Preserved specimens are pale gray to dull brown above, apart from the tip of the snout, which is unpigmented.

An elongate and slightly irregular black stripe extends from the postorbital to the scapular regions.

[2] Copiula fistulans is found on forested hillsides at fairly low elevations, below 500 m (1,600 ft).

It lives in burrows in the forest floor[1][2] and appears to avoid low-lying, flat areas where the soil is subject to inundation.

[2] It has also been found in burrows on abandoned logging roads and can tolerate some habitat modification.