Namaqua puff adder
Bitis schneideri (Boettger, 1886)
Status not recordedsnakes
The namaqua puff adder (Bitis schneideri) is a species in the family Viperidae, order Squamata.
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Quick facts about the namaqua puff adder
- Weight
- up to 12.8 g
- Length
- up to 28 cm
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 6.5 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- desert, shrubland
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5
- Age at maturity
- 2 years
- Reproduction
- Live birth
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrial
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the namaqua puff adder live?
Not recorded
Is the namaqua puff adder endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the namaqua puff adder classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyViperidae
- genusBitis
- SpeciesBitis schneideri (Boettger, 1886)
Synonyms Bitis caudalis paucisquamatus, Bitis paucisquamata, Vipera schneideri
Other names and names in other languages (13)
- Namaqua dwarf adderEnglish
- Namakwa DwergadderAfrikaans
- zmije SchneiderovaCzech
- Namaqua-dværghugormDanish
- Namaqua-ZwergpuffotterGerman
- törpe puffogóviperaHungarian
- Vipera di NamaquaItalian
- ドワーフアダーJapanese
- NamaquaviperNorwegian Bokmål
- Африканская гадюка ШнайдераRussian
- 納米比亞侏膨蝰Chinese
- Schneiders ZwergpuffotterGerman
- Vipera di SchneiderItalian
Relatives of the namaqua puff adder
Other species in the same genus Bitis.

Gaboon viper
Bitis gabonica

Puff adder
Bitis arietans
Rhinoceros viper
Bitis nasicornis
Dwarf puff adder
Bitis peringueyi
Horned adder
Bitis caudalis
Berg adder
Bitis atropos
CompareNamaqua puff adder vs Gaboon viperNamaqua puff adder vs Puff adderNamaqua puff adder vs Rhinoceros viperNamaqua puff adder vs Dwarf puff adder
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
What kind of animal is the namaqua puff adder?
The namaqua puff adder (Bitis schneideri) belongs to the family Viperidae in the order Squamata.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits (raw datasets) · CC BY 4.0 · 2024-12-17
Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Namaqua puff adder (Bitis schneideri). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/namaqua-puff-adder
“Namaqua puff adder (Bitis schneideri).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/namaqua-puff-adder.
@misc{namaqua_puff_adder_2026,
title = {Namaqua puff adder (Bitis schneideri)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/namaqua-puff-adder},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}