Reptiles · Squamata · Viperidae

Western Russel’s Viper

Daboia russelii

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

Russell's viper, also called the chain viper, the Indian Russell's viper, or the scissors snake, is a species of venomous viperid snake of the Old World, which lives in Asia across the Indian subcontinent; the former subspecies D. russelii siamensis is spread across most of South-East Asia, southern China and Taiwan. Daboia was, until recently, a monotypic genus. It is a member of the group of the four great venomous snakes of India. This species is responsible for most cases of snakebite and death in the world because of how often it is found in places populated by humans. Its name was given in honour of Patrick Russell (1726-1805), a Scottish herpetologist, the first to describe many of the snakes of India; its generic name, daboia, comes from Hindi and means "that thing which lies hidden" or "the one that lurks".

Weight

1 kg – 3 kg

Size

1 m – 1.7 m

Lifespan

15 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

Temperate forestGrasslandCarnivore Nocturnal Solitary Reptile Temperate forest Grassland

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Fun facts

It is one of the big four, the group of snakes responsible for most of the tens of thousands of deaths from snakebite each year on the Indian subcontinent, the region with the most snakebite incidents in the world.
Its venom can damage the pituitary gland permanently: some survivors develop a chronic endocrine syndrome, an effect that is very uncommon among snake venoms.
Its hiss is one of the loudest of any snake and can be heard several metres away: it is a clear warning that precedes the strike.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (reptile)
Habitat & environment: Grassland, scrub, farmland and urban fringes of the Indian subcontinent and South-East Asia
Sexual maturity: 3 years
Gestation / incubation: 6 months of gestation
Litter / clutch size: 25 live young

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daboia_russelii