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Wildcliff Nature Reserve Dedicated to plant and wildlife conservation in South Africa's Cape Floral Kingdom Common or Rhombic Night Adder (Causus rhombeatus)  Description. Short, muscular body
and rounded head. Varying shades of brown in color with 20-30 dark,
pale-edged blotches extending down the back and with a forward pointing
‘V’ at the back of the head. Differentiated from the Snouted night
adder by lack of upturned scale at the tip of the snout. Size. May attain a total length of 90 cm. Habitat. Varying habitats but shows a preference for higher rainfall and moister sites. Cape coast to Zimbabwe. Behavior. Generally crepuscular or nocturnal. Night adders are inoffensive by nature; however they will hiss loudly and if highly irritated they will coil up the body, inflate it with air, and strike out in all directions. Diet and venom. They feed mainly on frogs and toads by biting them with poisonous fangs (about 4-6mm long) and holding firmly until they are dead. After the prey is dead, they perform the typical head orientation of the prey and swallow it. The venom is not as toxic to humans as it is to frogs, and is very seldom fatal. These snakes have large poison glands that stretch far back on either side of their neck. In large individuals the glands may be up to 50 mm long. The poison produced is not proportionally more than that of the other adders.  Reproduction. Common night adders
can lay up to 25 eggs, and sometimes lay two clutches a year. Females
can retain viable sperm in their oviducts so that they do not need to
mate more than once per season. On Wildcliff. Common. Seen at the Heron House and in Oak Meadow. Description by Kelly Sloan Other venomous snakes found at Wildcliff include: Puff Adder, Bitis arietans Boomslang, Dispholidus typus Cape Cobra, Naja nivea Rinkhals, Hemachatus haemachatus |