerskin that is derived for how the skin feels like deerskin because of the smooth or weakly keeled scales. The Latin words 'guttatus' means spotted or speckled and the snake is named this because of the characteristic splotches on the stomach and back of the snake.