What is Beautiful Pit Viper (Trimeresurus Venustus)?

• Class: Reptilia
• Order: Squamata
• Suborder: Serpentes
• Family: Viperidae
• Subfamily: Crotalinae
• Scientific Name: Trimeresurus venustus

Beautiful Pit Viper (Trimeresurus venustus) is a venomous pit viper endemic to southern Thailand. Its other name is brown-spotted pit viper.

Physical Description

The beautiful pit viper has the same "typical" body shape as other arboreal snakes. They are slender snakes, very agile, with a head clearly different from the neck/body. The head is relatively short and rounded compared to the arboreal from the genus Parias or T. puniceus complex, which is obvious when viewed from above. Their eyes are relatively large and most often yellow/gold. The body colour is solid green with red/purple stripes. These bands run along the back and gradually fade into irregular spots on the dorsal side. Also on the head, these colored markings have distinct but irregular patterns. The ventral side is light green, with adjacent scales accentuating the dorsal and ventral colors, and all scales are marked white. Males also have a white line under their eyes, a sexual dimorphism also seen in other Trimeresurus species. The males of the species also seem to be brighter and have a bluish odor. The average size of the species is between 50cm and 70cm. Males are noticeably smaller and slimmer than females.

Habitat

The beautiful pit viper has a relatively small range in southern Thailand. But within that range, they seem to be universal and common. Their preferred habitat is moist, well-vegetated tropical forests. Humidity in these areas is always high and there is a lot of precipitation. During the day, they hide a few meters above the ground, usually between 1.5 and 3 meters. At night, they sit close to the ground and wait for prey to pass by. This pit viper are sometimes found in people's gardens or plantations, but there are far fewer of them here. Their habitat is small, but they all seem to have their own little territories.

Behavior

Like most arboreal Asian snakes, the beautiful pit viper is mostly active during twilight and evening. They make perfect ambush hunters and will perch on branches that are usually close to the ground and hang over trails often used by small animals. Here they will feed on small vertebrates such as lizards, small birds and arboreal rodents. During the day, they will use their enormous camouflage to hide among the leaves just a few meters above the ground. When disturbed, they will perform the classic S threat display, sometimes opening their mouths and wagging their tails. When attackers approach, this pit viper don't hesitate to strike and bite. At night they are also often found on the ground travelling to another "hunting ground", but their territory is relatively small.

Diet

The diet consists of mammals and birds. Juveniles probably also feed on frogs and lizards.

Venom

The Beautiful Pit Viper's Venom is mildly toxic, but complications can occur. Bites are painful and usually have no noticeable effect. It may take a few seconds for the viper to release enough venom to cause serious injury, but they are more than capable of doing so. The bite could be fatal. The antivenom is available in most public hospitals in Thailand.