How to differentiate between Russell's Viper and Rock Python

Day by day Russell”s Viper(Daboia russelli) is becoming the most medically important snake for Eastern India. So it is very essential to identify this snake properly and do not confuse it with other similar snake like Indian Rock Python(Python molurus), which is a non-venomous snake.

To understand why it is becoming so important, we need to understand how we fight snakebite in our country. The only treatment is Polyvalent Antivenom Serum (ASV), which is administered to the victim in case of venomous snakebite. This ASV is made from the venom of Cobra(Naja naja), Russell’s viper, Common Krait(Bungarus caeruleus) and Saw scaled viper(Echis carinatus). Most of the ASV production centers are situated in South India and all the snakes they use for ASV venom collection are collected from South India. Now-a-days this ASV is proving to be less effective in combating Russell’s Viper bite in Eastern India. The geographical variation has changed the chemical composition of Russell’s Viper’s venom from South India to North India. The studies of snakebite and its treatment clearly indicates this. In Eastern India it is becoming harder and harder to treat a Russell’s Viper bite victim. So doctors and experts are requesting to setup a venom collection center in Eastern India so we can eliminate geographical variation but till now Govt has not reacted positively.

Anyway, the best way is not to get bitten in the first place. For that you need to identify it properly. People often confuse Russell’s viper with Rock python as both have stocky muscular body and generally brown coloration with dark spots. But following these simple points you can be sure which one is which. But venomous or non-venomous, you should not try to handle any of these snakes. It is always better to give them their space and let them escape. Or call the local forest dept.

Russell’s viper generally grows to about 1m in length, whereas the Rock python in average grows to about 3m in length. So if you guess the length to be around 2m or more, you can be sure it to be a Rock python. But do not totally depend on this as snakes when coiled can look much longer or shorter than they actually are.

From a distance we can see the body pattern. Russell’s Viper has well defined round or oval shaped patterns along its back which are a bit pointed at two ends. They also have half or full oval blotches along their side. Now depending on the location of the specimen, these blotches can be dark edged with light center (North India) or solid dark (South India). The patterns on Rock python are asymmetrical and in general quadrate in shape. They are mostly solid dark sometimes with light center.

Inspection of the head and neck revels many more differences. In Russell’s viper the head is triangular in shape. The head of Rock python is elongated. Typical of all the vipers, Russell’s viper’s neck is also very distinct from its body where as Rock python’s neck is not so distinct. Russell’s viper’s head is covered with many small keeled scales. Rock python’s head is covered with few big smooth scales. Python also has 3 slits on its upper lips frontal side on both side which are its temperature sensory organ. This feature is not so easily visible. Russell’s viper does not have this. Both the snake have vertical pupil.

One other small snake is often mistaken for being Russell’s viper which is the Common Sand Boa(Gongylophis conicus). This snake is also called Russell’s boa. Sand boa has many physical similarities with Russell’s viper except its name. They both have a thick stout body. They both have a overall brown coloration with dark blotches. Both Russell’s viper and Russell’s boa have their head covered with many small keeled scales. Both these snakes have vertical pupil. But they have their differences too. Sand boa’s body tapers to both end very rapidly so its tail is almost conical in shape. Sand boa’s neck is so thick that it merges with body. Also the blotches on Sand Boa’s body is very asymmetrical and does not conform to any shape. Sand boa generally grows to about 0.5m-0.6m in length and rarely grows to about 1m.

One distinct feature which separate Russell’s viper from Sand Boa, Rock python or any other snake is its loud Hiss. It is so loud that almost compares to the sound of a ‘Pressure Cooker’. Once heard you will never forget it.


To learn more about them, follow these links.

Indian Rock Python

Common Sand Boa

Russell's Viper


To learn about the difference between Common Krait and Common Wolf Snake.

To learn about the difference between Indian Rat Snake and Cobra.


**images have been mostly collected from internet for the sole purpose of awareness and education. copyright of every image stays with their rightful owner. **

Super cobra in the making...

A few days back I went to a friend’s house but she was not home. So I was chatting with her mother. As the topic of snakes came along, she told me a very fascinating story.
2-3 years back, one morning one snake was spotted in their locality. There was a medium sized water tank with water and the snake was in it. When they identified it as cobra, they called a snake charmer. Even he could not catch the snake because of the water, so people decided to kill it. After beating the snake severely with sticks and rods, they put the snake on ground. And suddenly the cobra regurgitated another snake. And guess what, that was a cobra too. The first cobra was approx 4.5ft long and second one from 3-3.5ft.


Now this was interesting for me because I have not heard of cobras feeding on cobras or any other snake previously. So I started to look for material on this subject. King cobras and Kraits are known to feed on snakes but could not find anything related to cobras. Then suddenly I stumbled upon a image in an online group, Indian Snakes. It not only proved the previous story, the comments gave a whole array of information.


