The majority of species of boas are multi-colored just like the Corallus caninus, a non-venomous snake present in the rainforests of South America. Grownups develop to about 6 feet or 1. 8 m long. They have extremely developed front teeth which are most likely proportionately larger than those of another non-venomous snake.

Emerald Tree Boa

California Red-sided Garter Snake

These are probably the most colorful snake population in North America considered more vibrant then the SFG.

Blind Snake

The family genes of a newly found snake family suggest blind snakes lived on the island of Madagascar since, well, just before it was an island.

Albino Burmese Pythons

Burmese pythons are around every corner although develop to be huge snakes. This really is one of the snakes that require a healthy dose of extreme caution, so think carefully before getting one as a family pet.

Bright Pink Snake

Blue Coral Snake

 Coral snakes are highly venomous members of the Elapidae family that are found in all elevations of rainforest in Southeast Asia.

 

Everyone knows cobras, rattlesnakes and coral snakes, but there are plenty of venomous snakes around the world that are seldom heard of. This is a small selection of these unknown, and often deadly, species.

Although related to true cobras, the water cobra actually belongs to a different genus and gets its name after its ability to flatten its ribs to form a “hood”, similar to that of their more famous relatives. There are two species, the best known being the ringed water cobra. Water cobras are found in Africa, and can grow up to 2.7 meters (8.86 feet) long. They are indeed mostly aquatic, never wandering far away from the water, and can remain submerged for a long time. Very venomous, but shy; will only bite if provoked. This snake is not to be confused with the Giant water cobra, or false cobra (Hydrodynastes), from South America, which, although larger, isn’t nearly as dangerous.


The Mamushi is Japan’s most dangerous snake; it is also found in Korea and China. It belongs to the pitviper family along with the rattlesnake and the American copperhead. It can grow up to 90 cms (3ft) long, but is usually smaller; nevertheless, it is highly dangerous due to its hemorrhagic venom, delivered through long, retractable fangs. It feeds mostly on fish, frogs and small mammals, and is viviparous.




With their short, thick bodies and large, flattened heads, these pitvipers are highly reminiscent of African species such as the Gaboon viper and the puff-adder. They are found in the rainforests of Mexico and Central America, and have been said to attack with such force that they actually lift their body from the ground. However, they are rather shy and will only strike if harassed. They do, however, bite with greater force than other vipers, and instead of quickly biting and retreating, they often hold on to their enemy and chew to deliver as much venom as possible. Mexican jumping vipers can grow up to 1.2 meters (4ft) long and their venom has an anticoagulant effect in human blood.


These snakes (not true cobras) get their name from their striking coloration and ability to flatten their neck into a hood. They are found in Africa and are highly venomous, but have short fangs and poor eyesight due to their mainly burrowing lifestyle. Even so they should be avoided, for there is no known antidote for their bite. They feed on lizards and small mammals.





This interesting-looking viper is found in African rainforests. Its scales are keeled and give it a spiny or bristly appearance. This snake is highly venomous and there is no known antidote against its bite; antivenom used for other snake species bites have little or no effect in spiny tree viper victims. Therefore, this small (40-70 cms long, or 1.3-2.3ft) but dangerous snake should be treated with a lot of respect.







Another native to Mexico, Central and South America, the hognosed viper is small (75 cms or 2.5ft long) but has highly hemotoxic venom (it destroys blood cells and vessels). These snakes are little known and found mostly in rainforests, often in coastal areas.








Perhaps one of the strangest snakes of all, this burrowing species found in Africa has fangs so long that they actually protrude out of the mouth, like saberteeth. This allows the snake to bite its prey without even opening its mouth. Small and with terrible eyesight, the burrowing asp is usually not deadly to adult humans but children have been known to die as the result of its bite.





