The Velvet snake mainly resides in tropical rainforests and tropical evergreen forests but can also be found in a variety of habitats throughout Central America. It can be found from the Yucutan Penninsula, Guatemala, Honduras, the Atlantic lowlands of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.
Young specimens are often semiarboreal and occasionally adults can be found in bushes and low trees.
The Velvet snake is excitable and unpredictable when disturbed. Specimens can move rapidly, reversing directions abruptly, and defending themselves vigorously. When an adult Velvet snake is cornered it can become extremely aggressive in defending itself. It is a nocturnal snake. In the lowland regions of the tropical zone of Central America it is one of the most commonly found snakes.