Usambara Eyelash Bush Viper Pics

Snakes exotic to South Africa with venoms that are considered to be medically important.

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Usambara Eyelash Bush Viper Pics

Postby Saturn » Tue Mar 04, 2014 1:49 am

Hey All,

So I managed to pick up a little Usambara Eyelash Bush Viper from the show much to my happiness! :o :D

This little guy wasn't in the best of shape when I got him on Saturday as he had a bit of shed left on him/her, but I soaked the little guy and managed to get everything off. This seemed to be the runt of the litter, but I liked the colours and very chilled temperament.
I have done quite a bit of research on them and have come to realize that they are quite a lot of work, which is something I enjoy with snakes so I am going to give this a try.
So far I have gone out and bought a tall tub, and built many perches inside it at different heights with plenty hiding spots under large leaves, I have read allot of mixed opinions about temps and heard allot of mixed opinions about temps from a few people, So I am going to try the in-between route, not to hot and not too cold with dips at night and a rise during the day with a light spray in the morning and at night to mimic the morning mist and evening fog that they would expect in the mountain forests where they originate at around 1400ft above sea level.

I got the little guy to eat on Saturday night which made me happy and it didn't take too much effort, just a little patience and some teasing and he took it.

Here are some pics:

This is the soaking situation, trying to get that excess piece of shed off.
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Here he is just after removing the shed, looking allot better already!
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Just after eating, looking pretty satisfied.
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Anyway, if anyone has any other advice on the care of these snakes, please share it with me. :)
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Re: Usambara Eyelash Bush Viper Pics

Postby Westley Price » Tue Mar 04, 2014 7:38 am

Awesome snake, probably the coolest Atheris sp. in captivity.

I wonder how many (if any) ceratophora were smuggled out of Tanzania which were actually mathildae before the new species was described.

Here's a nice local care sheet from one of our more experienced members who is no longer active:

viewtopic.php?f=44&t=19245

Beautiful snake man. Congrats on the new addition.
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Re: Usambara Eyelash Bush Viper Pics

Postby Blake » Tue Mar 04, 2014 2:34 pm

Very nice man. I have three myself and like the link above says they do much better colder then hotter. Good luck with your little guy. Very rewarding species to keep in my opinion.
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Re: Usambara Eyelash Bush Viper Pics

Postby Eyelash » Tue Mar 04, 2014 3:39 pm

I've also wondered about that Wes...Have a look at this one that also came in. I never got the chance to do a scale count but it definitely looks the part...

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Re: Usambara Eyelash Bush Viper Pics

Postby Bushviper » Tue Mar 04, 2014 4:42 pm

Westly the Atheris are not smuggled out of Tanzania. These are legally exported and Tanzania has a massive legal wildlife trade. Before the species was described they would have been exported under the name they were known by.

Just like Pythons being exported out of Southern Africa that would have been exported as P. sebae natalensis were correct at the time and only later became P natalensis.
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Re: Usambara Eyelash Bush Viper Pics

Postby kingspider » Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:19 pm

If you dont mind me asking how much did you pay for him$her
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Re: Usambara Eyelash Bush Viper Pics

Postby Wallas » Fri Mar 07, 2014 7:48 am

Awesome, and were did you buy it from.

I also would like one.
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Re: Usambara Eyelash Bush Viper Pics

Postby Westley Price » Fri Mar 07, 2014 10:25 am

Louis, the main difference between mathildae and ceratophora is:
- Larger size of mathildae 643mm vs 510mm
- Larger number of maximum transverse scales on head (max 28 in mathilda vs 20 in ceratophora)
- Microscopic texture of scales
-Colour differences (although this is dodgy method)

And then the easiest one of the all to see in pictures:
- Four sub-equal suprarostral scales in matildae whereas in ceratophora the two central ones of the same size and the outer ones double in size.

Based on that last factor, I would say the snake in your picture is mathildae. If you have a look at the four scales just above the rostral, they are all similar size.

Image

I might be wrong, but that is what I recon. The outer suprarostrals are certainly not double the size of the inner ones.
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Re: Usambara Eyelash Bush Viper Pics

Postby Charl_Fick » Sun Mar 09, 2014 4:48 pm

Pretty snake. What sort of pix would one need to prove the above snake is infact an Atheris mathildae?
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Re: Usambara Eyelash Bush Viper Pics

Postby Saturn » Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:47 am

Thanks all for comments, will post more pics on the progress of the snake, so far the little guy is doing really well and eating well.

@ Walles - I bought it from the show.
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Re: Usambara Eyelash Bush Viper Pics

Postby Saturn » Tue Apr 15, 2014 2:03 am

Just an Update,

This Usambara is doing really well and has started to fatten up beautifully. I no longer need to tease feed and is all round an awesome little snake with lots of character.

I got this snake from Apex Predators via Deon at the show. A very nice guy to deal with and very helpful, I will definitely be doing further business with him in the future.
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Re: Usambara Eyelash Bush Viper Pics

Postby michael » Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:46 am

Be very careful about over feeding that Atheris. In the wild it is highly unlikely that they would be getting food as often as we tend to feed in captivity nor would they be getting pinkies. I would strongly suggest feeding that snake a pink every two weeks perhaps even using longer intervals. Small geckos and frogs can be frozen to destroy parasites and used as a food source as well. Keep an eye on your temperatures too, they tend to prefer cooler temperatures.
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Re: Usambara Eyelash Bush Viper Pics

Postby Saturn » Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:17 am

I am only feeding every 10 to 14 days, and the temp is 21 - 22 at night and 23 max 25 during the day.
This snake is now in an exo-Terra in my lounge out of my study where I keep the rest of my snakes, the temps in the lounge are cooler.

Feeding these snakes frogs or geckos is not such a great idea in captivity from what I have read as it will be near impossible to get it back onto pinks again after that.

Here is what its looking like now, I think its looking very healthy and doing well :)

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