These slender snakes are found in Africa and belong to the family Colubridae, which is usually not known for its dangerous members (although the boomslang, another African species, is one of the deadliest snakes in the world). Just like the boomslang, the twig snake has its venomous fangs in the rear part of the mouth, which makes it less dangerous than cobras or pitvipers; however, its venom is highly toxic and deadly to humans. Famous German herpetologist Robert Mertens was killed by one of these snakes which he kept as a pet. Twig snakes feed mostly on lizards and birds and get their name from their ability to mimic a twig in a tree, even swaying softly as if moved by wind. They are thus very difficult to spot.



Despite their name and appearance, these snakes are not true vipers, but rather members of the Elapidae family which also includes cobras and coral snakes. Death adders are found in Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands, and they have one of the most potent venoms of all snakes. Fortunately, there is now an antivenom specific to this snake, which has greatly decreased the number of victims in Australia. In New Guinea, however, many people still die of death adder bite every year. Death adders are well known in Australia, but seldom heard of in the rest of the world.


Found in the Brazilian island of Queimada Grande, this pitviper evolved in a habitat where the only available prey were birds (the island has no native mammals); to prevent them from flying away, the golden lancehead developed an incredibly strong, quick acting venom. The island of Queimada Grande is the only place in the world where these pitvipers can be found; but their population is so dense that the island has been declared a restricted area by the Brazilian government. It is easily one of the most dangerous places in the world.
Although officially there have been no recorded human deaths caused by golden lanceheads, people living near the island tell tales about people who were in Queimada Grande and met horrible ends; a man who went to pick bananas on the island was later found laying on his boat in a puddle of his own blood, after being bitten by one or more lanceheads.
But perhaps the most famous story is about the last operator of the island’s old lighthouse; according to the story, one night, the operator and his family (wife and three children) saw the lanceheads entering through a window. Terrified, they fled the lighthouse and tried to reach a boat to escape the island, but they didn’t go far; they were bitten by the numerous snakes hanging from branches overhead.

ReadMoreAt...

Sea snakes are easily the most unusual of all snakes. They belong to the same family as cobras and coral snakes (Elapidae), but they have adapted to a completely marine lifestyle; in some species, the adaptations are simply incredible. There are 62 species recognized to date, and they are found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans; they are all extremely venomous, with some species, such as the Beaked Sea Snake, having venom up to ten times more powerful than a cobra’s. One sea snake species, the Belcher’s sea snake, is considered by experts to be the most toxic of all snakes, marine or otherwise. Fortunately, sea snakes are usually docile and human fatalities are exceedingly rare. Most sea snakes give birth to live young; this means that they don’t have to return to a beach to lay eggs as sea turtles do (except for a few species). As a result, they have practically lost the broad scales on their belly, which other snakes use to move on land, and most sea snakes are completely helpless out of the water. Some species are indeed so well adapted to the sea, that they can even absorb oxygen directly from the water, through their skin! They also have special glands on their tongue, which expel the excess of salt from the snake’s organism every time it flicks its tongue.
more...



Flying snakes are found in the rainforests of India and southeastern Asia, and, despite their rather alarming name, they can’t actually fly. They are, however, accomplished gliders. When a Flying Snake wants to go from one tree to another, it launches itself into the air while flaring out its ribs and sucking in its stomach, thus flattening and widening its body and turning into a pseudo-concave wing. As amazing as it may sound, Flying Snakes are even better gliders than flying squirrels. While squirrels can glide up to 60 meters from one tree to another, Flying Snakes can glide up to 100 meters or more, and they actually ”slither” in mid air, which gives them better stability and some degree of control over their ”flight”. Flying snakes are venomous, but not dangerous to humans. They feed mostly on lizards and other small animals, and spend most of their time up trees.

Also known as yamakagashi, or Japanese water snake, this species is found mostly in Eastern Asia. It is small, rarely exceeding one meter in length, and very shy, so much in fact that they were considered to be harmless for a long time, until someone died of a yamakagashi bite in the 80s. Fortunately, due to their docile temperament, these snakes are very unlikely to bite and fatalities remain exceedingly uncommon. Also, since their venomous fangs are located in the rear of the jaws, they can’t inject their venom as easily as other snakes. They feed mostly on frogs and toads. Other than their bright colors, Tiger Keelbacks look kind of normal; however, they have a very interesting defense mechanism. Recently, it was discovered that these snakes feed on poisonous toads; not only are they immune to the toad’s poison, but they can actually ”sequester” this poison and store it in a couple glands they have in the neck. When threatened, the snake releases the toad’s poison from its neck glands. This amazing adaptation not only protects the snake from most predators, but also allows it to save its own venom for hunting instead of wasting it on something too big to eat!

