The 9 Most Unusual Snakes Around The World (+2 Famous Weirdos!)

You often hear people say they hate snakes.

But you can’t really lump all snakes together any more than you can lump all humans together.

There are thousands of different snake species and they vary a lot.

Some of them are quite bizarre.

You’ll find the 9 most unusual and unique snakes from around the world below.

In addition to two specific snakes that have actually become famous for their unique characteristics.

Keep reading to learn all about these incredible and fascinating snakes.

 

Most Unusual Snakes Around The World

We’ll begin with the 9 most unique snake species, before introducing you to the two famous snakes and the reasons for their fame.

 

Madagascar (Malagasy) Leaf-Nosed Snake

Madagascar leaf-nosed snakes are rare and mostly found in the dry forests of Ankarafanstika and Tsingy De Bemaraha in Madagascar.

Male leaf-noses have a spear-like projection on their noses, while females have a club-like projection. These projections make them look just like leaves.

Their unique shape and coloring allow them to easily blend in with their surroundings. Using these special traits, leaf-nosed snakes easily ambush reptiles, tree frogs, and birds. They are mostly diurnal and arboreal snakes. Their bite is painful but not dangerous to humans.

Baby Malagasy leaf-nosed snakes are also known to display a strange behavior. They hang straight down from branches! No one knows exactly why they do so, but they probably wish to appear like seed pods!

 

Rhinoceros Viper (Bitis Nasicornis)

This is another snake with an interesting facial feature! Can you guess why the Rhinoceros Viper is called so?

We all know that rhinoceroses are huge animals with horns sticking up on their noses. The same is the case with the rhinoceros viper: it has ‘horns’ sticking up on its snout.

These pretty snakes are found in Africa and they are venomous. They usually grow up to 4 feet and have beautiful patterns in blue, black, red, orange, and other colors on their bodies.

Rhino vipers are also puff adders, which means they can puff up their bodies to appear larger to ward off their enemies. Now, isn’t that unique and interesting?

 

Hairy Bush Viper (Atheris Hispida)

Hairy Bush vipers are beautiful but deadly snakes with unique scalation and remarkable coloring. They reach an average of 27 to 30 inches at maturity and are slender in their overall build.

Bush vipers are mainly found in rainforests, swamps, and woodlands in Central Africa. Their unique scalation appears like hair, hence the name. Hairy bush vipers are deadly venomous with no known antivenom.

 

Elephant’s Trunk Snake (Acrochordus Javanicus)

The elephant’s trunk snake is easily one of the most unusual species of snakes in the world. It is found in various parts of Southeast Asia and northern Australia but is most common in Malaya.

The elephant’s trunk snake is aquatic and nocturnal, and you might find them in streams, pools, and on beaches by the sea. They have a flabby, loose appearance, much like the wrinkled trunk of an elephant. Hence the name.

They are slow and sluggish snakes. In the water, they may be capable swimmers, but they are practically helpless on land and move like large worms. Elephant’s trunk snakes are known to slash sideways and give a nasty bite when provoked.

Check out the video above. You will be amazed at how this snake uses its tail to catch fish!

 

Spider-Tailed Horned Viper (Pseudocerastes urarachnoides)

Spider-tailed horned vipers are stout snakes with bulbous, spider-like tail appendages. They are mainly found in the mountainous regions of Iran and Iraq.

Spider-tailed horned vipers grow up to 50-84 cm long. They are reddish-brown or grey, and their coloring helps them blend in with the regional rocks.

They lie still against their rocky surroundings and move their spider-like tails rapidly. This tricks birds into thinking they are about to get a juicy treat!

Watch the video above to see how the spider-tailed horned viper traps an unsuspecting bird. Unique and interesting indeed!

 

Flying Snake (Chrysopelea)

At first glance, the flying snake may appear like any other snake. It is green in color, has beautiful patterns, and looks like any other tree snake.

However, it also possesses some unique traits that enable it to glide from tree to tree, making it rare and remarkable in the reptile realm.

