r/herpetology

Road cruising for snakes and came across this guy back in May. Tooele County, Utah. Really cool, unexpected find.

He is so cute and tiny.

🐍 Bush Viper

The bush viper (Atheris squamigera), also known as the green bush viper, is a venomous snake native to the tropical forests of Central and West Africa.

It usually grows to around 40–60 cm in length, although some individuals can exceed 70 cm. Its body is covered with strongly keeled scales, giving it a rough, almost spiky appearance. Its coloration can vary from bright green and yellow to brown or orange, sometimes with several colors combined.

The bush viper is mainly arboreal, spending much of its time in trees and dense vegetation. It is mostly nocturnal and uses its excellent camouflage to remain hidden while waiting for prey. Its diet includes small mammals, frogs, lizards, and birds.

It has a triangular head, vertical pupils, and long movable fangs. Its venom can cause severe pain, swelling, bleeding, and tissue damage, making its bite potentially dangerous to humans.

One of its most fascinating characteristics is its extraordinary camouflage, which allows it to blend almost perfectly with leaves and branches.

Sceloporus occidentalis aka western fence lizard, aka bluebelly! lifelong favorite. best known to me as a “fast blueberry” since i could form words

🫐💨

🥲🫪🤗🥹🌱

We have cellar spiders and house centipedes but he wasn’t near in a nest when found. This guy is the 2nd dead skink I’ve found in my basement so I’m wondering whats killing them and apparently not eating them.

It was so big it couldn’t fit in the hole it tried to escape to. Garter snake in high country of Colorado. Original photos by me.

Possibly newborn, but already missing the tip of his tail, poor thing. He was so small I was afraid I would accidentally squish him between my thumb and pointer fingers when I was holding him.

Really unexpected find back in June. Found this tiger salamander crossing the road. First adult I've ever seen in the wild, I see them in their larvae stage quite often. Western Uinta mountains Utah.

I thought this was so cool! Not 100% sure but I’m guessing a garter snake, the toad was still alive; I guess he just accepted his fate lmao!

Found it under a bedliner on the hill at work, really tame

IDs:
Western Diamondback
Mojave
Sidewinder
Long Nose
Common Side Blotched Lizard

Found in Western AZ

Just another day in the yard. I've seen so many snakes this summer, and I was happy to spot this one when I had my phone already out. I'm in SW Ontario, Canada. Eastern Garter Snake, I believe.

I'm trying to establish something and hopefully the experts here can help. I noticed what is mostly likely an example of staged predation in a wildlife documentary on National Geographic called The Hidden World of Snakes. The snake in the scene appears to perfectly match one seen in a YouTube video posted by the reptile wrangling company credited at the end of the show. I've attached images to compare the markings on the snakes.

I am not an herpetologist, but to me it seems impossible to me that these markings could match so closely on two different snakes. I contacted the reptile wrangling company and they were adamant that these were not the same animal. So I wanted to ask here if there is any way these could be separate individuals?

I did note that the markings on the underside of the snake were quite dark in the one video and light in the other. See final two images. Could such a change be attributed to age or shedding?

Thanks!

this guy was absolutely stunning. he was so vibrant that he almost looked like a pinkish-coral color.

he was super uncooperative but also super slow! he kept turning around and walking away at a turtle’s pace as I tried to photograph him. it was a bit frustrating, but it was also hilarious and I finally managed to get some decent photos :)

We've had a lot of heavy rains, and this snake was seeking refuge from the flooding. :)

Road cruised this ybr last month in Utah's west desert.

Road cruised earlier this year in central UT