Leaf-nosed Viper Snake

Facts about Leaf-nosed Viper snake. "Scientific name for Leaf-nosed Viper snake is Eristicophis macmahoni". Leaf-nosed Viper is a monotypic type of poisonous snake that belongs to the genus Eristicophis of the Viperidae family. The Leaf-nosed Viper snakes are native to Balochistan, and they can be seen largely in the desert regions and the borders of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. This snake variety is connected with sandbank homes of fine, free sand. The Leaf-nosed Viper snakes can be found at a height of 4,300 feet (1,310 meters)above sea level.

Features of Leaf-nosed Viper snake

The Leaf-nosed Viper snake is relatively a small size snake, attaining a maximum body length of less than one meter with its tail. Usually, female Leaf-nosed Viper snakes are longer than the males, with a body length, ranging from 11 inches to 28 inches (28 to 71 cm), whereas the male Leaf-nosed Viper snakes have a body length between 8.7 inches (22 cm) and 15.7 inches (40 cm).

The Leaf-nosed Viper snake has an even, broad, big-size and wedge-shaped head, which is separated from its neck. The Leaf-nosed Viper snake have a broad and a small nose, and their eyes are of a reasonable size. The top of the head of the snake is covered with little scales, and their nostrils are a couple of small slits. The Leaf-nosed Viper snake variety has a distinctive rostral scale, which is broader than its height, strongly curved in, and margined above and to the sides by four distended nasorostral scales set in the shape of a butterfly.

The Leaf-nosed Viper snake has 14 to 16 supralabials, which are alienated from the suboculars by 3 to 4 lines of little scales. They have 16 to 19 sublabials, and their circumorbital ring is made up of 16 to 25 scales.

The body of the Leaf-nosed Viper snake is somewhat depressed dorsoventrally and looks fairly to markedly fat. They have a short tail, and it is prehensile, narrowing abruptly at the back of the vent. The Leaf-nosed Viper snake has a soft and loose skin, and their dorsal scales are petite and keeled, in 23 to 29 mid-body rows that are set in a straight and regular fashion. The ventral scales of the snake contain lateral keels, which are 140 to 144 in numbers in male snakes and 142 to 148 in numbers in the females. Male Leaf-nosed Viper snakes have 33 to 36 subcaudals, whereas the females have 29 to 31 subcaudals, and they are without keels.

The Leaf-nosed Viper snake has reddish to yellowish tan ground-color body, covered dorsolaterally by means of a regular sequence of 20 to 25 dark marks, bordered entirely or partly with white color scales, whereas posteriorly, these marks happen to more discrete. The white marginal areas habitually extend over the rear as crossbands. The head of the Leaf-nosed Viper snake has a white line that runs from the rear of their eye to their mouth angle. The crown of their head has sprinkled dark flecks. The throat, belly and labials of the Leaf-nosed Viper snake are white in color and the tail tip is yellow in color with distinctive crossbands.

Diet of Leaf-nosed Viper snake

The Leaf-nosed Viper snake feeds on small lizards, and rodents, and occasionally it will feed on birds. The Leaf-nosed Viper snakes used to hold mice in their mouth waiting for their death, and then they swallow them whole.

Behavior of Leaf-nosed Viper snake

Usually, the Leaf-nosed Viper uses rectilinear and winding movements to move, but it will side wind when alarmed or while moving over loose sand. Rarely, this snake climbs into bushes by means of its prehensile tail. The Leaf-nosed Viper snake variety is mostly nocturnal, but it may be crepuscular, too. The Leaf-nosed Viper snake is also bad-tempered, hissing extremely noisily and deeply, and it will lift the front part of the body off the earth in a loop and hit violently.

The Leaf-nosed Viper can appear to go down into the sand by means of a rocking or peristaltic movement. After this, it will typically shake and turn its head down the longitudinal axis to wrap its head, leaving only its eyes and nose free of sand.

The average lifespan of the Leaf-nosed Viper snake is 25 years.