This terrestrial species occurs in tropical rainforest and lower montane wet forest that receive more than 2,000 mm, and usually more than 4,000 mm, of rainfall per annum. It apparently enters tropical dry forest or seasonally dry forest in riparian situations, such as in the Llanos of Colombia. The species of this genus are inhabitants of primary forest, often living near large buttressed trees (Ceiba, Swietenia, etc.) or adjacent to fallen trees. Upon occasion this species may be encountered in secondary forest situations but in areas recently cleared or adjacent to virgin forest. It may be extinct in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The genus is unique among New World vipers in that it lays eggs rather than giving birth to live young (Campbell and Lamar 2004). It feeds exclusively on mammals (Martins and Oliveira 1998; M. Hoogmoed pers. comm. 2014). In Trinidad, it is a forest dweller often associated with agouti, paca, or armadillo burrows. It is currently most often encountered in the Northern Range, but historical records suggest it was once present throughout the forested areas of the island. It may be limited in its distribution on the island by the availability of forest mammal prey (Murphy 1997).