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Tropidolaemus wagleri – Wagler’s Pit Viper – Dangerous

Tropidolaemus wagleri Also called: Wagler’s Pit viper; temple viper; bamboo snake; speckled pit viper.

Thais say: ngoo keow took geh

Length: Average length of 60 cm. Male smaller than female. Female maximum length at 100 cm.

Range: Southern Thailand south of Khao Sok National Park, Suratthani province. Other countries: West Malaysia; Indonesia; Philippines. There is a concentration of them on the island of Phuket, Thailand.

Habitat: Behaviour/habitat: Elevations up to about 1,200 meters but most abundant at elevations up to about 600 meters in lowland primary forest, secondary forest and jungle – especially coastal mangrove. During the day these vipers rest in the trees 2-3 meters off the ground.

Active Time? Mainly nocturnal, but occasionally found during the day, especially during or after rain. Crepuscular in nature, they are more often active during dusk and dawn, or on an unusually dark day during heavy rain.

Food: Birds – especially baby birds in the nest; rodents; lizards; frogs.

Defensive Behavior: Coil back into s-shape and strike. Strike is typically less than .3 meters in distance. Mouth wide open exposing fangs and white tissue. Can strike in succession rather quickly. Their strike is not very fast in comparison with some of the other vipers. The heat-sensing pits between the eyes can sense temperature difference as little as 0.003 degrees Celsius.

Venom Toxicity: Potentially deadly. Strong venom that usually does not result in death to humans. Victims experience a strong burning sensation upon envenomation, and swelling, necrosis of tissue.

Offspring:

Notes: Though these snakes are said to be exclusively arboreal and nocturnal, I found one on a mountain recently during the middle of the day, on the ground, during a rain shower.

These snakes have a wide variety of colors and patterns.

Tropidolaemus wagleri

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Subfamily: Crotalinae
Genus: Tropidolaemus
Species: T. wagleri
Binomial name: Tropidolaemus wagleri

Classified by Boie, in the year 1827.

Top of head – very triangular, and thin neck:

Video 1 – Wagler’s Pit Viper – found on a mountain in Krabi province, Southern Thailand.

White Lipped Green Pit Viper in Thailand - I think.

A reader, Jeremy Gatten, sent this photo (used with permission) of a green pit viper he found one night while looking for owls near Wat Tham Pha Plong near Chiang Dao in Thailand’s north. I was thinking it was. He had squatted down to rest and heard a little rustle in the brush – and found this amazing specimen of… well, pit viper. I don’t know which one it is – but, I’m guessing it’s the White Lipped Pit Viper.

Jeremy himself narrowed it down to one of two – either Trimeresurus macrops or Trimeresurus albolabris (White Lipped Pit Viper).

What do you think?

Note – do be very careful not to be bitten by any of the green pit vipers, their venom – while not usually deadly – is quite strong and can cause havoc in the human body. Vipers are typically identified (in general) by their small size (< 1 meter) and the triangle shaped head.

Mangrove Pit Viper - Dangerous - Bite Frequently. Photo courtesy of Carlton Wagner and Michael Miller, used with permission.

Not found near homes much - but, here is one...

Cryptelytrops purpureomaculatus (Mangrove Pit Viper, also known as mangrove viper, shore pit viper, purple-spotted pit viper, shore pitviper.

Thais Say: Ngoo pang ka

Length: Males grow to about 60cm and females to 90 cm on average.

Habitat: Usually near water and very wet areas. However, recently one was found on a sidewalk by a bungalow on the island of Koh Phi Phi in Krabi province, Thailand. They like stream banks with good cover – low lying plants that they can hide under. They like hilly habitat.

Behavior: These snakes are very easily agitated, and once they get going they are hard to calm down. Their strikes are very fast, but thankfully – short. These are known by snake handlers to have a “bad temper”.

These Thailand vipers are rather hard to identify – but they are usually like the photo above – greyish with a bit of purple in the coloring. Some are very purple. We’ve also seen a brownish toned mangrove pit viper with some yellow highlights. Now for our top photo we have a greenish toned viper. Obviously – color is highly variable in this species.

Venom toxicity: Venomous and very toxic to humans. Though people have died as a result of bites from this snake, this is not usually the case.

Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Subfamily: Crotalinae
Genus: Trimeresurus
Species: T. purpureomaculatus

Classified as – Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus by Gray in year 1832.

Mangrove pit viper photo courtesy of, and full copyright by – Richard Richert.

Thanks Richard!

Deadly, and cytotoxic venom which destroys all tissue - even bone.

This lovely 1 meter long Malayan Pit Viper was submitted by a reader of Thailand Snakes (.com), John Helm in Jomtien Beach, near Pattaya, Thailand. The photo was taken on 3/7/11.

John moved the snake from his patio over a wall separating his house from some heavy bush.

These snakes appear to be lazy, or not aggressive – and John said this as well. However, they are violent strikers and can hit you from further than you think. In addition to that, Malayan Pit Vipers can strike backwards VERY fast and VERY accurately. They need not strike out forward… In fact, I have a video of one striking a mouse I put in the cage on Youtube here. It struck backward.

The other day I was observing one and dangling some paper behind it – it struck VERY fast and nailed it.

These snakes are reported to cause more deaths in Thailand than any other snake. The reason I presume, is because they bite village people who either rely on natural medicines – leaves rubbed on the wound, for instance – instead of getting to a hospital they can’t afford.

These and the Russell’s Vipers are the most dangerous snakes in Thailand for bites… with the monocled cobras (Naja kaouthia) coming next I’m sure (no evidence, just guessing).

Thanks John!