Vietnamese Snakes - experts Forum at VenomousReptiles.org

Vietnamese Snakes	Reply
by Lara on April 1, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
This is probably a dumb question but are there Death Adders in Vietnam? Also could someone tell me which are the most common and venomous snakes in Central and South Vietnam? Thanks!

RE: Vietnamese Snakes	Reply
by Cro on April 1, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
Lara: There are no Death Adders in Vietnam, although many snakes have local names, so it is possible that someone there might use the term adder to describe one of their venomous snakes, most likely the Lance-Head Viper. The most common venomous snakes in Vietnam would be the Malayan Pit Vipers (Agkistrodon), and Asian Lance-Headed Vipers (Trimeresurus). Less common venomous snakes would be the Indian Cobras (Naja), the King Cobra (Ophiophagus), the Oriental Coral Snakes (Calliophis), and the Kraits (Bungarus). Some of the above Genus names might have been changed resently, but it is too late at night, and I am too tired to look up the new names. Hope this helps. JohnZ

RE: Vietnamese Snakes	Reply
by martyn on April 2, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
Does anyone know why they call them death adders

RE: Vietnamese Snakes	Reply
by GREGLONGHURST on April 2, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
The Australian death adder, Acantophis sp., is an elapid that looks very much like a viper. It is relatively heavy bodied & has a typical viper shaped head, quite distinct from the neck. The death part of the name most likely comes from the fact that it is dangerously venomous & can cause human fatalities. ~~Greg~~

RE: Vietnamese Snakes	Reply
by ginny on April 2, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
I heard a story that explains why certain australian elapids are refered to as "death adders". Apparently the early austalian settlers were surprised to discover these snake species did not attempt at flight when disturbed [death adders are sit and wait predators and remain still until you are on top of them] thus leading to the belief that these snakes were deaf!Hence they were actually known as "deaf adders". As we all know all snakes lost the ability to hear audible sounds during their evoloution as burrowing animals and the hearing apparatus has all but dissapeared. What is left of it is now attached to part of their jaw bone called the quadrate and it is through this that snakes are able to detect vibrations from the ground although only when the jaw is in contact with the ground. The name was probably aptly changed to Death Adder due to the potent toxity of the venom. Anyway thats what i heard! Mark

RE: Vietnamese Snakes	Reply
by ginny on April 2, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
As a foot note i've always found it interesting when species un-related to eachother evolve along the same lines to fit an ecological niche.. Death Adders are elapids but they have the body form of a viper being stout bodied, muscular and have a triangular head. This is a more effecient body form for a sit and wait predator that waits for prey to stumble into striking range and as a rule elapids are more slender and elongate in shape being that they tend to go in search of their prey. They have traded in strength for speed and this is why most elapids cannot climb up their own body length when tailed[ we have all seen Steve Irwin demonstrating this with King Browns and Taipans] where as vipers can. It is interesting to note that there are no vipers or crotalids in Australia so Death Adders [ and other species from the same genus] have evolved to fill that particular ecological niche. Mark

RE: Vietnamese Snakes	Reply
by Lara on April 2, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
My sincerest thanks to you all! It was really a great help to me the information you offered. I will do some research into these Vietnamese Snakes mentioned. Cheers!

RE: Vietnamese Snakes	Reply
by Phobos on April 2, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
You guys forgot one very important suspect Sharp-nosed Pit-Vipers (Deinagkistrodon acutus)which is also known as the "The Hundred Pace Snake" Cheers! Al

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