West African carpet viper
The West African carpet viper is a small, highly venomous snake that lives in the savanna of West Africa. Its bite is one of the most dangerous of any snake in Africa. It is known for its row of eye-spots and its aggressive, alarm-like behaviour when threatened.1

Co renconuscher el
- It has bulging eyes and a short snout, typical of vipers in the genus Echis.1
- A distinctive series of eye-spots, called ocelli, runs the length of its body.1
- It is terrestrial, so it lives on the ground rather than in trees.1
- It is mostly active at night and at dusk (nocturnal and crepuscular).1
Savens confundì cun: Older records from Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea refer to Echis jogeri, and those from eastern Nigeria, Cameroon and southern Chad refer to Echis romani. These are now recognised as separate species. Echis leucogaster is more common north of the 15th parallel, where this snake is rarely found.1
Forza dal tissi
Il tissi vegn or tras ses dents da tissi u ses dents, cura ch'el morda.
Tge fa ses tissi?
Its venom is a mix of procoagulants, anticoagulants, haemorrhagins, nephrotoxins and necrotoxins. Procoagulants make blood clot, while anticoagulants stop it clotting, so bleeding can occur. Nephrotoxins damage the kidneys, and necrotoxins kill tissue around the bite. Local symptoms include pain, swelling, bleeding, tissue death (necrosis) and disfigurement, which may lead to amputation. Whole-body symptoms include coagulopathy (blood clotting problems), haemorrhages, shock, kidney failure and blindness.1
Quant privlus è el per umans?
Privel per umans: MortalIn dals animals ils pli privlus dal mund.The West African carpet viper causes more human deaths from snakebite than all other African snakes combined. The envenoming rate is 80%, and the lethality rate is 10–20%.1
Bunas novitads: ils medis han in medicament (antiserum) u in tractament per quai.1
Tge fa el, cura ch'el ha tema?
When threatened, it forms its body into an S shape and rubs its scales together to make an alert sound.1
Sch'el morda
- Tegna la persuna immobila e quieta, tegna il member mors a l'autezza dal cor, prenda giu anels e chaussas strenschidas e va spert en in ospital.
Clama adina l'emprim tes numer d'urgenza (112, 000, 911). Quai è in cussegl general d'emprim agid, betg in cussegl medicinal. Basa da l'emprim agid
Resta en segirezza
- Na tutga, na piglia e na tizza mai in animal selvadi, gnanc in pitschen, ed era sch'el para da durmir u d'esser mort.
- Dà spazi a l'animal. Sche ti scuntras in, resta calm, va plaun enavos e lascha ir el per sia via.
- Sch'in tal animal ta morda: resta calm, na ta mova betg, clama tes numer d'urgenza (112, 000, 911) u va spert en in ospital. Ta regorda co ch'el veseva or, ina foto gida.
El n'ha betg quai sin tai. El dovra ses tissi per pigliar nutriment u per sa defender, e sa zuppa bler pli gugent. Dapli davart la segirezza
Quant grond è el?
Quant lung è el?
uschè lung sco 4 bananas ina suenter l'autra
pudess currer 100 meters en 110 secundas (l'uman il pli svelt dovra 9,6)Quant grond è West African carpet viper cumpareglià cun TAI?
Mo matematica en tes navigatur. Nagut na vegn memorisà u tramess.
Quant svelt è el?
Fatgs
It makes an alert sound by rubbing its scales together while in an S-shaped posture.1
Hatchlings are already 10–12 cm long, which is a sizeable fraction of an adult's average length.1
Its scientific name, ocellatus, comes from the row of eye-spots, called ocelli, that runs along its body.1
Some individual snakes have been found far from its main range, including in the Central African Republic and central Sudan.1
Da nua che vegnan ils fatgs
- Echis ocellatus (Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0))
- Echis ocellatus (iNaturalist): nums e classificaziun.
- Venom Wiki: il stgalim da privel, la grondezza tipica e la stima da la sveltezza èn noss agens. Guarda co che nus als calculain: Co che nus valitain il privel.
Mintga fatg sin questa pagina ha in numer che renvia a sia funtauna. Sche nus avain fatg in sbagl, perstgisa, nus essan fans d'animals, betg ina revista scientifica. Scriva a nus a [email protected] e nus curregin.
Morsas

