Eyelash viper

Physical features

• Eyelash vipers are a more slender viper, only reaching lengths up to 30 inches. Females are usually larger than males.

• These vipers are highly arboreal. Their prehensile tail is an adaptation to living in trees and enables a firm, steady grip even when striking and killing prey.

• Their most noticeable feature is the enlarged scale above each of their eyes that gives the appearance of eyelashes.

• The color of an eyelash viper is somewhat dependent upon the geographic region where it is found. Their outstanding coloration can be reddish-yellow, yellow, grayish-brown, or green with each individual color having different variations in markings or spots. While coloration is often dependent on locality, in some places, multiple color forms can be found together.

Diet: Carnivore

• Wild – Small mammals, birds, nestlings, and frogs

• Zoo – Mice, hatchling quail

Reproduction

• They are ovoviviparous producing about 10 to 12 young with each birth.

• After birth there is no maternal care and the young are ready to take care of themselves.

Interpretive Information

• Eyelash vipers have been unknowingly transferred around the world in banana shipments.

• Although they are venomous, bites from eyelash vipers almost never result in death. Typically bites to humans are to fingers, hands, and sometimes faces, since they are arboreal, and rarely result in anything more serious than necrosis of a finger.

Updated January 2024