Russell's viper

Scientific Name: Daboia russelli

Formerly Called: Vipera russelli ( Prior to 1990's )

Nick Name: Chain Viper or Indian Russell’s viper.

Size: Average 1 meter, maximum 1.5 meters

• Adult: 1 m
• When Born: 24 cm
• Average: 1.8 m

Appearance: Light brown body with three rows of dark brown or black splotches bordered with white or yellow extending its entire length,  strongly keeled scales; large triangular head; vertical eye pupils.

         The underside is white in the western, partly speckled in the southeastern and heavily speckled in the northeastern race. Colour variation is common, and the best recognition characters are the short, fat body, the triangular-shaped head and very regular chain like pattern.

Potency of Venom: Deadly Hemotoxic venom, powerful coagulant, damaging tissue and blood cells. Antivenom may save the life, but victim will bear an irreversible tissue damage for the rest of his life.

Nature: It is irritable. When threatened, it coils tightly, hisses, and strikes with such speed that its victim has little chance of escaping.

Distribution: Sri Lanka, south China, India (Hills and plains throughout India upto 3,000 m), Malaysian Peninsula, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and surrounding islands.

Habitat: Variable, from farmlands to dense rain forests. It is commonly found around human settlements.

Feeds on: Rodents, Small Birds

Side Line:

• It is responsible for more human fatalities than any other venomous snake in India and it is believed that it kills as many people as any other venomous snake in the world !!! 
• Bite from a Russell's viper is really bad, they have long fangs that are meant to pierce the skin easily and deliver a real bad bite. Antivenom may save the victim, but he will be left with an irreversible tissue damage caused by its extremely powerful hemotoxic venom.
• Russell's vipers resemble the fat, harmless common sand boas which however have shorter and blunter tails and irregular body patterns. The bright symmetrical spots on Russells Viper's backs make them easy to differentiate.
• Russells Vipers are one of the big Four dangerous snakes of India. The other large Indian viper is the Levantine Viper, a heavy brown snake found in parts of Kashmir which grows to 11/2 m.

• Russell's Viper was formerly reffered to as ' Vipera russelli ',  prior to 1990s. Now it is renamed as 'Daboia russelli'. Currently the

  genus ' Vipera ' is used only for Palaearctic species, mainly found in Europe and Western Asia.