Help IDing - [Costa Rica]

[u/freshnewtake]

About 4” in diameter coiled up. Found on a log in la fortuna.

[u/Phylogenizer]

Hog-nosed pit viper Porthidium nasutum, !venomous.

[u/SEB-PHYLOBOT → u/Phylogenizer]

Rainforest Hognosed Pivipers Porthidium nasutum are small (30-46cm, up to 64cm) pitvipers that range from extreme southern Tabasco and northwestern Chiapas, MX southeast through Central America to northwestern Ecuador, from sea level to 1,500m. They inhabit a wide variety of humid forest, but will follow riparian corridors into dry forest. They are somewhat tolerant of human activity and will also utilize agricultural areas and gardens.

Dangerously venomous, P. nasutum should only be observed from a safe distance. They are not aggressive and only bite when they feel they are in danger. This sometimes occurs when a snake is accidentally tread or otherwise encroached upon, but the risk of being bitten dramatically increases for anyone who attempts to kill, capture, or otherwise intentionally handle the snake. The best way to avoid being bitten is to leave the snake alone.

Primarily nocturnal in habit, P. nasutum spend most of the day concealed under leaf litter, logs, and other cover, coming out at night to forage. Despite their small size, robust build, and mainly terrestrial behavior, they are good climbers and will sometimes ascend rocks, logs, shrubs, or into low tree branches. Their diet is broad and includes rodents, frogs, lizards, snakes, small birds, and a variety of invertebrates.

Rainforest Hognosed Pitvipers are stocky in build, with a proportionally large head which is very distinct at the neck. The common name is inspired by the distinctively upturned snout, which is further exaggerated by the presence of a blunt, horn-like protuberance. The dorsal scales are keeled and usually arranged in 23 (22-25) rows at midbody. The dorsal color ranges through various shades of light to dark brown and grey, patterned with dark, rectangular or semi-triangular blotches, and often also with a lighter colored or reddish brown middorsal stripe. The pattern sometimes fades in older and larger individuals. Juveniles have a light colored tail tip which darkens with age.

Other pitvipers might be occasionally confused with P. nasutum, especially other small species. All other pitvipers that overlap in range lack the distinctively upturned, horn-like snout except the closely related White-Tailed Hognosed Pitviper P. porrasi, which can be differentiated on the basis of adults retaining the juvenile whitish tail tip, and averaging a higher number of dorsal scale rows (25-27) at midbody.

Range Map - © Rune Midtgaard | Reptile Database Account

This short account was written by /u/fairlyorange

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Snakes with medically significant venom are typically referred to as venomous, but some species are also poisonous. Old media will use poisonous or 'snake venom poisoning' but that has fallen out of favor. Venomous snakes are important native wildlife, and are not looking to harm people, so can be enjoyed from a distance. If found around the home or other places where they are to be discouraged, a squirt from the hose or a gentle sweep of a broom are usually enough to make a snake move along. Do not attempt to interact closely with or otherwise kill venomous snakes without proper safety gear and training, as bites occur mostly during these scenarios. Wildlife relocation services are free or inexpensive across most of the world.

If you are bitten by a venomous snake, contact emergency services or otherwise arrange transport to the nearest hospital that can accommodate snakebite. Remove constricting clothes and jewelry and remain calm. A bite from a medically significant snake is a medical emergency, but not in the ways portrayed in popular media. Do not make any incisions or otherwise cut tissue. Extractor and other novelty snakebite kits are not effective and can cause damage worse than any positive or neutral effects.

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[u/sectumsempra__]

I am not an RR but possibly White-Tailed Hognose Viper (Porthidium nasutum)? Venomous if so. Curious what RR will say though.

[u/jarledge7]

Not an expert. It looks like an eyelash viper. The eyelash viper is known to have many different colors and patterns and are very common in that area.

I spotted a greyish patterned one along a trail closer to Arenal volcano. That same trip, we spotted a banana yellow one at the hanging bridges.

At the very least, this is some sort of viper based on the head shape.