A majestic adult female Sumatran pitviper (Trimeresurus sumatranus), (Raffles, 1822)

Location: Lowland forest Sabah, Malaysia.

 

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As this species gets older, it will turn to light washout yellow for the Bornean morph as compared to the Pen. Malaysia, southern Thailand and Sumatra morph which retain its deep green coloration.

 

Found this gorgeous pit viper on the final night of my 3-day solo herping trip in Sabah, Borneo. This is a big female with thick body and quite long for this species. When I found this awesome specimen, I immediately called the two German visitors (non-herpers), who tagged along on my final day.

 

This was one of my biggest target of my entire impromptu Sabah trip because over the past 9 years, I'd only seen a neonate and a juvenile. A few days ago, Dr. Alvin shared his photos of his 1-week trip in Sabah, I immediately booked my tickets. FYI, during this 3-day herping trip, I found both male (Day 1) and female (Day 3) adults.

Location: Lowland forest of Sabah

Synonym: Parias sumatranus; Trigonocephalus sumatranus;

 

Toxicity: Venomous

Size: About 1.1 meter (3.8 ft.)

Breeding: Egg-laying pit vipers (oviparous)

Also known as Sumatran Tree Pit Viper, Sumatra Pit Viper, Habitat: In Borneo it inhabits lowland forests at elevations below 800 meters (2,600 feet).

Diet: Small mammals (rodents), birds, and frogs.

 

Description: T. sumatranus is a large heavy-bodied pit viper, with a prehensile tail. Adults may attain 1.6 metres (5 feet 3 inches) SVL (snout–vent length), with fangs over 10 mm long (Das, 2006).

 

Toxicity: T. sumatranus can inject large quantities of venom. Fatalities from its bite have been reported, and it should be considered dangerous (Das, 2006)

 

Done