Need help with snake ID......

These aren't my pictures, but I was hoping someone knowledgable on the subject would be able to identify these. Someone on a VA car forum posted these up, seen in Suffolk, VA.....to be specific. He said these are two different snakes, one was more yellow than the other.....

Were they supposed to be native VA snakes? Because I can't think of any native U.S. snake that they look like. They look like some sort of viper, but not any native one I can think of.

Jaci

Looking online, the Eastern Cottonmouth can have that kind of spotting, but I can't find one with that yellow cast to it....It's not a rattler so any of the diamondbacks, copperheads etc. are not going to fit. That is definitely a viper head though. I briefly thought about Hognose snake, but the head design doesn't fit that species either...Now I'm curious! and I'm definitely NOT a snake lover!

I've seen a few cottonmouths in my day, and that does not look like any of them!!! Usually, the adults are not nearly that colorful, and that head is huge!!!

I'm not Steve Irwin (obviously) but given the markings, and snakes penchant for camouflage, I would guess that is some kind of tree viper. Not from these parts, as they say.

Is that an aquarium I see in picture #2?

Ok, the OP in the thread I took these pics from has posted again.......apparently these are what he claims to be a southern variation of a Timber Rattle Snake (aka Canebrake Rattler). They are captive.......and were actually used for tracking and research.

Digging more info as I can from the OP. My only problem is that these look nothing like the "southern" Timber Rattler's I have seen.......which are between the color combo's of a southern Copperhead and an Eastern Diamondback Rattler.

mattograph wrote in post #5735031
I've seen a few cottonmouths in my day, and that does not look like any of them!!! Usually, the adults are not nearly that colorful, and that head is huge!!!

I'm not Steve Irwin (obviously) but given the markings, and snakes penchant for camouflage, I would guess that is some kind of tree viper. Not from these parts, as they say.

Is that an aquarium I see in picture #2?

I agree! All of the cotton mouths I have seen are black with no markings...other than the white mouth!! but the pictures I was seeing online had that spotting on some of them...I didn't see a rattle on the end of the snake either so the Timber or anything along that line doesn't work either....I'll be curious to find out what this is!

Ok, I guess the OP just wanted to pull some people's legs on the local forum. The snakes are Ethiopian.......his friend apparently owns them. Good job to whoever classified them as a viper.....

http://en.wikipedia.or​g/wiki/Bitis_parviocul​a

Huh! Way cool! As I said before, I don't particularly like snakes, but this one just looks vicious! thanks for the clarification!

How come our snakes can't be yellow and black?!?!

I could far more easily avoid that sucker when tromping around in the woods than I can a rattler or cottonmouth hidden in the rocks/leaves.

Never been to Ethiopia, but if a bright yellow/black snake is camoflauged there, I'm thinking it' must be a bit like Disneyland on acid!

LW Dail wrote in post #5736643
How come our snakes can't be yellow and black?!?!

I could far more easily avoid that sucker when tromping around in the woods than I can a rattler or cottonmouth hidden in the rocks/leaves.

Never been to Ethiopia, but if a bright yellow/black snake is camoflauged there, I'm thinking it' must be a bit like Disneyland on acid!

LOL!!!

It looks like a member of the Bitis family - a puff adder - African.

Bitis parviocula my guess.

Handsome - but dangerous - a bite is likely to go gangrenous.

boipevassu wrote in post #5754958
It looks like a member of the Bitis family - a puff adder - African.

Bitis parviocula my guess.

Handsome - but dangerous - a bite is likely to go gangrenous.

and don't forget hurt like hell.........

You can usually tell if a snake is a viper by the shape of their heads.

Just came across this forum and thread through the internet.

The snake in question is Bitis parviocula or the Ethiopian Mountain Adder. Highly venomous, not much is known about this species, or their venom and their bites. They are found in remote parts of South-west Ethiopia, so not many bites have been reported.

Starbugs78 wrote in post #5755711
You can usually tell if a snake is a viper by the shape of their heads.

I disagree with that. There are viper species out there that do not have triangular heads.

and non venomous snakes can have triangular heads....

mattograph, be glad you aren't steve irwin, you'd be dead!