Ahaetulla nasuta
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
Ahaetulla nasuta, also known as Sri Lankan green vine snake, long-nosed whip snake, and long-nosed tree snake, is a venomous, slender green tree snake endemic to Sri Lanka. It was previously known as the common green vine snake and was widely distributed across India and South East Asia, until a 2020 study split them into several different species, restricting Ahaetulla nasuta just to the Sri Lankan population.
The genus name Ahaetulla comes from the Sri Lankan Sinhalese words ahaetulla/ahata gulla/as gulla, meaning "eye plucker" or "eye picker", because of the belief that they pluck out the eyes of humans, as first reported by the Portuguese traveler João Ribeiro in 1685. The species name nasuta is Latin for "of the nose", in reference to its elongated snout.
The Sinhala name "Aheatulla" or "eye-plucker" forms the taxonic genus name. In Tamil, it is known as pachai paambu. In Kannada, it is known as Hasiru Haavu. Sinhala: ඇහැටුල්ලා (Pronounced: Aheatulla) Tamil: பச்சை பாம்பு Kannada: ಹಸಿರು ಹಾವು
Marathi: हरणटोळ (Pronounced: Harantol) West Bengal: লাউডগা (Pronounced: Laudoga) In Western internet culture, the vine snake has occasionally been humorously... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 2 | Wilpattu National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 4 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Terra Natura Benidorm | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Snake Farm of Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
Very likely
About 80% of wildlife watchers report a Green Vine Snake sighting in Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 149 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 4th most-seen of the 32 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February, April, June and August–September
In those months about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Green Vine Snake in Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, against about 60% in October, the lowest month.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Green Vine Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Green Vine Snake sightings, Sinharaja Forest Reserve has the highest daily chance: about 80%. Next come Wilpattu National Park (Sri Lanka, about 20%) and Minneriya National Park (Sri Lanka, about 20%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Colubridae
The closest relatives of the Green Vine Snake that you can see in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (family Colubridae, Colubrid Snakes) are Boulenger's Keelback (about 50%), Stripe-Tailed Bronzeback (about 40%) and Ceylon Wolf Snake (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Green Vine Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (149 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
