| 1 | Central American eyelash viper |
Maximum length: 91.6cm.
Out of all venomous snakes in the Americas, the eyelash viper (Bothriechis nigroadspersus) is probably the most variable in appearance. With little variation in its genetic code, this species manages to sprout an endless variety of unique colours, without affecting its length or personality.
Eyelash vipers are mainly found on tree branches, causing most bites to hit the chest and arms. They’re capable of killing humans, but less deadly than the nearby fer-de-lance, which sticks to the ground.
The eyelash viper doesn’t have a “regular” colour, unlike its mainly green relatives. Yellow is perfectly common, but so is grey, red or frosty white. One common variety is the Christmas eyelash viper: jungle green intermingled with white and red. These colours all occur naturally in the wild, rather than being bred in a captive facility.
Some mysterious factor in the eyelash viper’s genome allows random colours to spring up without warning. It appears that camouflage is involved, as the colours correlate closely with habitat. For example, eyelash vipers have a tendency to crawl out of banana boxes shipped overseas, and these snakes tend to be banana yellow. Those found next to bromeliad plants tend to be brick red.
However, the colours have no correlation with region or country. You could come across a red, yellow and green eyelash viper all within minutes, in the same Costa Rican village. The eyelash viper belongs to the 19-member Bothriechis genus, of which they’re easily the most common (and variable) member.
| 2 | Malabar pitviper |
Maximum length: 89cm.
Surely the most multicoloured snake in the eastern hemisphere. The Malabar pitviper lives in the Western Ghats mountain range of southern India, a place of rolling forested hills rather than sky-scraping glaciers, with a maximum elevation of 2695 metres. This species has a moderately dangerous venom, which normally causes swelling lasting for one or two days.
The Malabar pitviper can be any shade of the forest, ranging from banana yellow to moss green to twiggy brown. This species has even become a favourite of social media, due to being one of the bluest snakes on Earth. Only a small percentage are blue, but those chosen few are a rich, true blue, rather than the slightly blue tinge that other snakes possess.
Even the green members of this species seem to be more vibrant than usual. There’s at least 15 colours, which appear totally at random. Unlike many snakes, Malabar pitvipers initially have duller colours, featuring mottled brown shades as newborns. It’s only in adulthood when they begin sprouting fabulous colours like a peacock.
Despite their varying colours, Malabar pitvipers are closely related by genetics. There are no barriers between morphs, as males and females of wildly different colours regularly get cosy with each other.
| 3 | Velvet swamp snake |
Maximum length: 85.3cm.
A snake of rainforests and mixed forest-grassland, which primarily inhabits Ecuador and Colombia. The velvet swamp snake averages at 60cm, and has similar patterns across most of its members, but varies wildly in colour. Green, red and turquoise blue are all possibilities with this mildly venomous snake, appearing completely at random.
Velvet swamp snakes (Erythrolamprus typhlus) are often spotted while resting on vegetation one metre above ground. As you tiptoe closer, subtle neon spots manifest, and white lines begin to appear between cracks in their scales. Their belly is usually a separate colour, but this has a large variety of its own, ranging from white to yellow to red.
The one morph which fits the velvety name best is the blue morph, one of the rare blue snakes to exist on Planet Earth. This morph looks like a new plush in the aisle of a toy warehouse, and its black eyes only add to the friendliness.
Velvet swamp snakes are non-venomous, and while they grow agitated as you first approach, they typically calm down within a few minutes, allowing you take photos (the jury’s out on whether they’re posing).
| 4 | Amazon tree boa |
Maximum length: 188cm.
The only boa on this list, and therefore one of the most variable boas on Earth in appearance. The Amazon tree boa (Corallus hortulanus) is a non-venomous constrictor with a reputation of being extremely vicious in captivity. In the wild, they pretty much have three colours: grey, dark orange and yellow. But nature takes those and throws them into a blender, opening up a kaleidoscope of possibilities.
Some individuals are fully orange or fully yellow, but others have zigzags, some have black hourglasses with hazy orange vapour clouds, while others would probably burn your hand if you dared to touch them. The Amazon tree boa above has no orange at all, just black contrasting sharply against yellow.
Grey is the most common colour, and is often dubbed the “garden” variety. One study journeyed to remote Amazonian streams. In Guirindó creek, 50% of Amazon tree boas examined were grey, 40% dark orange, and 10% yellow. In Camaleões and Baixão creeks, 60% were grey, followed by 35% dark orange and 5% yellow.
