Puff Adder Profile
When naming animals scientifically, it’s okay to have a little fun now and then. Boops boops and Aha ha are two good examples. And when naming snakes, there isn’t much more at the forefront of everyone’s mind than their fast and dangerous jaws. So, the genus Bitis seems like low-hanging fruit.
This genus occurs throughout Africa and contains some of the most dangerous snakes on the continent.
There are several well-named species in it (Bitis rhinoceros is a good one), but few are more appropriately named than Bitis arietans – the species name translates to “strikes violently:
Puff Adder Facts Overview
| Habitat: | Everything except high altitude, rainforests and deserts. |
| Location: | Across Sub-Saharan Africa, Arabian peninsula |
| Lifespan: | 15+ years |
| Size: | Up to 1.9 m (75 in) long |
| Weight: | Up to 6 kg (13 lb) |
| Colour: | Light, sandy brown with dark chevrons |
| Diet: | Small mammals, birds, tortoises, amphibians, lizards |
| Predators: | Meercats, eagles, hornbills |
| Top Speed: | Sluggish, but strike at 9 km/h (6 mph) |
| No. of Species: | 1 |
| Conservation Status: | Least Concern (IUCN) |
Named for their ability to puff up their bodies in defence, Puff Adder snakes, like all snakes, aren’t looking for a fight.
Unfortunately, their reliance on camouflage and their prevalence, especially in habitats shared with lots of people, make them one of the most dangerous snakes in the world.
Interesting Puff Adder Facts
1. They’re the most widespread snakes in Africa
Puff adders share a genus with some of the most iconic snakes on the continent. Gaboon vipers are the largest members with the longest fangs of any venomous snake; they sport enormous heads, lethal venom and strikingly vibrant contrasting colouration.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Namaqua dwarf viper is possibly the world’s smallest viper at a maximum length of 28 cm and is relatively plain in colouration.
But neither of these two species is quite as successful or generalistic as the puffer. Puffers will eat more or less anything, and live more or less anywhere. There are only two habitats that put them off: dense forests and very arid deserts.
As a result, the puff adder is widespread across the vast majority of Sub-Saharan Africa and is the continent’s most widespread snake. 1
2. They are highly venomous
Puff adders produce a highly potent venom and they do so in large amounts. Like the baboon vipers, they have very long fangs, and if they’re able to get them into you, you’re in for a bad day.
As a viper, the puff adder has cytotoxic venom, and this venom is thought to be one of the most toxic of any viper species based on its potency. It can cause necrosis, swelling, immobility of the affected area, the usual nausea and vomiting, weakness, dizziness, and loss of consciousness.
For anything smaller than a human, the chances of survival or slim. And still, there are plenty of people who don’t survive it either. 2
3. They’re responsible for the most snake bite fatalities in Africa
This combination of factors means that the puff adder is the greatest contributor to snakebite fatalities in Africa. This is despite the fact that there are far more venomous snakes around.
Unlike many species, the puff relies purely on camouflage, and the sheer fact that they are so widespread, and enjoy hunting in cultivated areas, means that their paths cross with humans relatively often.
Unlike snakes such as the members, envenomation won’t kill all that fast; it might take two or three days to succumb to the bite.
And the rate of death from untreated bites is not as high at around 15%, but the number of incidences is substantially greater than any other species. And to top it all off, once a puffer has struck, there’s really no time to do anything about it. 3
4. They strike violently
Despite being quite a chunky animal, these snakes are deceptively fast. Large specimens can grow to over 1.5 m metres long, but it’s far more common for them to be around 1 metre or less. They are stocky and thick and generally sluggish to move. Until they strike.
Adults of the species, like most snakes, can strike a distance of about one-third of their body length, but the younger ones are far more agile and almost throw themselves at a threat.
When hunting, the strategy is to allow the venom to do the work and unlike constrictors, they don’t hold onto their prey.
A rapid injection and retreat is all it takes.
When threatened, they can strike just as easily sideways as they can forward and after each strike will return to a defensive pose ready to inflict another one. These strikes are astonishingly quick and carry enough force to stun or kill smaller prey just from the blunt and piercing trauma.
In the wild, this enthusiasm serves them well and they have colonised most of Africa. In captivity, it can work against them. 4
5. They eat themselves to death
Puff adders are collected in large numbers, particularly in Arabia, in order to milk them for their venom.
Some particularly enthusiastic herpetologists also keep them as pets. They tend to live for a long time in captivity when well looked after. But their insatiable appetite means that they can easily be overfed.
It appears that the puffer has never evolved to stop eating when full. Overfeeding, at best, leads to a pig puking session. At worst, the viper can be killed.
6. They’re chemically camouflaged
Chemical camouflage in vertebrates is a relatively novel concept to researchers and one that is still under-represented in the literature.
We’re well aware of how well ambush predators hide themselves visually, but researchers are starting to identify that snakes like the puffer also themselves chemically.
Many predators hunt using their noses, so being able to cover your scent makes perfect sense. And it appears that puffadders can do this. Both dogs and meerkats, trained to sniff out snakes, struggle to pick up on the scent of a puff adder.
The mechanism behind this chemical crypsis is not yet known but it does appear to be a real phenomenon.
Puff Adder Fact-File Summary
Scientific Classification
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Viperidae |
| Genus: | Bitisi |
| Family: | Arietans |
Fact Sources & References
- “Puff Adder”, iNaturalist.
- Eric J Lavonas (2002), “Severe puff adder (Bitis arietans) envenomation with coagulopathy”, National Librabry of Medicine.
- Eric J. Lavonas (2002), “Severe Puff Adder (Bitis arietans) Envenomation with Coagulopathy”, Taylor & Francis Online.
- Bruce A. Young (2010), “How a heavy-bodied snake strikes quickly: high-power axial musculature in the puff adder (Bitis arietans)”, Wiley Online Library.