The species is native to northwestern South America.

The specific name, fitzingeri, is in honor of Austrian herpetologist Leopold Fitzinger.

[3] The subspecific name, frizzelli, is honor of the collectors of the holotype, Don L. Frizzell & Harriet E.

[2] The preferred natural habitats of O. fitzingeri are forest, savanna, and desert, at altitudes from sea level to 1,829 m (6,001 ft).

[2] Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Oxyrhopus.