Wagler’s Pit Vipers live in the rainforests of Southeast Asia. They find their food—mainly small mammals and birds—using heat sensitive pits located between their eyes and nostrils. The receptors in these pits are associated with the visual processing center of the brain which allows them to literally see heat emitted from their prey.

Visitors rarely get an opportunity to see our snakes feed. So here is your chance. Click below to see our Wagler’s Pit Viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri) eating her weekly meal. Don’t worry, it wasn’t alive when we gave it to her. We feed previously frozen mice that are thawed and warmed just before feeding.