Captive breeding is another story still, as one popular manmade variety is the tiger, which has sharply contrasting orange and black markings. However, even this originated from a wild boa. The source was a fully black individual, which crawled out of a crate from South America in the 1990s, and was later bred with an orange (a snake, not the fruit).
| 5 | Western ground snake |
Maximum length: 48.3cm.
This harmless snake is found in the southwestern USA, including Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico, as well as northern Mexico. The ground snake (Sonora semiannulata) was once divided into five subspecies based on appearance, but it later transpired that there were no genetic differences at all; they just had a naturally huge variety in appearance.
A typical Western ground snake has alternating black and red bands, but some individuals are yellow and grey, while others are a uniform grey with no patterns. Black and white zebra colours are also common.
Even the bands vary in position, sometimes becoming broken or missing as the tail approaches. Other ground snakes have a dense black cap, while the red and grey bands can even rotate 90 degrees and become parallel vertical stripes. The ground snake then has morphs within morphs, as the red bands are sometimes a lighter orange.
Overall, four main ground snake morphs exist, which aren’t separated by region, but live side by side, in the same dry canyon or slice of desert. These morphs interbreed with each other, yet somehow never become diluted. Some morphs have a strong resemblance to coral snakes, giving them a survival advantage. The ground snake lacks a venom of its own, and mostly preys on spiders, centipedes and crickets.
| 6 | Western brown snake |
Maximum length: 1.5 metres.
Australia has 9 brown snakes of the Pseudonaja genus, with all being dangerously venomous, often lethal. The most commonly sighted in towns and cities are the eastern brown snake of Sydney and Brisbane, and the dugite of Perth (southwestern Australia). These species have barely any variation in appearance, with a consistent parched beige colour all over their bodies. Meanwhile, the most variable is easily the western brown snake, AKA Pseudonaja mengdeni.
This species is most common in Western Australia, South Australia and Northern Territory. It appears over much of the inhabited west coast, except for in suburban Perth, where dugites are much more common. Western brown snakes have killed victims in the past, and are commonly found in dry woodlands such as boree woodlands and sandhill woodlands.
In terms of appearance, this species can be parched beige with few patterns like its cousins, yet another portion are vivid orange, with a dense black head. Then you can pile on additional patterns, such as thick black bands, over either the orange or beige version. A few vivid orange individuals are missing the black head, while others can be bright yellow with black speckles.
Because of this huge variation, the western brown snake is one of the hardest members to identify. Fortunately, meeting any Pseudonaja member should be followed by the exact same strategy: run.
| 7 | Variable coral snake |
Maximum length: 98.2cm.
The clue is in the name with this snake. The Micrurus genus of coral snakes is vast, numbering at least 82 members across the Americas. The variable coral snake (Micrurus diastema) is only a moderately widespread member, ranging from southern Mexico to Honduras, but it easily has the highest number of colour morphs.
Variable coral snakes are particularly common in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsular, but identifying them is difficult. This species nearly always has red and black, yet the exact patterns vary immensely. One common morph features the typical red-yellow-black bands, similarly to an eastern coral snake of Florida. Another common morph is a fully red body, with only a black and yellow head. Some individuals have black and red bands but no yellow, while even the width and spacing of the bands varies massively.
There’s no particular rhyme or reason to these morphs either, no explanation of why they manifest in certain areas. Variable coral snakes are extremely lethal, with an abundance of alpha-neurotoxins. If you have any slight belief that you’re staring at one, back off quickly.
Confirmed prey of this species include the harmless red coffee snake (Ninia sebae) and blotched hooknose snake (Ficimia publia). One of their defensive tactics involves curling up their tail, in order to produce a larger-looking target, mimic the head, and therefore distract predators into attacking their tail instead.
| 8 | Asian vine snake |
Maximum length: 197cm.
If you’re a believer in ghosts, and a believer that animals can become ghosts as well as humans, haunting the jungles where they once lived, then look no further than the Asian vine snake (Ahaetulla prasina) for evidence.
This species is extremely common in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia alike. Ordinarily, the Asian vine snake is the king of the green snakes, looking like a swinging jungle vine that one day sprouted eyes. It’s renowned for its ultra-thin body, and weird black pupils shaped like sideways keyholes.
However, Asian vine snakes also have a variety of color morphs. These include yellow, ghostly white, and tree bark brown, which have long brought amazement to the explorers who stumble across them.
The patterns of this species also vary, as the typical green morph has very few, while yellow Asian vine snakes are often adorned with black checkers. A parched beige morph with black and white lines exists, as does a silvery white with strong blue tinges.
