The predatory strike behavior of poisonous snakes is generally divided into three successive phases (i.e., prestrike, strike and poststrike phases), with the strike phase being the most crucial to the success of predatory efforts. Cobras of the genus Naja are among the most eye-catching snakes in the world because of their highly venomous nature, and so are pit-vipers of the genus Deinagkistrodon. Having been overhunted by local people for meat, skin, medicine, and handiwork, snakes of these two genera are currently regarded as highly vulnerable in China. In the present study, we used hatchlings of the Chinese cobra Naja atra (N=8) and the five-paced pit-viper Deinagkistrodon acutus (N=18) as the model systems to study whether poisonous snakes that differ in foraging mode, habitat use and body temperature may display different predatory behaviors during encounters with prey. The Chinese cobra is largely an active forager that uses relatively warm habitats in the hilly countryside, whereas the five-paced pit-viper is a typical sit-and-wait forager that uses relatively cool habitats near mountain streams. We examined behavioral responses of these two species to house mice (Mus musculus) by filming the predatory behavior of hatchling snakes at four body temperatures (22、25、28 ℃ and 31 ℃) with a digital camera, and then analyzed 10 behavioral variables to show the possible inter-specific differences and effects of body temperature on strike behavior. Hatchling snakes of these two species hatched and maintained under identical laboratory conditions but displayed quite different strike behaviors during encounters with prey. The mean distance to prey when the alertness reaction (head turning) occurred was shorter in D. acutus than in N. atra. This observation suggests that the ability to detect prey is weaker in D. acutus than in N. atra. During the prestrike phase, hatchling D. acutus moved head to the prey more slowly than did N. atra hatchlings, and the mean preparation time taken to attack the prey was longer in the former species than in the latter one. On the contrary, the head-moving speed was much greater in D. acutus than in N. atra during the strike phase. We found that hatchling snakes of both species released prey soon after the strike behavior and envenomation were complete. Hatchling D. acutus took a shorter time to draw their heads during the poststrike phase in comparison to N. atra hatchlings. Two-way analyses of variance with species and body temperature as the factors on the 10 examined behavioral variables revealed that only distance of strike and duration of strike phase were affected by the species×temperature interaction. Overall, body temperature had an important role in influencing predatory strike behavior. In both species the mean distance of alertness reaction was greater at the body temperature of 28 ℃. The influence of body temperature on strike speed was evident in D. acutus, but not in N. atra. The results of this study may reflect some essential differences in sensory organs between snake species that differ in predatory behavior and habitat use.