The photo was originally posted by Mr Rajeevan Shri in another group DiversityIndia. And this was the supporting text “While travelling through country side around Quilon found this. People beaten the cobra very badly it was dying when the pic was taken' cobra was about 5feet long &viper about 3.5feet long. Taken 1998 Dec.” Now when I went through the comments I saw that one person says that he has seen a cobra feeding on a daboia before and this is the second time he is seeing this. Another person says that he saw a cobra vomit a daboia before while his friend was rescuing the cobra. And one person added even more interesting fact. He has seen cobra feeding on rat snake and even a rat snake feeding on trinket snake.

These could be some very unusual individual incidents or these could be showing a trend. The snakes, especially the cobra may have started to change their feeding behaviour. An easy conclusion could be drawn that the scarcity of prey species have forced them to target different species but their main prey, the rats have flourished with the human very well and are not scarce. May be inter species competition is forcing the cobras to be superior than the daboia and feed on that species. Well, these are just my imagination and the real reason could only be found by scientifically investigating the whole matter.

Russells Viper Rescued

Extraordinary feats can be achieved in two ways, either you’re real brave or real dumb. And I have witnessed something like that..

Previous Sunday, a friend told me,” hey! Didn’t you hear? Somebody had caught a juvenile rock python in a medical store.” And that happens to be near the place where I generally hang out with friends. So I rushed to the place to check out the buzz. But what I saw was unbelievable. A little Russells Viper was hissing inside a plastic jar!!!

The jar was ventilated at the top portion by some small holes. So I figured out that they somehow captured it, put it inside the jar and made the holes for air circulation. That was a relief seeing people becoming aware about conservation. Because what I have witnessed till now is that people kill snake at the first opportunity. But what was more amusing was the expression on the face of the man when I told him that it was no Rock Python, rather it’s a extremely venomous Russells Viper. He was stunned. He said in disbelief, “how the hell did I capture it??”

It was a very beautiful, lively and healthy snake. I was too willing to have it for relocation. ‘cause that way I will be able to take some snaps of it at the time of releasing. But they said they had already called the Forest Dept. and the dept instructed them to hold the snake for the day as it was Sunday. They will come on Monday and take custody of the snake. The people from the medical store were okey with it. So I decided not to interfere with the workings of Forest Dept. but at the time of leaving I told them that if they for any reason don’t want to keep the snake anymore, I will be more than happy to help them deliver the snake to the Forest dept as I have contacts in there.

After that day, I completely forgot about the incident. On Friday evening, one of my friends who were related with the medical store asked me to take the snake. I was surprised ,” haven’t the officials taken the snake?” He said that not even a single phone call from them in the whole week. So in the next morning I bought the snake home and the next day released it in a suitable place.


Now what was most unnerving about the whole thing was the role of the Forest Dept. They are supposed to be there for the protection of wildlife and increasing awareness among people and here a snake is confined inside a small jar for a long week without food and water and fellow people are living uneasily around it. From this experience, the man who bothered to capture the snake alive and call the Forest Dept. would ever do the same again?? ‘cause now he knows the Dept. wouldn’t come and it will only increase his trouble. Instead of he will just kill and get rid of the snake. No law can protect wildlife if the people who are affected are made aware. Only because these kind of people who take extra pain-in-their-ass to save a life(wild) are there, the whole wildlife is not extinct altogether yet. So, three cheers for the one who saved a snake.

Natural history

Russells Viper is one of the most common snakes of India. Yet it is extra-ordinary in many ways. Russells Viper has got the largest fangs of all India vipers. The average size is about 16mm. Moreover it has two fangs on each side. The venom is haemotoxic i.e. it destroys blood and blood vessels. The common symptoms of biting are burning sensation and swelling at the bite site, extensive internal haemorrhage, pain, vomiting, bleeding from body orifices. Pressure drops significantly and pulse becomes weak. Though it is one of the four snakes responsible for most snake bite deaths in India, Russells Viper does not strike readily. It is generally sluggish and being heavily bodied viper, it is not reluctant to leave. So it inflates its body and hisses and when I say hisses, I mean hisses like a ‘pressure cooker’. It is so loud that if someone heard it he will never forget. Then the viper coils its body in a ‘S’ curve and sways its head side by side. And at last if all this warning and threat display falls in deaf ears, it strikes. And it strikes like a spring, faster than expected from a heavily bodied viper like this. It is usually nocturnal i.e. it hunts at night. So chances of bite are less. People often get bitten when they step on it at night. In daytime thorny bushes are its favorite resting place, so be careful. Although Russells Viper is venomous, it is not actually bad to protect them. The primary preys of it are rodents. Considering the damage rodents do to our crop production, it is actually doing a social work.

And a last word. May be Russells Viper is extremely venomous but timely and proper medical care can cure the victim properly. The death toll is high only because most of the people don’t seek proper medical attention in time from the lack of awareness.