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Costa Rica snake trip
Posted on 2/8/26 at 10:37 pm
Posted on 2/8/26 at 10:37 pm
Took a last minute trip to the rainforests of Costa Rica with my Florida influencer buddies - what an experience! We found some incredible snakes, but everything there from the plants to the birds on down to the insects is absolutely amazing. I’ll do a separate post for the non-serpentine critters.
Eyelash vipers - didn’t realize there were so many color variations. We caught 9 and they all looked different.
Fer de lance, aka Terciopelo - got this one at midnight of our last night. Responsible for 90% of venomous bites and the majority of snakebite deaths in Costa Rica. A bite from an adult can kill you in 5-6 hours without antivenin.
Costa Rican ground snake
Lichen snail-eating snake
Cloudy snail-eating snake
Ringed snail-eating snake
Ornate cat-eyed snake
Spotted coffee snake
Red coffee snake
Common blunt-headed tree snake
Banded blunt-headed tree snake
No pic of the Costa Rican coral snake - we road cruised it but lost it in the roadside grass. I also missed out on the 2 best snakes of the trip. I called it a night after the midnight Fer de lance on our final night, but the other two guys cruised til after 4 am and got these…
Mussurana
Annulated tree boa
Eyelash vipers - didn’t realize there were so many color variations. We caught 9 and they all looked different.
Fer de lance, aka Terciopelo - got this one at midnight of our last night. Responsible for 90% of venomous bites and the majority of snakebite deaths in Costa Rica. A bite from an adult can kill you in 5-6 hours without antivenin.
Costa Rican ground snake
Lichen snail-eating snake
Cloudy snail-eating snake
Ringed snail-eating snake
Ornate cat-eyed snake
Spotted coffee snake
Red coffee snake
Common blunt-headed tree snake
Banded blunt-headed tree snake
No pic of the Costa Rican coral snake - we road cruised it but lost it in the roadside grass. I also missed out on the 2 best snakes of the trip. I called it a night after the midnight Fer de lance on our final night, but the other two guys cruised til after 4 am and got these…
Mussurana
Annulated tree boa
This post was edited on 2/8/26 at 10:41 pm
17
Posted on 2/8/26 at 11:07 pm to TigrrrDad
I wouldn’t want to do it, but those are some fascinating snakes. Odd that there aren’t the same snakes in North America as there are in central and South America. 
Posted on 2/8/26 at 11:19 pm to Spankum
So very different! I wasn’t even aware of all those snail-eaters and bluntheads - so strange looking. The trip was so last minute I didn’t even have time to learn what snakes were there - Costa Rica has around 139 snake species and 22 or 23 venomous snake species.
Posted on 2/9/26 at 5:37 am to TigrrrDad
The Fer-de-lance is a bad dude. I've read up on them and watched some youtube videos on those. They are scary.
Posted on 2/9/26 at 7:04 am to TigrrrDad
No Bushmaster? No care 
Posted on 2/9/26 at 7:21 am to TigrrrDad
Did you do the Fer-de-lance dance?
Posted on 2/9/26 at 7:40 am to Da Sheik
We weren’t in range for Bushmasters, but if we go back we’re taking a shot at them.
Posted on 2/9/26 at 9:19 am to TigrrrDad
quote:Have you ever been tested for low resting adrenaline levels?
Responsible for 90% of venomous bites and the majority of snakebite deaths in Costa Rica. A bite from an adult can kill you in 5-6 hours without antivenin.
Posted on 2/9/26 at 9:36 am to TigrrrDad
Wow. What a post. Thanks for the share!
The Blunted snake looks like the model they used for the long snake Beetlejuice form.
The Blunted snake looks like the model they used for the long snake Beetlejuice form.
Posted on 2/9/26 at 9:37 am to TigrrrDad
this is so awesome
Posted on 2/9/26 at 11:57 am to TigrrrDad
Did you purchase intl life flight coverage prior to this trip? What are the odds of getting anti venom out in bum fukd Costa Rica before you expire?
Posted on 2/9/26 at 12:19 pm to TigrrrDad
That's a whole bunch of nope ropes.
Posted on 2/9/26 at 1:08 pm to TigrrrDad
Posted on 2/9/26 at 3:04 pm to TigrrrDad
Did y'all handle the fer de lance?
Posted on 2/9/26 at 3:35 pm to HoboDickCheese
Was gonna post this exact gif
Posted on 2/9/26 at 4:06 pm to TigrrrDad
My gf and I are trying to do a Costa Rica trip this year. Got any pointers as far as finding those cool arse snakes?
Posted on 2/9/26 at 4:27 pm to KemoSabe65
quote:
Did you purchase intl life flight coverage prior to this trip?
No, but I brought band-aids.
Posted on 2/9/26 at 4:28 pm to ecb
quote:
Did y'all handle the fer de lance?
Yes. The two handling pics above are an eyelash viper and the fer de lance.
…but I kept the fer de lance at a safe distance. He was a pissy little guy.
This post was edited on 2/9/26 at 4:35 pm
Posted on 2/9/26 at 4:43 pm to Funky Tide 8
Anywhere there is rainforest there will be the type of snakes we found, and there eyelash vipers, snail-eaters, and tree snakes will almost always be in the trees. Look for a hotel that has trails on grounds in the rainforest areas. Aside from super colorful stuff like the golden eyelash, the snakes can be very hard to spot. Once dark hits do a lot of walking and shine the trees with a very good light (I use a Fenix HM71R and carry several spare batteries. The snakes especially like trees with bromeliads - the snakes and their food love to hide in the bromeliads. As long as temps are around 70+, you can road cruise snakes on any road through decent habitat as long as there isn’t much night traffic.
The bromeliads are the long leafed plants that grow on the trees - not a part of the tree but a separate plant that takes root on the tree. Those 2 shots show the golden eyelash viper and the Christmas phase eyelash viper as they were spotted.
The bromeliads are the long leafed plants that grow on the trees - not a part of the tree but a separate plant that takes root on the tree. Those 2 shots show the golden eyelash viper and the Christmas phase eyelash viper as they were spotted.
This post was edited on 2/9/26 at 4:51 pm
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