Common name: Fer-de-lance

Type: reptile

Family: Viperidae

Range: This Fer-de-lance snake can be found in the ranges of Central America including Panama, Guatemala, and Honduras, Costa Rica and Belize and also the Atlantic lowlands of eastern Mexico. It is available in the southwestern Guatemala and southeastern Chiapas of Mexico with isolated population. When you consider about the northern South America, it can be found in the places including Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. You can see these snakes in the Tortuguero National Park, Corcovado National Park, Carara National Park, Golfito National Wildlife refuge and Chirripo National Park.

Size: Fer-de-lance available in the species may be weighed up to 6kg or 13lb along with the length of 1.2 to 1.8m. Most uncommonly big females of this species can be reached out the length of 2.5m or 8.2 feet.

Diet: When you consider about the feeding of this snake, the juveniles normally prey on small vertebrates, arthropods, lizards and frogs. Adults of this species upgraded with the diet including opossums, small mammals, rodents and also the birds of an appropriate size depending on the species of snake that too occasionally.

Average lifespan: The average lifespan of Fer-de-lance snake is over 20 years

Habitat: Fer-de-lance usually prefers to live in the moist environments and also in the middle elevations up to 600m or 2,000 feet in most life zones. These snakes don’t prefer to live in the dry periods of strong seasons. Sometimes you can find them at many higher elevations and it is normally true in the case of premontane forest of Costa Rica. It is also inhabited in the evergreen forest and tropical forest. But, rarely this snake occurs in the drier areas including the pine savannah near lakes, streams, rivers, tropical deciduous forest and thorn forest. This species normally relate to other smaller species of this category.

Breeding/Reproduction: If you go through the breeding of Fer-de-lance snake, the timing needs for the litter size and reproductive cycle would probably be varied depending on the location and species. They normally go with the breeding in some parts available in the Costa Rica and it is more prolific one compared to others. Since the reproduction is highly related to rainfall patterns the reproductive cycles in the Costa Rica are seasonal one. It also differs depending on the populations in the Pacific lowlands and the Caribbean.

When you consider about the Fer-de-lance mating season, it normally differs from region to region. The mating season in the Pacific region would be normally between September and November along with the females, which are able to give birth to juveniles between April and June. The average length of the juvenile would be from 28 to 34.6cm along with the weight from 6.7 to 13.1 grams. The mating season of this snake in the Atlantic region would be in March and birth would be occurred during September and November. The juveniles would be of length as ranged from 27 to 36.5cm along with the 6.1 to 20.2 grams weight. The gestation period of the snake would be varied from six to eight months. When you consider about the size of the litter, it is correlated with the size of the female.

When you consider about the species of Fer-de-lance, it is normally differentiated from others because of the broad and flattened heads that would probably set apart from the rest of the body of it. This species is available with more scales in order to prevent water loss that could be occurred in the drier regions where they reside. Apart from that, this would probably be varied with the phenotypically that too greatly along with the geographical range. The great confusion between this species and other species would be similar in color and also has the yellow or rust-like tones along with the trapezoidal and rectangular blotches. This snake has the head as light to dark brown colored and even as black colored one sometimes. It also has the blotches and streaks as ranged from distinct to indistinct one. Underside of these streaks is in pale yellow color.

On the dorsal and ventral sides of this species are available with different colors and patterns that could probably occur with the postorbital stripe, which is exhibited one. The ventral side of this snake would be available with dark botches along with the color of cream, whitish gray and yellow, which are more closely appeared on it to the posterior end. It is also available with different colors in dorsal side including the tan, nearly black, olive, light brown, gray and dark brown one. Pales edges of this species can be seen laterally along with the dark triangles and that too in the range from 18 to 25.

When you consider about the length of Fer-de-lance snake species, it is normally varied depending on the sex because these snakes are sexually dimorphic one. Even though both sexes would probably born with the same size, at the age of 7 to 12 months females would start to grow at a faster rate compared to males. The size of the male would be notably smaller size than the females from birth. Females are normally available with heavy bodies along with the significant growth. Their head size would be two or three times more than the males and also they have bigger fangs relative to males.

Compared to all snakes available in America, Fer-de-lance snakes are treated as one of the species as most prolific one. During the mating season, the female prefers to mate with more than one male. The mating of them would probably include with a series of movements that could be done by males. The movements could end up with the best result with the acceptance of female. In order to extend the posture to mate, the female would probably stop out the movement after some time. It is not known that, whether this species go for reproduction as annual or biannual.

Since this Fer-de-lance species is available mostly in the forests of Costa Rica, it would be better to see the activities of the snake easily when you visit the national parks available there.

You can also enjoy with other species related to Fer-de-lance snake, when you go to the parks and enjoy with your family in an efficient way.