Meet the Animals
Arcadia
Island pit viper · Trimeresurus insularis
Very feisty and very vibrant. Arcadia is a female blue-teal island pit viper, about 3.5 feet long, and one of the most striking snakes you will ever see.
Length
About 3.5 ft
Sex
Female
Age
Unknown
Diet
Large mice, small baby rabbits, sometimes chicks
Temperament
Feisty & vibrant
Native range
E. Java & Lesser Sunda Islands
Tree dweller
The patient ambusher
This species lives in trees and sits still, waiting to ambush passing prey. Like all pit vipers, it has heat-sensing pits between its eyes and nostrils that let it “see” warm-blooded prey in the dark.
That color
Komodo blue
Snakes from Komodo Island are famous for their stunning blue-teal color. On other islands the species is usually green, and every form has a red tail.
Field notes
About island pit vipers
- Arcadia is a Trimeresurus insularis, the island pit viper of eastern Java and Indonesia's Lesser Sunda Islands.
- Snakes from Komodo Island are famous for their blue-teal color; elsewhere the species is usually green, and every form has a red tail.
- It lives in trees and sits still, waiting to ambush passing prey.
- Like all pit vipers, it has heat-sensing pits between its eyes and nostrils.
- Its venom is medically significant and mainly damages tissue.
Cared for by
Braxton “Gilly” Gilbert
Arcadia is cared for daily by Gilly at Jefe and Friends (Gilly's Exotics LLC). Questions? Email gillysexotics@gmail.com.