I already introduced this snake in the Sabertoothed Creature list. However, no list on Unusual Snakes would be complete without this one. The Burrowing Asp is a smallish snake from Africa that spends most of its time underground. It feeds on rodents, and has enlarged fangs that function basically as venomous saberteeth, protruding out of the mouth when in use. This means that the Burrowing asp can bite without even opening its mouth- which is very useful, since it prevents dirt from entering the snake’s mouth during the struggle. The fangs are also flexible and can be moved independently from each other, meaning that the snake can stab its prey sideways with one fang, and once it has killed its victim, it can use the movable fangs to actively manipulate the prey’s body for easier swallowing. Burrowing asps are venomous and there are cases of children dying after a bite; however, in adult humans the venom is usually not lethal. However, due to the cardiotoxic and necrotic properties of the snake’s venom, and its ability to inject it deeper than other snakes (due to the long “saberteeth”), harassing or manipulating a Burrowing asp should always be avoided.

Found in the deserts of Northern Africa and the Middle East, horned vipers are small, usually under 50 cms long. They often have a pair of horns over the eyes, but there are also some individuals that lack them completely, and, therefore, can be easily mistaken for other vipers. They are venomous, but their bite is usually non fatal to humans. When threatened they rub their coils together to produce a warning sound before they strike. The horned viper was formally named ”Cerastes cerastes” in 1768, by Austrian naturalist Nicolaus Laurenti. Cerastes was a mythical Greek monster, a serpent that hid under the sand in the desert and ambushed any passing creature, using its horns as a lure. Ironically, the horned viper itself may have been the real life inspiration for the mythical Cerastes! Indeed, the horned viper hunts by hiding under the sand (leaving only its horns, eyes and nose exposed) and striking at any small animal (mostly rodents and lizards) that comes close. Ancient observers may have exaggerated the snake’s size and dangerousness, giving origin to the Cerastes myth, which Laurenti remembered when naming the horned viper centuries later. The horned viper’s horns, however, are not used as a lure; to date, no one really knows what the horns are used for, or why some horned vipers have them and some don’t.

Found in the rain forests of Central Africa, this small but highly venomous viper is noted for its huge eyes and keeled, bristle-like scales which give it an almost feathered appearance (hence one of its common names, ”feathered tree viper”). Atheris vipers grow up to 75 cms long, with males being longer than females (unusual among snakes). Like all vipers, Atheris has long, retractable fangs in the front of its upper jaw; there is no known antidote to its venom, which causes blood clotting difficulties, pain and swelling, and often, death. Fortunately, these vipers usually live far away from human settlements, and therefore Atheris bites are exceedingly rare.

This is easily one of the weirdest reptiles in the world. Just like the Asian vine snake, the Langaha snake (also known as the leaf-nosed snake) is adapted to an arboreal lifestyle and feeds mostly on lizards. Its most interesting trait is, of course, the weird ”horn” or projection on its snout. Both genders have this weird ornament, but males and females look very different from each other; males are yellowish and have smooth skin and a sharp, pointed ”horn”, while females have rough-looking brown scales and a flat, leaf-shaped and serrated horn. This is one of the few cases in which a snake’s gender can be determined easily at first sight. Langaha nasuta snakes are found only in Madagascar’s endangered rain forests. It is venomous and its bite can be extremely painful to humans but not life-threatening.

