Two striped forest pit viper – the Amazon is home to venomous snakes
26 October 2026 (109 visits)In movies, TV shows and books, the Amazon is depicted as a hostile environment filled with deadly venomous snakes lying in wait to attack humans. In fact, in the Amazon rainforest, snakes are not aggressive, and will usually only bite a human when disturbed, cornered or fearful. Across the Amazon, cases of humans being bitten by snakes are rare.
The Amazon jungle of South America, where we offer our jungle trips here in Tambopata, harbors at least seventeen species of venomous snakes, including seven species of pit viper and ten species of coral snake.
Fascinatingly, pit vipers employ a thermo-receptor located in the facial pits that give them their name to produce infrared thermal images, with which they identify their prey. According to biologists, a pit viper’s thermal imaging system is so sensitive it can detect the temperature variation caused by a small rodent 15 centimeters (6 inches) away from the snake’s face.
The pit vipers of the Amazon include the two striped forest pit viper (Bothrops bilineatus). Here in Peru, it is commonly known as the loro machaco.
The two striped pit viper, also known as a parrot snake, is a nocturnal species. It is arboreal, spending almost all its life in trees and vegetation, above the forest floor, and tends to use ambush as its principal feeding strategy.
Its skin is pale green and speckled with small dark spots. It has a slender body, and can grow to a length of around one meter (three feet). During the day, it remains hidden in thick vegetation, often near water sources, anchoring itself in place with its prehensile tail. Feeding only at night, the two striped pit viper lies in wait for its prey, rather than actively hunting, and it feeds mostly on small mammals, birds, lizards and frogs.
