How to Identify the Snouted Night Adder (Identification Guide)

Key identifying features

The Snouted Night Adder is identified primarily by its slightly upturned, pointed snout, a feature that distinguishes it from other night adder species with more rounded snouts. This, combined with a row of dark dorsal blotches and round pupils, forms the core identification profile for this species.

Coloration & pattern

Background coloration is typically grey-brown, olive, or tan. A series of dark brown to blackish blotches runs down the back, sometimes squarish or irregularly rounded rather than sharply rhombic, occasionally connected by narrow darker bridges. The flanks may show additional smaller dark spots. The belly is pale and mostly unmarked.

Head, eyes & scales

The most notable feature is the snout, which is somewhat pointed and slightly upturned at the tip, distinct from the blunter snouts of related night adders. The head bears dark markings, sometimes including a faint chevron, though generally less bold than in the rhombic night adder. Eyes have round pupils. Body scales are keeled, producing a slightly rough texture.

Size & body shape

This is a small to medium, moderately stout-bodied snake, similar in general proportions to other night adders, with a short tail.

Range & habitat where you'll see it

Found across parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the Snouted Night Adder occupies savanna, grassland, and moist habitats near water, consistent with its diet of amphibians. It is primarily nocturnal or crepuscular in activity.

How to tell it apart from look-alikes

The upturned, pointed snout is the clearest way to separate this species from the rhombic night adder and other related adders, which have more rounded snout profiles. Round pupils separate it from most true vipers with vertical pupils, and its generally less bold dorsal blotching distinguishes it from the more strongly rhombic-patterned relative.