They have blackish to purplish-brown uppersides and dark brown or black undersides, with orange-red bands around the tail and a variety of pale markings on the snout and belly.

Adapted to living underground, dwarf pipesnakes inhabit leaf litter in lowland and montane rainforests at elevations of 220–1,513 m (722–4,964 ft).

[4] A second species of the genus, A. leonardi, was described by the British herpetologist Malcolm Arthur Smith in 1940 from two specimens collected in Pahang, Malaysia.

[6] The third species in the genus, A. monticola, was described by the Indian herpetologist Indraneil Das and colleagues in 2008, based on specimens collected from Mount Kinabalu on Borneo.

The following cladogram shows phylogenetic relationships of Anomochiliidae with other families, based on the 2022 study:[12] Cylindrophiidae Uropeltidae (including Anomochilidae) Xenopeltidae Loxocemidae Pythonidae Xenophidiidae Boidae Dwarf pipesnakes are small and cylindrical snakes, with a small, rounded head and short, conical tail.

[2] The uppersides are usually uniform blackish to purplish-brown and the undersides are dark brown or black, the latter frequently being marked by yellow or white blotches.

[3] Their small mouths, truncated quadrate bones (the length of which allows other snakes to swallow large prey), and lack of the mental groove (which enables other species to expand their lower jaw) suggests that their diet consists of elongate invertebrates like earthworms and perhaps also of small, slim vertebrates like snakes and legless lizards.

Little is known about threats facing the genus, although A. weberi is thought to be threatened by habitat loss caused by logging and urbanisation.