Eyelash viper Facts
Eyelash viper Facts
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| Interesting Eyelash viper Facts: |
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| Eyelash viper can reach 22 to 32 inches in length. Females are larger than males. |
| Eyelash viper can be yellow, red, pinkish, green or brown colored. Body can be uniformly colored or covered with dark speckles. |
| Eyelash viper has wide, triangular head with large, needle-like fangs in the upper jaw. Eyes have vertical (slit-like) pupils. Eyelash viper has slender body covered with keeled scales. |
| Name "eyelash" refers to elongated, pointed scales above the eyes which look like eyelashes. |
| Eyelashes "modify" typical shape of the snake's head and prevent quick detection of the snake hidden in dense vegetation. |
| Eyelash viper is nocturnal creature (active during the night). |
| Eyelash viper is an arboreal animal. It spends life high in the trees, among the vines and on the large leaves. Prehensile tail facilitates movement in the treetops. |
| Eyelash viper has pair of heat-sensitive pits (organs used for detection of the heat of warm-blooded creatures) located between the nostrils and eyes. Eyelash viper sometimes moves its tail in a worm-like manner to attract the prey. |
| Eyelash viper is a carnivore (meat-eater). Its diet is based on small mammals, birds, nestlings and lizards. Young eyelash vipers hunt and eat frogs. |
| Eyelash viper delivers hemotoxic venom which easily kills small animals by destroying the blood cells and blood vessels. Snake swallows the prey in one piece. |
| Eyelash viper will attack humans only in self-defense. Bite can be very painful and fatal for humans. |
| Natural enemies of eyelash vipers are falcons, hedgehogs, baggers, foxes, cats and large snakes. |
| Eyelash vipers use sense of smell to find mating partner. Males compete for the attention of the females by hitting each other with their heads in a ritual called "the dance of the adders". Battle can last few hours. Males do not bite each other during the fight. Stronger male wins the battle and gets opportunity to mate. |
| Female gives birth to 6 to 12 live babies after gestation of 6 months. Young snakes are 6 to 7 inches long at birth and they look like miniature version of adult snakes. Eyelash vipers reach sexual maturity at the age of 2 years. |
| Eyelash viper can survive 10 years in the wild and 16 to 20 years in the captivity. |
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