Dinnik's viper
Vipera dinniki
A venomous highland viper of the Greater Caucasus — a resident of subalpine meadows and the upper forest belt.
Overview
What is Dinnik's viper
Dinnik's viper (Vipera dinniki) is a venomous snake of the Greater Caucasus highlands. It is confirmed in Georgia; it does not occur throughout the country. The 2026 checklist treats it as a candidate in the kaznakovi complex — the species boundary with the Caucasus viper is not yet fully tested. The nominotypical form lives above the timberline; the checklist links subspecies V. d. tuniyevi to forest and mountain habitat in central Georgia. Adults are usually about 40–55 cm. In this atlas the risk is moderate. It is Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and on Georgia’s 2014 Red List.
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Identification
How to identify Dinnik's viper
A small highland viper with a vertical pupil, keeled scales and often a zigzag or straight dorsal stripe. Use elevation and habitat — it is confused with the Caucasus viper and the smooth snake.
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The body is relatively slim, not heavy. Adults are usually about 40–55 cm; females are larger than males, and males have a longer tail. The head is triangular but narrower than in the Caucasus viper, and less clearly set off from the neck.
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The pupil is a vertical slit. Dorsal scales are keeled — each has a raised ridge. Ground colour is grey, silver-grey, brown or green-grey; some individuals have yellow or orange tones. The back has a dark zigzag, sometimes a straight stripe. The belly is dark with pale spots or pale with dark speckles. Black (melanistic) individuals are common in western populations; in Georgia this colour form is documented near Stepantsminda.
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Newborns are grey-brown — not red, as in the Caucasus viper. Melanistic individuals are born with a normal pattern and become fully black by about the third year.
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The Caucasus viper lives in lower, humid Colchic forest (mainly 0–1,000 m), with a broader head and a red-orange ground colour. Its black individuals keep red or yellow tones around the mouth. Darevsky’s viper is on the Lesser Caucasus — Javakheti–Erusheti, usually above 2,300 m. The Levantine viper is large and lives on dry eastern lowlands.
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In the same highlands the smooth snake (Coronella austriaca) has a round pupil and smooth scales — it is not venomous. The Transcaucasian long-nosed viper has a nose horn and is tied to the Lesser Caucasus. It is venomous (moderate risk); a bite needs medical care.
Quiz
Next: which snake is it?
Dinnik's viper is in the Georgia snake quiz. Ten field photos, four names — eye practice, not field ID.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
Look for it on Greater Caucasus subalpine meadow, in the upper forest belt, on rock outcrops and moraines — not in Colchic lowlands and not on the dry eastern plains. This atlas maps Abkhazia, Samegrelo — Zemo Svaneti, Racha — Lechkhumi — Kvemo Svaneti, and Mtskheta — Mtianeti. Named localities include Svaneti (type series; Enguri basin and Ushguli–Shkhara), Khevsureti (Ardoti), the Stepantsminda area and Truso. Tusheti is also mentioned. IUCN gives about 1,500–2,800 m; Caucasian studies sometimes record it to 3,000 m, and it may descend a little lower along valleys. South- and southeast-facing slopes are typical. Populations are fragmented.
Diet
Adults take lizards and small mammals; occasionally fledglings of ground-nesting birds. Juveniles take small lizards and insects, including grasshoppers. It hunts by ambush and subdues prey with venom. There is no separate Georgian diet study on this page; this is species-level data from the western Caucasus.
Behavior
In the highlands the active season is usually mid-April to the second half of September. It appears by day; in heat it seeks shade, and in cloudy weather it may stay out all day. It overwinters in rock crevices, often in the same place it uses in summer. It gives live birth. Mating is from late April to May; young are born in August on the northern slope and in September on the southern slope. Newborns are about 13 cm and almost do not feed in their first season — they go straight into hibernation. In the highlands females do not breed every year. If you meet one, keep your distance and do not pick it up. It defends itself when it feels threatened — it does not hunt people.
Conservation
The 2009 IUCN assessment (2017 errata) lists it as Vulnerable: the range is under 20,000 km² and severely fragmented; a decline in habitat and population is projected. Georgia’s 2014 Red List assigns VU, following the global IUCN assessment. Threats include degradation of subalpine pasture and grazing. In the 2026 checklist it is a candidate: internal boundaries in the kaznakovi complex are not yet fully confirmed with genomic data.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Dinnik's viper.
Yes. The 2026 checklist treats it as a candidate species, but it is confirmed in Georgia. It occurs only in the Greater Caucasus highlands — not throughout the country.
On subalpine meadow, in the upper forest belt and on rocky ground. The map marks Abkhazia, Samegrelo — Zemo Svaneti, Racha — Lechkhumi — Kvemo Svaneti and Mtskheta — Mtianeti. Named places include Svaneti, Khevsureti, Stepantsminda, Truso and Tusheti. It is absent from western lowlands and the dry eastern plains.
Yes, it is venomous. In this atlas the risk is moderate — lower than the Levantine viper, but a bite still needs medical care. It does not attack unless it feels threatened. Do not pick it up.
Call 112 immediately. Keep the person still and calm; do not cut, suck or apply a tight tourniquet. Treatment is in hospital.
It is a small, relatively slim viper with a vertical pupil, keeled scales and a zigzag or straight dorsal stripe. Ground colour is often grey or brown, not the red of the Caucasus viper. The smooth snake has a round pupil.
Adults are usually about 40–55 cm. Females are larger than males. It belongs with Georgia’s small vipers — much shorter than the Levantine viper.
Dinnik’s viper is highland (about 1,500–2,800 m) and more grey or brown. The Caucasus viper lives in humid Colchic forest, mainly below 1,000 m, with a broader head and red-orange colour. The 2026 checklist still treats their species boundary as a candidate question.
The checklist treats it as a candidate because isolation within the kaznakovi complex is not fully confirmed with genomic data. IUCN lists it as Vulnerable because the range is fragmented and under 20,000 km²; Georgia’s Red List assigns VU.
- Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 — Annotated checklist of Georgia's amphibians and reptiles
- Iankoshvili & Tarkhnishvili 2021 — Distribution of snakes in Georgia
- Orlov & Tuniyev 1990 — Three species in the Vipera kaznakowi complex
- Schmid et al. 2023 — Melanism in Vipera dinniki in Georgia
- Tuniyev et al. 2009 — IUCN Red List account for Vipera dinniki
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
- The Reptile Database
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
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