Gaboon Vipers are members of the Viperidae family and can be found exclusively in Africa.
They are one out of the three members of the African Giant Vipers group which consists of::
Natural habitat
The natural habitat of the Gaboon Vipers is spread along the equatorial belt of Africa, which consists mainly of tropical rain forests like the Ituru forest for example. They live on the floor of these forests and most of the time just lie in the direct neighborhood of the paths where prey animals are likely to pass by. Because of their color pattern they are difficult to spot and this effect is being enhanced because they like to "dig themselves in "so that they become virtually invisible. As soon as a prospective prey animal passes by and comes within striking range it is attacked with a speed and fierceness that one should not expect from an animal, which on the outside looks a bit sluggish.
The Gaboon Viper does not let go of its prey after it has struck but hangs on to it, rather then to let it go and wait for it to die. This behavior is very different from the behavior of other species of Vipers. They are capable of swallowing relatively large food items such as rabbits and guinea pigs or pigeons.
In captivity Gaboon Vipers are fairly easy to care for because of their placid nature. If they feel threatened in any way, they'll start hissing very loudly to warn you to back off. They remain motionless while doing this making no effort of trying to escape. This might give you the idea that, with a somewhat sluggish appearance like that, they could never strike as fast as say a cobra or rattlesnake could.
Don't let this deceive you, because they are able to strike VERY fast in every direction be it sidewards, backwards or upwards! And when they do, they do this with great force! This is the reason why you should house them in a large enclosure, rather then in a small one. It will give you the room to work in it without getting into trouble every time you need to fill up the waterbowl. If you are going to do more extensive cleaning work it is better to put them in a container. This will be an easier job in a large enclosure so that's another advantage you have.
My Gaboon Vipers
I am keeping my Gaboon Vipers in a 6 ft wide,2,5ft deep and 5ft high enclosure, in which I have placed two "trees" which are equipped with a number of artificial plants to filter the lighting in such a manner, that a very limited amount of light reaches the ground level. As a substrate I use a mixture of aspen and beech shavings and some dried leaves from my garden. To get these leaves free of any parasites I just put them in my microwave and nuke'm! (just not to long though,we don't want to start a fire now, do we?) I also spray the enclosure on a regular basis to keep the humidity on a acceptable level.(70/80%) Temperatures are kept in the high 70's during daytime and drop to low 70's at night. In this way I have created an environment almost resembling their natural habitat. For the adult specimens this is their home and I am pretty sure that they never had any problems adjusting to this environment. They are content just lying around most of the time and when I feed them they never refuse what's on the menu!
Feeding them is not very difficult, because they tend to wait for the prey item to come their way, unlike, for example my C.Durissus Cumanensis who are always trying to be first as soon as they pick up the scent of food. So I offer them the prey item( most of the time a pre-killed rat) with the use of a pair of barbecue tongs. Once a month I feed them live rats because I believe that rats which have been pre-killed and frozen in afterwards, do not contain all of the nutritious elements found in live rats. They strike with tremendous power and I have seen rats being folded and vanish into their mouths like we take a Mcnugget. They get fed once a week, because I believe it is better to feed one rat on a weekly basis than to feed two or three rats at once on a monthly basis. I also tend not to give them a larger prey item, because this might lead to the regurgitation of the prey item. This method keeps them sharp and alert and until now in good health. When I need to do some extended cleaning in the enclosure I place them in separate containers. I use a stainless steel hook to lift the front part of their body and grab the rear part with my left hand. I always use this method and have not been bitten until now. I do however believe that you have to be self-confident to work this way. Even the slightest shadow of a doubt would make me change the way I handle them. It's just like handling dogs, if you are not self-confident the animal will sense this and turn this against you and there's also a much bigger chance of making mistakes, which we definitely do not want!
My Baby Gaboons
When I placed them in their enclosure for the first time, it took them only a
few minutes to find a good place to "dig in"and get comfortable. After
leaving them alone for a few days,I decided that it was time to try to feed
them. Since these were W.C. Specimens I placed a live mouse in the enclosure and
let it roam free. After a few minutes the mouse was taken by surprise from under
the leaves, as it was trying to pass one of the Gaboons. I was very happy at
that time, because it is a well known fact that many W.C. Specimens are heavily
stressed out due to the sudden move from their natural environment, especially
in the case of juvenile specimens.( It goes to show that in the proper
environment theoretically speaking nothing can go wrong.
By
Dexter.b
Acknowledgments:
Markley H.Robert :The Giant Vipers of Africa
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