Flying snakes can glide from tree to tree to hunt prey or escape predators. Some people think they are even better at gliding than flying squirrels, and this is despite them not having wings, or limbs of any kind, for that matter!

Flying snakes are venomous but their venom cannot kill anything bigger than a small lizard. They are arboreal (tree-dwelling) snakes and the higher they climb up a tree, the farther they can glide. Watch the video above for a first-hand look at this unbelievable snake behavior.

 

Asian Vine Snake (Ahaetulla prasina)

The Asian Vine Snake is known by different names, such as Boie’s Whip Snake or Gunter’s Whip Snake. It resembles a vine and spends most of its life mimicking one. It even sways in the wind to further its mimicry.

Even its tongue-flicking is a lot more subdued and slow than other snakes. This helps the snake lie still like a vine and strike when prey approaches.

These finger-thin snakes are neon-green, teal, or brown-colored. Despite their thin size, they are capable of reaching lengths of 2 to 6 feet. They sometimes have a single yellow stripe running down the length of their bodies.

Asian vine snakes are found in Asian countries like India, Burma, Malaysia, China, and Indonesia. They mainly feed on small reptiles and tree frogs.

 

Tentacled Snake

The tentacled snake is an aquatic snake native to Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. They are small snakes that reach a length of about 3 feet at maturity.

Tentacled snakes have a unique appearance in the realm of reptiles. They possess a pair of tentacles on their heads. These tentacles serve a special purpose. They work as mechanosensory devices that help the snake hunt for fish.

The twin tentacles help subdue prey and are crucial for the reptile’s survival. The tentacled snake is the only species of snake known to possess such tentacles and that makes it one of the most unusual snakes in snakedom.

The species also possesses a series of small venomous fangs but they are not dangerous to humans. The fangs only produce venom specific to the type of fish that the snake consumes daily.

 

Barbados Threadsnake (Leptotyphlops Carlae)

Barbados is home to several snake species but one stands out among them all: the threadsnake. The threadsnake is unique because of its size. It is as thin as a piece of spaghetti and the average adult only measures about 4 inches long.

The Barbados threadsnake was first discovered in 2008. It is now endangered because of the rapid development in the region. Almost no forest cover remains because of human settlements and the rapidly growing sugarcane industry.

Because of their small size, a Barbados threadsnake’s diet is rather limited. It can only eat larvae and small ants. These snakes spend most of their time burrowed in the sand to retain moisture and maintain their body temperature. They only lay one egg at a time and their hatchlings measure about 2 inches.

 

Ronaldo – The Brazilian Rainbow Boa

We have to include Ronaldo, a 13-year-old Brazilian Rainbow Boa, in this list of unusual snakes around the world. What is unique about Ronaldo is that “he” gave birth to 14 baby snakelets, despite being a male.

What is even more surprising is that Ronaldo hadn’t been in contact with any other snakes for almost 9 years!

While this form of asexual reproduction is normal in snakes, it is certainly not common in male snakes.

It could be that Ronaldo’s caretakers at the City of Portsmouth College might have made a mistake in identifying him (or, should we say, her) in the first place. Needless to say, the students and faculty of the British college were left quite shocked!

 

Two-Headed Western Rat Snake

A two-headed Western Rat Snake is turning heads in a Texas zoo! Two-headed snakes are rare, but not entirely uncommon.

They are believed to be the result of a mutation during the cell-splitting process where the embryos end up conjoined instead of being born separately. This is known as bicephaly (bi meaning two and cephaly meaning heads) and only about one in 100,000 snake births results in such two-headed snakes.

While we are on the topic of two-headed snakes, you should also check out Ben and Jerry, a two-headed California Kingsnake.

 

The World’s Most Unusual Snakes: Final Thoughts

What did you think? Do you agree that these snakes are all incredibly unique and fascinating? Which one was your favorite?

Do you know of any other unusual snakes that deserve a spot on this list? If so, definitely let me know in a comment below. I would love to add some more snakes to this list!