Once again native to southeastern Asia, the long nosed vine snake is a highly advanced arboreal predator; unlike other snakes, it has excellent binocular vision, which allows it to strike at prey with great accuracy. Its eyes are also unusual in having horizontal, keyhole-shaped pupils. Its vine-like body hides the snake from both predators and prey (even the tongue is bright green!) and its light weight allows it to move quickly through the foliage and even reach from one branch to another with half of its body on the air! They feed mostly on lizards and frogs, and although they are venomous, they pose no serious threat to humans; pain and swelling are usually the only symptoms after being bitten by a vine snake, and the symptoms disappear within a few days.



Another aquatic snake from southeastern Asia, this is a quite unique species, the last surviving member of its genus. Its most notable feature are the strange fleshy tentacles on its snout. These tentacles are actually highly sensitive mechanosensors, which allow the snake to detect movement in the water and strike at any unfortunate fish that swims nearby. Another interesting trait is the tentacled snake’s incredible attack speed; it takes only 15 milliseconds for the snake to capture its prey. But fish have incredible reflexes and a fast strike is not enough sometimes, so the tentacled snake uses a clever trick to make fish swim towards danger. When the fish approaches, the snake slightly ripples its body towards it. The fish immediately darts in the opposite direction… but this is what the tentacled snake expected, so it angles its head so that the fish swims directly into its waiting jaws. Of all snakes, this is the only one known to anticipate the reaction of its prey and act accordingly. Although the tentacled snake is venomous, it poses no threat to humans. It is rather small, at only 90 cms long. Just like the Elephant trunk snake, it is fully aquatic and can barely move on land. Above you can see the videos (including slow motion) of tentacled snakes tricking and feeding on small fish.

This weird snake is found mostly in Indonesia, although some close relatives are also found in Australia. It gets its name from its unusual skin, which is wrinkled and baggy, and gives the impression of being several sizes too large for the snake. The scales are also unusual; they are large and knobby, hence the snake’s alternate common name, ”warty snake”. They can grow up to 2.5 meters long. Elephant trunk snakes are completely aquatic, and are practically helpless on land; they can’t slither because they lack the broad scales in the belly that are common to most snakes, and an important aid when moving on land. Elephant trunk snakes feed on fish, including catfish and eels; they lack venom, so they use constriction to kill prey; their big knobby scales are an adaptation to hold slippery fish and constrict them underwater.

Surely the question of interest to many, how snakes do it, even difficult to provide.
Let's not speculate and see photos from this process. 

Snakes Find a Mate

1. Mating season for most snakes begins in mid-spring. Unlike most other creatures, snakes have no rituals or competitions involved in the process of mate selection. When male snakes are ready for reproduction, they approach any other snakes they encounter. They use their tongues to detect pheremones given off by other snakes to determine the sex, species and reproductive readiness of the potential mate. If the other snake is another male, a brief fight generally ensues. If the other snake is a female of the same species, ready to reproduce, the male will begin the process of mating. 

The Reproductive Act

1. Females are resistant to mating from the beginning and throughout the process. Male snakes must hold females down with their heads and coil their tails around the female's. The female will continuously try to slither off, dragging the male along as he attempts to line up their cloacas. When successfully aligned--an effort that can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days--the male penetrates the female with one of two penises (known as hemipenes), which then engorges to prevent being shaken out. At this point, the female ceases to resist, and both snakes lie still for the duration of the mating, which typically lasts about an hour. 

After

1. Though snakes are solitary creatures, the male snake will stay with his mate for two or three days after breeding. Often they will mate once or twice more during this time. The male then leaves his partner.

Snake Reproduction

1. Snakes reproduce in one of two ways. In colder climates, eggs are incubated and hatched internally, with live snakes being born. About one-third of snake species reproduce in this manner, which is known as "ovoviviparous." The other approximately two-thirds of snake species are oviparous, meaning they lay eggs. The female finds a suitable spot after the male departs, and generally lays about a dozen eggs, though it ranges from two to fifty among different species (larger quantities from larger types of snakes). King cobras are the only snake species that actually build a nest. Eggs are usually left unguarded, requiring no parental incubation. Newborn snakes are fully functioning, and are on their own from the time they hatch, having no contact with their parents.