Vince_Adam Photography
IMG_9120-1(W) Juvenile Malayan Pit Viper (Calloselasma rhodostoma)
Location: Peninsular Malaysia.
Also known as Malayan ground pit viper, Malayan ground snake, "Malayan moccasin".
Distribution: Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia (Java), Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, southern Myanmmar.
Reproduction: Oviparous and the eggs are guarded by the female after deposition.
This is the snake that causes the most snakebites in Malaysia yearly. In northern Malaysia it is responsible for some 700 incidents of snakebite annually with a mortality rate of about 2 percent (U.S. Navy. 1991. Remarkably sedentary, it has often been found in the same spot several hours after an incident involving humans, hence its locally called Ular Kapak Bodoh (meaning stupid pit viper) .
Toxicity: Highly venomous (can be lethal)
Its venom causes severe pain and local swelling and sometimes tissue necrosis, but deaths are not common. Unfortunately many victims are left with dysfunctional or amputated limbs due to the lack of anti-venom and early treatment.
IMG_9120-1(W) Juvenile Malayan Pit Viper (Calloselasma rhodostoma)
Location: Peninsular Malaysia.
Also known as Malayan ground pit viper, Malayan ground snake, "Malayan moccasin".
Distribution: Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia (Java), Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, southern Myanmmar.
Reproduction: Oviparous and the eggs are guarded by the female after deposition.
This is the snake that causes the most snakebites in Malaysia yearly. In northern Malaysia it is responsible for some 700 incidents of snakebite annually with a mortality rate of about 2 percent (U.S. Navy. 1991. Remarkably sedentary, it has often been found in the same spot several hours after an incident involving humans, hence its locally called Ular Kapak Bodoh (meaning stupid pit viper) .
Toxicity: Highly venomous (can be lethal)
Its venom causes severe pain and local swelling and sometimes tissue necrosis, but deaths are not common. Unfortunately many victims are left with dysfunctional or amputated limbs due to the lack of anti-venom and early treatment.