Large (up to 175 cm TL), dark snake with a highly variable pattern that ranges from a series of light blotches to completely black. The groundcolor between blotches darkens with age, obscuring most of them by 80 cm TL, except in extreme southern counties where the subspecies E. o. spiloides retains remnants of the juvenile pattern throughout life. Belly black-and-white-checkered. Adults have white, orange, or red skin between the dark scales.