The following description of U. pulneyensis is after Beddome (1864: 180): "rostral rather obtuse, produced back between the nasals, and touching the frontals [=prefrontals], nasals not meeting; eye small, in [the] front of the ocular shield; no supraorbitals; vertical [=frontal] 6-sided; occipitals [=parietals] rounded behind; 4 upper labials.

Beddome (1864: 180) continues: "[pulneyensis and wynandensis] ... differ from the typical form of this genus in their much smaller size and in the absence of a supraorbital shield.

Boulenger (1893) adds the following details: Adults may attain a total length of 38 cm (15 inches).

[3] U. pulneyensis is found in the Southern Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu and Kerala states of South India, in the Palni Hills, High Wavy Mountains, and Travancore hills, at elevations of 5,000–7,000 ft (1,500–2,100 m).

The preferred natural habitat of U. pulneyensis is forest, but it has also been found in tea plantations and gardens.