Snake Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ snakes from around the world — with venomous status, family, range, size, habitat, and how to tell look-alikes apart.
Namaqua Dwarf Adder
Regarded as the world's smallest viper species, this diminutive adder inhabits coastal dunes of southern Africa.
Mexican Jumping Pit Viper
A thick-bodied Mexican relative of the Jumping Pit Viper, sharing the same rapid, forceful strike behavior.
Island Lancehead
A rare, small island-endemic pit viper found only on Alcatrazes Island off the coast of Brazil, closely related to the Golden Lancehead.
Florida Cottonmouth
A large, semi-aquatic pit viper of Florida wetlands, often confused with harmless water snakes.
Siamese Peninsula Pit Viper
A green pit viper of the Thai-Malay Peninsula, part of a complex of closely related arboreal pitvipers.
Wagner's Viper
A stocky, brightly patterned mountain viper from the highlands of eastern Anatolia, considered one of the most venomous vipers in its range.
Temple Pit Viper
A venomous pit viper famous for the Malaysian temples where groups of these snakes are found coiled among the structures, tolerated by visitors.
Nikolsky's Viper
A dark-colored viper closely related to the Common Adder, found in forest-steppe habitats of Ukraine and southwestern Russia.
Japanese Mamushi
A small but medically significant pit viper widespread across Japan, responsible for the majority of the country's venomous snakebites.
Golden Lancehead
A critically endangered island-endemic pit viper found only on a single Brazilian island, known for unusually potent venom adapted to hunting birds.
Terciopelo
A large, medically significant pit viper responsible for the majority of snakebite incidents across its Central American range.
Jararaca
A widespread South American pit viper important both medically and pharmacologically, as its venom led to the development of ACE inhibitor drugs.
Common Saw-Scaled Viper
One of the 'Big Four' medically important snakes of India, small in size but responsible for numerous serious snakebite cases.
Philippine Temple Pit Viper
A brightly patterned arboreal pit viper found across the Philippines and neighboring islands.
Kenyan Horned Bush Viper
A little-known arboreal bush viper of Cameroon, distinguished by its enlarged subocular scales and rough, keeled body scalation.
Pope's Pit Viper
A slender green pit viper of Southeast Asian forests, named after herpetologist Clifford Pope, and commonly encountered in hill and montane rainforest vegetation.
Eastern Copperhead
A copper-colored pit viper common across the eastern and central United States, known for its hourglass-shaped bands.
Portuguese Viper
A small viper of the Iberian Peninsula and northwestern Africa, recognizable by a soft nasal appendage similar to its close relatives.
Pit Viper
A diverse group of vipers defined by heat-sensing facial pits, including rattlesnakes, copperheads, and Asian bamboo vipers.
Habu
A large, aggressive pit viper endemic to Japan's Ryukyu Islands, notorious as the region's most medically significant snake.
Philippine Pit Viper
A slender arboreal pit viper endemic to the Philippines, variable in color from green to brown with yellow speckling.
Malayan Pit Viper
A medium-sized, heavy-bodied pit viper of Southeast Asia known for its distinctive triangular head markings and its role in significant numbers of snakebite cases in the region.
European Adder
The only venomous snake native to the British Isles, with an enormous range spanning from western Europe to the Russian Far East, including areas within the Arctic Circle.
Grand Canyon Rattlesnake
A pink to salmon-colored rattlesnake found almost exclusively within the Grand Canyon, closely matching the region's distinctive red rock.
Wirot's Pit Viper
A green arboreal pit viper found in forests of Thailand and the Malay Peninsula, named after Thai herpetologist Wirot Nutaphand.
Sumatran Pit Viper
A large, striking green pit viper found in the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo, notable for its vivid coloration and arboreal lifestyle.
Massasauga
A small, secretive rattlesnake of wetland prairies, named from an Ojibwe word meaning 'great river-mouth.'
Jumping Pit Viper
A stout, heavy-bodied terrestrial pit viper known for its rapid, forceful strikes that can propel part of its body off the ground.
Panamint Rattlesnake
A rocky-mountain rattlesnake of the Mojave Desert's isolated ranges, often confused with the speckled rattlesnake.
Sahara Sand Viper
A small, sand-colored desert viper often bearing distinctive hornlike scales above each eye, famous for its sideways "sidewinding" locomotion across loose dunes.
Vogel's Pit Viper
A green pit viper of Indochinese forests, named in honor of German herpetologist Gernot Vogel.
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
A small, pale rattlesnake of the Colorado Plateau notable for having one of the most potent venoms among North American rattlesnakes relative to its size.
Asp Viper
A moderately stout viper found across western and southern Europe, closely related to the Common Adder and generally considered more dangerous.
Uracoan Rattlesnake
A small, restricted-range rattlesnake found only in a limited area of savanna in northeastern Venezuela.
Rainforest Hognosed Pit Viper
A small, well-camouflaged terrestrial pit viper of Central and South American rainforests, named for its upturned snout.
Fer-de-lance
A large, fast-moving, and medically significant pit viper responsible for the majority of snakebite incidents across much of its Central American range.
Himalayan Pit Viper
A cold-adapted pit viper found at high elevations across the Himalayas, among the highest-altitude venomous snakes in Asia.
Horseshoe Pit Viper
A pit viper of the Western Ghats named for horseshoe-shaped markings on its head.
East African Gaboon Viper
A large, elaborately patterned viper found in East and Central African rainforests, closely related to the West African Gaboon Viper.
Copperhead
A copper-colored pit viper common across the eastern US, known for its hourglass-shaped crossbands and reliance on camouflage.
Redtail Bamboo Pit Viper
A slender green bamboo pit viper of South and Southeast Asia, named for the reddish tail found in many individuals.
Usambara Bush Viper
A small, horn-scaled arboreal viper endemic to the Eastern Arc mountain forests of Tanzania, known for distinctive raised scales above the eyes.
Spiny Bush Viper
A distinctive arboreal viper covered in long, spine-tipped scales that create a shaggy, thorny appearance.
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
The largest venomous snake in North America, a heavy-bodied rattlesnake of southeastern pine forests and coastal habitats.
White-Lipped Pit Viper
A common bright green pit viper of South and Southeast Asian forests, easily recognized by its pale lower lip.
Mount Bulgar Viper
A rare mountain viper restricted to the Bolkar Mountains of southern Turkey, part of the diverse Montivipera radiation.
Brazilian Lancehead
A medium to large lancehead pit viper of central Brazil's savanna, responsible for a significant number of snakebite cases in the region.
Saharan Sand Viper
A classic desert viper of North Africa, often depicted with distinctive horn-like scales above each eye and famed for its sidewinding tracks across dunes.