| 1 | Spotted lancehead |
This venomous snake only lives in two countries: a swathe of northwest Ecuador and a small portion of southern Columbia. The spotted lancehead (Bothrops punctatus) averages at 1.20 metres and is uncommon with its range, being tucked away in old forests where it waits in ambush for prey. Its main region is the Chocoan lowlands, with the Canandé Reserve, Itapoa Rainforest Reserve, and Tesoro Escondido Reserve being particular hotspots. Its range also extends to Ecuador’s Pacific coast.
The venom has an LD50 rating of 2.4mg, and the bite injects an average of 34.4mg. Its venom has less local symptoms and is specialised in coagulopathy, clotting chaos with uncontrollable bleeding. This viper has a prehensile tail capable of grasping branches, and while not exclusively tree-dwelling, they’ve been spotted 18 metres in the air.
Spotted lanceheads have a triangular head with a very thin neck. While a swathe of their forest heartland has been cut down, spotted lanceheads are widespread enough to not be under serious threat. The best way to find Bothrops punctatus is to walk along forest trails with a torch at night, but the odds are always small that you’ll actually meet one.
| 2 | Painted marsh snake |
This snake lives in northern Ecuador, on the western slopes of the Andes and valleys within the Andes itself. It’s a high altitude snake, sticking to between 1600 and 3000 metres above sea level. Forests are their home, but painted marsh snakes are also happy in man-altered environments, with a mixture of pasture land, rural gardens and remnants of older vegetation.
Painted marsh snakes lack venom and have a calm temperament, normally fleeing when approached. This is a day-faring snake that hides beneath leaf litter and soil when not active. They don’t even constrict their prey, instead forming loose coils to hold them in place while they swallow.
One confirmed prey is the tropical lightbulb lizard, which is also endemic to the Andes slopes of Ecuador. Amphibians are confirmed as well, namely the toad Osornophryne occidentals (another Ecuador exclusive). The painted marsh snake is most common in the northerly Carchi province. Supposedly, you have a 8-10% of chance of finding one if you search near the town of Chilma Bajo for 4 hours.
| 3 | Osborne’s lancehead |
Osborne’s pitviper is the sister species to the spotted lancehead, and another inhabitant of old growth forest. The colours can be similar at first glance, but Osborne’s lancehead (Bothrops osbornei) has trapezium shaped patterns while the speckled lancehead has small dots arranged into squares. There’s an estimated 7.6% genetic divergence between the two. Osborne’s lancehead lives further south and is confined solely to central Ecuador, unlike the spotted lancehead which crosses into southern Columbia. They average at 130cm long, slightly longer.
As youths, this snake feeds on local frogs such as the Cachabi robber frog, before moving onto frogs when they mature, using ambush tactics as they wait on rocks. Juveniles have a brighter, yellower colour scheme which darkens into beige and brown in adulthood. Osborne’s lancehead is active at night and dusk, and is semi-arboreal, climbing to tree heights of 3.5 metres. At LD50 2.6 mg, the venom is slightly weaker than the spotted lancehead. The bite can unleash necrosis and intense pain.
Osborne’s lancehead is unfortunately in danger, as its homes were old forests, some being untouched for thousands of years. On the western slopes of the Andes, over 50% of their habitats may have been slashed down.
| 4 | Cope’s tropical racer |
This species inhabit most of the western half of the country, from the spine-like Andes mountain range, to the Pacific coast, ranging from altitudes of 0-3500 metres. Copeland’s tropical racer (Mastigodryas pulchriceps) is a 1.5 metre snake which is non-venomous, but can turn snappy if pushed.
Rather than forests, Copeland’s tropical racers are most commonly spotted crossing trails and roads, in areas with plenty of vegetation on either side. They’re particularly abundant in the Canandé and Otongachi Reserves, and their appearance transforms with age. Youths have a viperid pattern, probably designed to mimic them and scare off predators with “venom”. But as adults they become far more elegant, with pale yellow interspersed with metamorphosizing sheens of orange.
This snake is hardy and copes well with human activity. It’s one of the few snakes to inhabit the Ecuadorian capital of Quito, and the adjacent valleys. Copeland’s tropical racers are safe from extinction, as they are plentiful in a dozen protected areas of Ecuador. Frogs are on their menu, but most of their prey recorded so far is reptiles: ocellated Andean lizard, Chota whorltail iguana, Quito whorltail iguana.
| 5 | Bailey’s blind snake |
Perhaps one of the rarest snakes in the world. Trilepida anthracina lives solely in Ecuador, and is barely ever seen as it spends most of its life in underground tunnels. Almost all records come from the Pastaza river valley of central Ecuador, on the eastern side of the Andes. Searching for this snake would be a fool’s errand – most individuals found so far have been purely by accident.
Bailey’s blind snake is tiny. Its record length is just 29.3cm, and hence it probably preys on insects and termite larvae, although nobody is certain as research is severe lacking. It looks more like a scaleless worm than a snake, and its eyes are like the dots of a black pen.
