Spiny bush viper Facts
Spiny bush viper Facts
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| Interesting Spiny bush viper Facts: |
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| Spiny bush vipers are small snakes that can reach 18 to 23.6 inches in length. Females are larger than males. |
| Spiny bush vipers are usually green, olive green, bluish or brownish in color. They have yellow or pale olive belly. Body ends with ivory-white tail. Brightly colored spiny bush vipers (yellow, red or grey) are rarely seen in the wild. |
| Spiny bush vipers have broad head with large eyes, large mouth and slit-like nostrils that are positioned laterally. |
| Body of spiny bush vipers is covered with scales that are heavily keeled on a dorsal side of the body. That's why these snakes are also known as rough-scaled bush viper and hairy viper. |
| Spiny bush viper is excellent climber. It easily reaches upper part of the flowering bushy plants, where it spends most of its day, basking in the sun. |
| Tail of spiny bush vipers is prehensile. Snakes use their tails to hold the branches when they move through the vegetation or to hang from the branches when they hunt the prey. |
| Spiny bush viper is nocturnal creature (active during the night). |
| Spiny bush viper is a carnivore (meat-eater). It usually eats rodents, birds, lizards and frogs. |
| Spiny bush viper is an ambush predator. It uses its venomous fangs to kill the prey. Before the attack, spiny bush snake curls its body in the shape of a letter S. |
| Spiny bush viper produces strong venom which induces severe bleeding of internal organs. Amount and strength of the venom depend on the age of snake, geographic region, altitude and even weather. |
| Snakebite may be fatal for humans because antidote for this venom doesn't exist. Luckily, people rarely visit isolated and remote habitats of Central Africa where spiny bush viper can be found. |
| Mating season of spiny bush vipers takes place in October. |
| Female gives birth to 9 to 12 babies usually from March to April. Spiny bush vipers are 6 inches long at birth and have dark green bodies covered in wavy stripes. Young snakes attain adult coloration at the age of 3 to 4 months. |
| Spiny bush vipers reach sexual maturity at the age of 2 to 3 years. |
| Spiny bush vipers can survive 10 to 12 years in the captivity. |
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