The one characteristic that remains constant with Ahaetulla prasina is its strangely shaped pupils, which are neither round nor vertical. Green members of this species also possess a green tongue, silver morphs a silver tongue, and so on.
| 9 | Spotted harlequin snake |
Maximum length: 65cm.
Perhaps southern Africa’s most variable snake, The spotted harlequin snake (Homoroselaps lacteus) is a shy species which mainly lives in fields and dry savannahs.
This snake mainly preys on reptiles, include legless skinks and fellow snakes. Its venom is moderately dangerous, causing minor necrotic lesions and damage to capillaries, but has never been confirmed to kill a human.
Spotted harlequin snakes are relatively recognisable, but only because South Africa lacks many bright, neon-coloured snakes. There’s little consistency to this snake’s patterns, except for a red stripe down its spine, and even this isn’t always present. Around the red spine, spotted harlequin snakes can be spotted with numerous white dots, or covered with alternating black and white bands. Others ditch the red completely in favour of pure yellow and black.
Whether this species is mimicking venomous snakes is unknown. There are no coral snakes in South Africa, and most native deadly venomous snakes tend to be duller (e.g. puff adders). But it’s possible that birds flying from overseas retain the instinctive fear of colourful snakes in their native lands, and react with great fright when they see a spotted harlequin snake, and its endless neon morphs.
| 10 | Variable reed snake |
Maximum length: 64.2cm.
The variable reed snake (Calamaria lumbricoidea) is a species of Indonesia and Malaysia, which poses no threat to human beings, without the ability even to cause mild swelling.
This species lives on thick forest floors, where they tend to rummage around beneath fallen leaves and rotting plant matter. You’d be very lucky to encounter the variable reed snake, yet even if you did meet one, you’d probably struggle to recognise them, as this species has an immense variety in colour.
Variable reed snakes vary little in size (30-50cm) and personality, yet their patterns range from thick white bands to hundreds of tiny pale speckles. The most common morph is black with a yellow underside, while another handful have a yellowish tint to their entire body. The one colour that never appears on this snake is green.
Variable reed snakes prey mainly on earthworms, and have minimally developed teeth. The furthest northwest they reach is extreme southern Thailand, while their easterly extreme lies on the Filipino island of Mindanao. Variable reed snakes are closely related to the pink-headed reed snake, and one of their morphs also has a pink head, adding to the confusion.
| 11 | Wagler’s pitviper |
Maximum length: 130cm.
In western Malaysia, there lies a Buddhist stronghold called Temple of the Azure Shrine, surrounded by thick forests. This temple is popular with tourists, yet is also crawling with Wagler’s pitvipers, which the local monks believe are rendered harmless by sacred smoke. This species is therefore known as the temple pitviper, and its other big claim to fame is having a huge variety in colour.
Rather than between individuals, the variety in Wagler’s pitviper is mainly between the sexes. The differences are stark, as males are a bright green colour, overlaid with vivid red and white stripes. Females are dark green to near black, overlaid with bright yellow crossbands.
As juveniles, the females are green similarly to males, but develop fantastical neon patterns as they grow, while the males barely change. The two genders are so distinct that they almost look like different species. There’s also variety within the sexes, as some males can be almost blue.
Zoom into their faces, and the differences grow even stronger. Male Wagler’s pitvipers have red stripes across their leafy green faces, while females have technological colours more typically found in a Formula 1 garage. Females are even twice as large as males, with one of the biggest size disparities of any viper.
| 12 | Blood python |
Maximum length: 260cm.
A crushingly thick species of swamp forests in Malaysia and Indonesia. The blood python (Python brongersmai) is one of the most popular snakes among reptile enthusiasts, partly because they’re easy to feed, but also because of their endless colours. While many morphs are down to enthusiastic captive breeders, there’s a large variety even in the wild, along the stifling swamp shores they call home.
The average blood python is a mixture of reddish-yellow and bright bloody red, which almost look like raw, scale-less patches. According to a 1998 study covering 2063 wild blood pythons, 65% were red, but 26% were brown, 5% yellow and 4% orange.
This polymorphism even spreads to their tongues, which are usually black, but often pink. There are differences within the red colour too, as the yellow between the blotches can sometimes be a steely metallic grey instead.
Individual blood pythons vary with age, as they can change their own colour, particularly the head, which randomly shifts from black to red to cyborg grey. Blood pythons are so variable that hatchlings within a single clutch can have different colours. Thousands of this species are exported to Europe annually for luxury fashion, and according to Indonesian traders, red individuals have the highest quality skins.