Bailey’s blind snake mostly inhabits cloud forests and evergreen forests, usually old growth, but they can withstand moderate human disturbance. While mostly underground, they sometimes crawl along the forest floor, or even roads. Being so tiny, there’s a chance that Trilepida anthracina is more common than people believe, and hiding under their noses.
| 6 | Lojan’s lancehead |
This third venomous Ecuadorian snake is an entirely different proposition to the first two Bothrops members. It’s a more distant relative and lives much further south, inhabiting the Andes mountains near the Peruvian border.
Lojan’s pitviper (Bothrops lojani) sticks to altitudes of 2000-2750 metres, and is common in highland grasslands, shrublands, tropical montane forests, gardens and pasture. They only really avoid areas with no vegetation such as towns or modern, mechanized farmland. This is a day-faring viper, a diurnal snake which is rarely on the move later than 7:00pm (as late as 10:00pm has been sighted).
Lojan’s lancehead is unpredictable. Some will wiggle their tail in leaves and make a noise when threatened, but others will mindlessly attack. Its venom is a total mystery. There are no scientific studies or detailed reports. The name references the southern Ecuadorian city of Loja, where the species was originally found. Lojan’s lancehead is an ambush predator which feeds on rodents and lizards. They sometimes lurk on agave plants, Puya plants, or in crevices in the ground. At 60cm, Bothrops lojanus is significantly shorter than the two Bothrops members of northern Ecuador.
| 7 | Ribboned brittle snake |
One of the harder snakes to find in Ecuador. They inhabit almost the entire northwest of Ecuador, including the Andes foothills and Pacific coast, but are very shy and like to lurk below leaf litter in forests.
From a distance, the ribboned brittle snake looks like a basic brown snake, with a thin white line on each flank. But up close, the brown becomes more complex, with shades of red and black manifesting before your eyes. Their belly is a red-orange colour, while their tail is unusually long, making up 22-33% of their body. The Latin name, Urotheca lateristriga, refers to this long tail (oura is Greeek for tail). They’re also capable of snapping their tail off when bird predators seize them with their claws, which happens often given their small size. The average length is 50cm, and the all-time record was 62.2cm, recorded in 2017. It’s not surprising that this snake is so rarely seen.
Ribboned brittle snakes are slightly venomous. They can’t inject 50mg of venom instantly, but chew in a weak venom which can unleash pain and swelling. The heart of its empire is a town (and region) called Mindo.
| 8 | Andean snail eater |
This snail-eating serpent reaches a maximum of 83.4cm. Dipsas andiana has an extremely blunt, prominent head, almost like the handle of a whip. Other Dipsas (snail eater) members live in Ecuador, but Dipsas andiana is the only one with a U-shaped marking on the back of its head.
This is a forest dweller, and often pops up in banana and coffee plantations. They’ve even been found in banana boxes shipped overseas by cargo vessels. If you ever find one crawling out of your shopping trolley, then it originated from Ecuador, as aside from a tiny portion of northern Peru, that’s the sole country they inhabit (unlike the far more widespread Dipsas indica). Within its habitats, the Andean snail eater sticks close to streams. They crawl along the ground, but also branch perches 10-300cm above. Their goal is to find snails, and they are non-fussy, even eating introduced giant African snails.
Dipsas andiana is quite easy to find during December-May (rainy season) – they come out at night, and hotspots include Mindo and Buenaventura biological reserve, and Mashpi rainforest reserve.
| 9 | Hooded centipede snake |
The hooded centipede snake is a 30cm species (max 42.8cm) with no venom. It belongs to the widespread Tantilla family, which also includes Tantilla oolitica from Florida. This humble Ecuadorian snake mostly dodges the Andes and sticks to western Ecuador, including the lowlands and Pacific coast. They also cross the southern border into Peru, though Ecuador is clearly their base.
The hooded centipede snake is rare, being spotted no more than every few months at any given location. However, their habitats are flexible – the elusiveness is down to their burrowing, semi-fossorial habits. Hooded centipede snakes can make their home in dry forests, shrubland, cattle fields, and rural gardens. They’re sometimes found beneath logs and timber, and their first instinct when startled is to dig furiously.
Another defence is poking people with their sharp tail. Hooded centipedes are red on almost their entire body, except the head where black hoods and stripes begin. Its head is barely distinguishable from its neck, similar to most burrowers.
| 10 | Hudson’s coffee snake |
This mostly brown snake is simple to distinguish from others in the Ecuadorian Amazon, as their neck has a white collar found in no other. Hudson’s coffee snake varies in frequency, being rare in many places but abundant in others.
Unlike the rest of our list, this species mostly inhabits eastern Ecuador, on the opposite side of the Andes mountain range. The only thing Ninia hudsoni needs to thrive is vegetation. Hence, they appear in evergreen forests, but also plantations, gardens and pastures.
Hudson’s coffee snake is very timid, even when picked up. Their usual move is to duck their head into a shield of coils. It’s believed to feed on slugs and earthworms, like their fellow coffee snakes, and is confirmed to be prey for snakes like Clelia clelia and Hemprichi’s coral snake. Its scales are keeled (rough) to touch, and its belly is pristine white, contrasting sharply against the black-brown. This 40-50cm snake is found crawling on forest floors rather than high in trees.