Shore Pit Viper

Southeast Asia Snakes

Snakes ~ Vipers ~ Shore Pit Viper

The shore pit viper, sometimes called the mangrove viper, inhabits the coastal swamps and forests of Southeast Asia in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra). They are an extremely aggressive and unpredictable arboreal pit-viper species with a highly-toxic venom. Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus occurs in many colour forms. The base pattern is a series of dark broad and jagged bands, which are slightly faint, across the body. The ventrals, jaws and throat are white. A white ventrolateral line may or not be present in some individuals.

Mangrove pit vipers have been recorded in brick brown, pale green, olive yellow and even purplish black. Some specimens lack any barring or patterning, being a solid colour. The irises range from being orange brown to dark red. The scales on the body and ventrals are strongly keeled while the head is quite stocky in size. In the wild, they feed on birds, frogs, lizards, rodents and small mammals.