What is the horned viper known for?

One of the most distinctive characteristics of the Saharan horned viper is the presence of supraorbital "horns", one over each eye. However, these may be reduced in size or absent. The eyes of this snake are prominent and set on the sides of the head.

A sharp upright scale above each eye resembles a horn. The desert horned viper moves swiftly across the loose sand by sidewinding, throwing oblique loops first with its top half and then with its lower half. With its sharp-edged scales it can shuffle into the sand with amazing speed, burying itself up to the eyes.

Vipers include some of the deadliest snakes. A viper has a stocky body, a wide head, and long, hinged fangs at the front of its mouth for injecting venom. The venom causes a very painful wound that can be fatal. Vipers target warm-blooded prey, such as rats and mice, and some hunt during the day.

Description. The average total length (body and tail) is 30–60 cm (12–24 in), with a maximum total length of 85 cm (33 in). Females are larger than males. One of the most distinctive characteristics of this species is the presence of supraorbital "horns", one over each eye.

This pit viper (subfamily Crotalinae) has small horns above each eye, possibly to keep sand from covering the eyes when the snake is buried. It is a nocturnal inhabitant of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico (see Sonoran Desert), where it feeds upon rodents.

All vipers have long, hollow fangs. These teeth are specially designed to inject venom into prey. A viper's fangs connect to venom glands behind the snake's eyes at the base of their triangle-shaped head. When a viper bites, venom travels from the glands, through the hollow teeth, and into the prey.

Vipers are characterized by a pair of long, hollow, venom-injecting fangs attached to movable bones of the upper jaw (the maxillaries) that are folded back in the mouth when not in use. Their eyes have vertical pupils, and their scales are keeled.

Viper is a predator, where she burns down and suffocates her enemies using fuel to activate her toxic abilities: Poison Cloud and Toxic Screen, melting passing targets and blocking their vision. Her fuel gauge recharges over time, enabling her to control areas for an extended period.

The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs that permit deep penetration and injection of their venom.

The fangs of pit vipers are hollow and can deliver a dose of venom deep into tissues. Pit viper venom is a highly complex mix of toxins, including metalloproteinases that cause local tissue destruction and thrombin-like proteins that cause a coagulopathy.

In venom glands, adult specimens of horned viper have 10-45 mg of venom, and one bite can excrete as much as 20 mg of venom, which can be a lethal dose for a healthy adult, especially children, and chronically ill patients.

Despite their reputation, Nose-horned vipers are not aggressive and tend not to bite without considerable provocation. If surprised, wild specimens may react in a number of different ways. Some remain motionless and hiss loudly, some hiss and then flee, while still others will attempt to bite immediately.

The horned viper injects its venom into its prey through hollow teeth. The venom causes problems with blood clotting, in particular. In rare cases, a viper bite can be fatal to humans.

1.) Horned vipers are nocturnal (active at night) that spend their days nestled into the sandy soil, for protection from predators and the hot sun. 2.) It is believed that they evolved their horns to help shield their eyes from the sun.

The desert horned viper often needs to find shelter from the scorching sun, but the creature can't just sit under a tree or nestle into a pile of dead leaves in its barren habitat. The viper's scales are rough, and can dig into sand when the snake moves its body back and forth.

Sahara horned vipers are known to have only a few natural enemies, including honey badgers, monitor lizards, and a variety of wild and feral cat species.

Eyelash Viper (Bothriechis schegelii) This is the first of several gorgeous vipers on this list, as the Viperidae family consists of a wide range of colorful, striking, and unique species. One of the most notable and beautiful varieties is the eyelash viper.

The saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus) may be the deadliest of all snakes, since scientists believe it to be responsible for more human deaths than all other snake species combined. Its venom, however, is lethal in less than 10 percent of untreated victims, but the snake's aggressiveness means it bites early and often.

Symptoms of a pit viper snakebite usually appear within a few minutes to a few hours after a bite and may include: Severe, immediate pain with rapid swelling. Bruising of the skin. Trouble breathing.

When it comes to feeding habits, vipers eat a wide variety of food including centipedes, insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. They hunt using a method called ambush foraging, in which vipers sit and wait immobile to detect prey.

Reptiles and amphibians

Poisonous snakes belong to four families, Viperidae or vipers with two subfamilies Viperinae and Crotalinae, Elapidae or fixed front-fanged snakes, Hydrophidae or sea snakes including some Australian snakes, and Colubridae or back-fanged snakes.

Wild female pit vipers can reproduce without a male, suggesting that virgin births may take place in nature far more than before thought. Asexual reproduction is common among invertebrates — that is, animals without backbones.

The viper is not very aggressive and usually only bites when disturbed. However, you'd have a hard time calling this species a friendly viper; it's a bit of an oxymoron.

Only a fraction of these bites are fatal, but toxins in snake venom can trigger serious medical emergencies that occur within hours; they can cause organ failure, uncontrollable bleeding, severe tissue destruction and paralysis that may restrict breathing, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Cobras are venomous snakes related to taipans, coral snakes, and mambas, all members of the Elapidae family. Snakes in this family cannot fold their fangs down, as vipers can, so the fangs are generally shorter. They kill their prey by injecting venom through their fangs.

The white-lipped island pit viper, also known as a blue viper gets its nickname for their bright blue-green scales. The blue subspecies we have here at the zoo, are native to Komodo island in Indonesia. The 'blue viper' is venomous, and uses this venom to weaken its prey!