Banner Photo: Source
Vipers are a group of snakes known for their gorgeous appearance, and often deadly venom. These snakes demand respect and caution, and are absolutely fascinating animals. Even though it may be tempting to interact with these snakes due to their gorgeous colors and stunning looks, it’s best to admire these snakes from afar!
Top 10 List – Vipers
1. Bush Viper
Scientific Name: Atheris squamigera
Geographic Range: West and Central Africa
Lifespan: 10 – 20 years, possibly longer in captivity
Conservation Status: Least Concern
To start off our list we have the variable bush viper. These snakes have beautiful scales that almost resemble leaves, or even dragon scales. These bush vipers can be found in multiple colors including green, blue, red, yellow, orange, and grey. They spend most of their time in the rainforest, preferring fairly low, thick bushes. On the smaller side as far as snakes go, these snakes average about 2 feet in length, with females tending to be larger than males.
Read More About Them Here.
2. Sri Lankan Pit Viper
Scientific Name: Trimeresurus trigonocephalus
Geographic Range: Sri Lanka
Lifespan: 8 – 12 Years
Conservation Status: Not Listed
Sri Lankan pit vipers are a sexually dimorphic snake. Females tend to be larger than males (up to 51 inches) and are a gorgeous green color. Males are on the smaller side, and average 24 – 30 inches in length, while being more of a blue color. They are nocturnal, arboreal snakes, spending most of their time up in the trees sunning themselves during the day.
3. Rhinoceros Viper
Scientific Name: Bitis nasicornis
Geographic Range: Central and Western Africa
Lifespan: 8 – 10 Years
Conservation Status: Least Concern
The rhinoceros viper spends most of it’s time in the leaf litter, tree roots, and holes on the forest floor. As their name suggests, on the tip of their noses are horn-like protrusions, just like rhinoceros’ have. Their scales are made up of various reds, blues, yellows, blacks and browns, helping them to blend into the forest floor. These chunky vipers tend to be slow moving, and can grow anywhere from 28 – 42 inches in length.
4. Spider Tailed Viper
Scientific Name: Pseudocerastes urarachnoides
Geographic Range: Western Iran
Lifespan: Not Found
Conservation Status: Data Deficient
The unique spider tailed viper has a tail that resembles that of a spider. It is thought that this tail is used to lure in prey, such as birds, for the viper to catch. Their mottled beige and cream coloring helps them blend in with their surrounding, as they are found mostly in desert-like areas. They also have small protrusions above their eyes, giving them the appearance of eyelashes, or horns.
5. Wagler’s Pit Viper
Scientific Name: Tropidolaemus wagleri
Geographic Range: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
Lifespan: Not Found
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Wagler’s pit vipers are often referred to as temple vipers, as they can be found in abundance around the Temple of the Azure Cloud in Malaysia. These gorgeous vipers come in many different colors and patterns, often reffered to as “phases.” Wagler’s vipers are arboreal, and spend a majority of their time lazing around the trees waiting for prey to stumble by them. Females of this species can grow to 40 inches in length, while males typically don’t exceed 30 inches in length.
6. Arabian Horned Viper
Scientific Name: Cerastes cerastes
Geographic Range: North Africa, Arabian Peninsula
Lifespan: 14 – 18 Years
Conservation Status: Not Listed
Its not hard to see where the Arabian horned viper got it’s name. These snakes have large horn like protrusions above their eyes, giving them a horned appearance. Just like the spider tailed viper, the arabian horned viper’s colors and patterns help it blend into it’s surroundings. It is thought that their diet mainly consists of rodents, with various insects and lizards supplementing their diet.
7. Eyelash Pit Viper
Scientific Name: Bothriechis schlegelii
Geographic Range: Mexico, Central and South America
Lifespan: 16 – 20 Years in Captivity
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Eyelash vipers can come in a variety of colors, with large modified scales above their eyes that look like eyelashes. It is thought that these scales are to help with the snake’s camouflage, breaking up the snakes outline in the foliage. These are another arboreal viper, using their prehensile tail to help balance in the trees. They are ambush predators, waiting patiently for their next meal to walk by.
8. Mangrove Pit Viper
Scientific Name: Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus
Geographic Range: Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand
Lifespan: Not Found
Conservation Status: Least Concern
These gorgeous snakes have a range of colors, from olive grey, grey, and a gorgeous dark purple-brown on the top of their body. Their underside’s can be white, green, or brown as a solid color, or speckled with brown. As with all the other vipers on the list, they are venomous!
9. Ruby Eyed Pit Viper
Scientific Name: Trimeresurus rubeus
Geographic Range: Cambodia, Vietnam
Lifespan: Not Found
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
The thing that stands out most about the ruby eyed pit viper, is of course the gorgeous ruby red eyes, that matches the red on the tip of their tail. Their gorgeous green bodies really contrast against the red, making for a very striking snake. Not much is known about this snake as it was only discovered in 2011, and we hope that more information will come out about this gorgeous viper!
10. Painted Saw-Scale Viper
Scientific Name: Echis coloratus
Geographic Range: Middle East, Africa, Arabian Peninsula
Lifespan: 28 Years in Captivity
Conservation Status: Not Listed
Last but not least is the gorgeous painted saw-scaled viper. Their scales are made up of gorgeous shades of oranges and browns, giving them a truly breathtaking appearance. They can be found hanging around in rocky deserts only, avoiding sandy deserts. A fairly large viper, these snakes can grow to 30 inches in length.
—
Enjoy this article? Share it with your friends using the links below! Also, leave a comment below and let us know what you think. Thanks for reading!
