The young are vividly marked above and below having a white or gray ground color with black, brown, or reddish blotches. The belly is white with small brown or reddish spots. Young racers will be difficult to distinguish from other small spotted snakes. The most useful characteristic for a specimen in hand is the tail. They lose these markings and develop adult coloration in one to two years.
Racers have smooth scales and divided anal plates.
The eastern yellowbelly racer, Coluber constrictor flaviventris, is supposedly found in most of central and western Iowa. The blue racer, C. c. foxi, is supposedly found in eastern Iowa. Both subspecies intergrade where their ranges meet in Iowa. Even outside of this intergrade zone, I find specimens that could be either. The eastern yellowbelly subspecies is quite variable in coloration, and encompasses the charachteristics of the blue form.